Shalom Kim watched in wonder as her mother, Sophie Kim, completed the American Dream. Sophie Kim immigrated to the United States from her home of South Korea, graduated from dental school in New Jersey, and then opened her own dental practice in Montgomery, Alabama in 2014.
Selah and Shalom Kim at the entrance of the SODSo when it came time for Shalom and her sister, Selah, to pursue their own careers, they both decided to follow their mother’s lead into dentistry. Selah started the D.M.D. program in the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Dentistry last year, and Shalom joined her this year after graduating from Auburn University at Montgomery with a degree in Biology and Pre-Health Sciences.
“I saw my mom build her own practice from the ground up, and I can’t let that effort go to waste,” Shalom Kim says. “I feel incredibly privileged to have all these opportunities, and I really want to make the most of it.”
Even though she grew up with dentistry all around her, Kim says she initially wasn’t certain whether it would be the best profession for her as well. Over time, however, she says she began to realize how comfortable she is with various facets of the dental field.
“Dentistry combines all my interests into one profession,” Kim says. “I like being able to use my hands and manual dexterity, so it’s within my skillset. I like the social aspect of working directly with patients. And I like being able to do something that helps give back to the community. Dentistry is within my passions and my values in terms of what I want to do with my life.”
Once she determined that dentistry was indeed a profession she wanted to pursue, Kim says it made sense for her to come to UAB, especially after her sister enrolled in the SOD last year.
“Being here allows me to share this journey with her, and my family is nearby in Montgomery,” Kim says. “Plus, every UAB dental student and graduate who I’ve met has spoken so highly about this school. It is a combination of a good education, family and the student atmosphere, which ultimately lead to friends. All that made it a very easy decision to come here.”
Upon her arrival at UAB, Kim quickly integrated herself into campus life by joining several SOD student groups. In addition to being the communications liaison for her SOD Class of 2028, she has similar communications roles for the SOD Student Government Association (SGA), the Asian Dental Student Organization, and the Periodontics Student Interest Group.
“I’ve always had a passion for content creation,” Kim says. “It’s my hobby, so it doesn’t feel like work. I used to run a jewelry business on social media, and I wanted to keep that passion going into dental school. That’s why I decided to apply for these roles.”
“UAB’s highly collaborative atmosphere makes it easy to stay involved in these hobbies. I have plenty of opportunities to design materials for events, support initiatives, and document a lot of these memories that we have. And it’s even better because I get to do it with other students. It’s not like I just go home and do my hobby. This is something that I really enjoy doing anyway, and it’s an opportunity to help students connect and grow together.”
That type of effort is similar to what Kim hopes to do one day as a UAB School of Dentistry graduate. It is, in a way, her version of the American Dream.
“I was born in a position where so much was provided to me, and I’m very thankful for that,” Kim says. “So I don’t want dentistry to be just a career for me. Dentistry is the vessel I want to use to serve the community and contribute to humanitarian efforts. I want it to be bigger than just a career.”