Humans of McIntosh : Tommy Kim

Sophomore Tommy Kim is no average McIntosh student. Tommy was born in Ulsa, South Korea.

“I moved to Georgia because of my dad’s job,” said Kim. “At first, it was very hard. I didn’t speak the language or understand the culture.”

Kim’s father works for Hyundai, a car manufacturing brand. They moved to Georgia when he was promoted to engineer manager.

Besides his background, another aspect of Kim’s story is his soccer ability.

Last year, Kim made the varsity team as a freshman, which is hard to do with the soccer program that McIntosh continues to have from year-to-year. As a sophomore, Kim has earned a starting position on the team. His talents helped him integrate into American culture.

“When I first came here, I couldn’t even speak English,” Kim said. “But I met soccer friends and they were so nice to me. They taught me English and really included me in everything.”

Junior Dylan Boerstler was on Kim’s first soccer team when he moved to Georgia and currently plays with him on the McIntosh team.

“When Tommy first came, he could not communicate himself at all, but he was very good at fitting in anyways,” said Boerstler. “Tommy would always make us laugh without even talking. He may be small in some places, but he has a big personality.”

Tommy does not plan to move to back to South Korea anytime soon. He aspires to play soccer at the college level in the United States and continue his life in the United States after that.

“I love it here. [There are] so many freedoms and great people,” he said. “I’m just glad we moved here.”