Her Story: Han Sook Kim

Her Story

What Was Your Childhood Dream?

When Hanna Kim was a child, she had always dreamt of becoming a college professor. She was a hardworking, diligent, and responsible student who valued equality and fairness. In elementary school, her homeroom teacher had revealed some test questions to the class, and she thought it was unfair. Therefore, she called her teacher unfair and a bad teacher, resulting in her getting in trouble. That is why she wanted to become a well-respected teacher and teach kids correctly. In addition, in high school, there was a teacher whom she looked up to. She encouraged Hanna to step out of her comfort zone because she believed she was capable of doing many great things. The teacher encouraged her to try out for class president, and she ultimately got it. With this big role as class president, she was well-respected by the other students for protecting vulnerable students from bullying such as teasing. These events in her life made her want to pursue a job in education. 

In America

Hanna immigrated from South Korea to America in 1987 after getting married to her husband, Chang Kyu Kim. Her husband had come to America to find more job opportunities and she came along with him after getting married. When she came to America for the first time, she took a test to get into the Microsoft company. There, she studied and earned a home care license. With that, she worked in the company for about 30 years. However, when the pandemic hit in 2020, she quit her job and a doctor at Kindred hospital in La Mirada asked her to help her and become his assistant. Until now, she has been working as a doctor’s assistant, and she really enjoys what she does, helping out the patients, who are of the older age.

What Do You Miss Most About Korea?

Hanna’s family was the definition of happiness in the past, and is still in the present. She mostly misses spending time with her mom, dad, and siblings. Whenever she went on vacation to Nam-san with her parents and siblings, she remembers riding the swings and playing around with her older sister when they were the only kids. Hanna also remembers moments with her grandpa, when he would buy her black bean noodles whenever she got a hundred on a school test. One time, as a child, during the very cold winter, New Years, she was delivering sikhae to a big house, but because her hands were so cold, she dropped the cup and got into a lot of trouble from her grandpa. She misses those moments where her parents or grandparents were always there to nag her or compliment her on certain things.