I’ve always wanted to be my own manager and open a business. Any business.
Like people 170 years ago, Leo Kim came west to Oregon looking for opportunity. But instead of a covered wagon, he took a 1996 Ford Probe he’d just bought with almost all his savings. The car broke down almost immediately, but his dreams stayed strong.
The son of Korean immigrants, Leo moved around a lot as a child. When he graduated from high school in Kansas City, where he was living with his dad, it was the height of the COVID pandemic. Due to his dad’s encouragement, Leo enrolled in a nursing program at a local college.
“I liked the math, but didn’t like the other parts. It was hard to make friends, too, with everyone wearing masks,” he explained.
Leo ended up working the graveyard shift at an Amazon warehouse, working hard to ensure that two-day delivery. He still loved math and learning though. His childhood love of Legos had evolved into a dream of working with technology.
So he saved up to buy his first car, and even after it broke down, Leo made it to Oregon to start anew, living with his mother who works as a pharmacist in Eugene.
“My mom wanted me to go college, so I looked at tech programs at Lane. I wanted to know how I could’ve fixed that Ford.” Leo enrolled in Automotive Technology, where he soon found a welcoming cohort and supportive teachers.
“I made a friend the first day, and we stayed best friends until we graduated. We’d eat off campus each day, trying different restaurants and doing school work together.”
Leo also liked his faculty, especially Kelly Mathers and Egan Riordan, who told great stories and asked to be called by their first names. With this financial and emotional support, Leo thrived. He even won a Norman & Evelyn Wildish Scholarship for Advanced Technology from the Lane Foundation. And soon after graduating, Leo quickly found a job at a local brake shop.
“When they interviewed me I was so nervous. They asked me how to do a procedure, and I just remembered everything I learned at Lane and went through all the steps,” Leo explained. Though there was a lot to learn on the job, his soon-to-be new employer was impressed Leo knew the foundations so well.
Still, he wanted to expand on his education. When Lane rolled out its very first bachelor’s program, an applied degree in Business, Leo knew it was for him.
“So many of my family members work in business–my dad used to be a business manager, my aunt owns a beauty supply shop, my cousin’s wife is an accountant.... I’ve always wanted to be my own manager and open a business. Any business.”
Lane’s flexible program works with his 40 hour a week schedule, but also offers a tight cohort of fellow students and study buddies. The instructors, like LuAnne Johnson and Corey Murphy, have also been a huge support.
But Leo hasn’t forgotten his Automotive roots. Outside of school and work, he keeps up his passion for cars by watching repair videos on YouTube and playing racing games like Gran Turismo 7.
At 24, it’s only taken him a few extra years to find his feet after the lost years of COVID. Though still not sure about the specifics of his career goals, the future is open to Leo with many possibilities and a flexible business degree.