Before or Behind Camera, Memorial Senior Likes the Action

Here’s a name to watch for when the credits are rolling – Michael Kim.

The Memorial High School senior is on his way to Harvard to pursue visual and environmental studies – which is “pretty much just film,” Kim said.

And that suits Kim just fine. By his own admission, he’s all about video and has been since a relatively simple project at Memorial Middle School piqued his interest.

“We had to do a book trailer (a short film summarizing/promoting a book),” Kim said. “I got a bad grade but I liked doing the video.”

He’d discovered his creative side and from that point forward, all his projects were video-based. He’d also discovered that he wanted to become something other than a doctor, like his father, an oral surgeon.

He invests himself into the entire video process – scripting or rewriting a music video, recording sound, filming relevant footage then editing the package.

While Kim enjoys making videos and intends to study film at Harvard, he ultimately wants to be in front of the camera.

“I’d like to break out on YouTube,” he said, “and be something of a celebrity. But I don’t know what YouTube will look like in a few years.

“I’m kind of a goofball, really,” Kim said. “But personality-wise, people expect me to be serious.” Besides filmmaking, he’s a fencer, a cellist in orchestra, on student council and active in Memorial Mustang Outreach Bunch (MMOB), a student service organization.

Always on the college track, Kim said he had to satisfy his father’s requirements of good grades and a good school to earn the freedom to study film.

His grades were good enough to secure an early admission to Harvard.

“I’m not sure why (I was admitted early),” he says, with genuine modesty. “I think they must like me because I’m different.” Still, he’d met his father’s criteria.

Kim moved to Spring Branch ISD from Fort Bend ISD while in middle school, attending Memorial Middle and Memorial High School. He said that he’s enjoyed his time at Memorial.

“I think Spring Branch did well,” he said. “Memorial (High School) is competitive but not cutthroat competitive. Spring Branch did a good job of working together.”

Rusty Graham
russell.graham@springbranchisd.com