From First-Year to Senior: Whitman Student Reflects on Finding His Way

Coming from sunny California, Andrew Kim ’24 wanted a change of pace that would place him closer to his dream of living and working in New York City. Coming from a family of entrepreneurs and a creative background, studying marketing and entrepreneurship & emerging enterprises (EEE) at The Martin J. Whitman School of Management and a minor in public communications at The S.I Newhouse School of Public Communications felt like the right step for Kim both personally and professionally.

In high school, Kim was part of several student organizations where he took on a marketing role, which ignited his passion for studying business in college. His parents also own a business that his father founded, so from an early age, he was inspired to become his own boss and follow in his family’s footsteps.

“I realized that every single role that I had in these organizations in high school was related to marketing — social media, graphic design, outreach, event planning. I love networking. I love talking to people. So, I thought, why not go into business?” Kim says.

As a Whitman Leadership Scholar, Kim was able to spend some time the summer before his first-year to learn more about the School and everything it has to offer. Director of Undergraduate Recruitment Rachel DuBois helped assure Kim that he was in the right place.

“Rachel DuBois did a really good job of creating these group meets with current Whitman Leadership Scholars at the time, and so I was able to talk to these students and ask them a bunch of questions about where people end up after graduation. Which, of course, she said New York City, and so I thought that it was a perfect fit for me. I will come to Syracuse, and hopefully one day I'll end up in the city,” Kim says.

Although Kim came into Whitman a little bit intimidated by its size, he quickly found a way to fit in through networking with other students. One way he was able to do this was by joining Delta Sigma Pi (DSP), a professional fraternity on campus. Kim recommends networking as the key to success for any student, especially if the student is looking for a direction to take when picking an area of study.

“I joined DSP spring semester of my first year. I was trying to find people who are willing to go the extra mile. and I think joining DSP has led me to that. I've made so many friends just by joining, who I'm still in touch with, and now they're all over the world.  And, so it's nice to be in that community. It made Whitman feel a little smaller,” Kim says. “As long as you can find people, talk to these people, form a relationship, and they can see you for what you want them to see you to be. It's not just your major. It's also about the people you meet.”

Kim's last piece of advice is to not stress too much before coming to Syracuse, which is something that he realized after his first year.

“I think that's the biggest thing for first-year students, especially when they come in, is that no one knows who you are yet, and so you might as well become the version that you truly want to be. College is a perfect place to do that, to learn about yourself, to go through mistakes, through challenges, experiment, and just discover who you are.”