2011 Professor Harry Simons Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship for the Study of Accounting Recipient

Biography: Kyungjin Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea. Kyungjin was fourteen years old when she read a book about Warren Buffet, which led her to an interest in business and investments. When she was seventeen, she decided to come to the United States on her own as an exchange student. She had a tough time because of the cultural and language barriers; however, she used every endeavor to succeed. As a result, she earned the Highest Honor Roll when she graduated from high school. After high school, Kyungjin entered Santa Barbara City College so that she may transfer to UCLA, which was her dream school. Now in her senior year at UCLA, Kyungjin is pursuing a major in Business Economics and a minor in Accounting. Last summer, she interned at the Hilton Hotel in Korea, and learned a lot about making contracts, analyzing financial statements, and performing marketing strategies. Kyungjin continues to strive for her best to achieve her goals in life.

Future Plans: After graduation, Kyungjin looks forward to going on a tour in Europe to see more of the world. She will then return to the U.S. to attain her CPA license, while working at an audit or consulting company. After a few years of work experience, she hopes to go back to Korea and enter graduate school to earn an MBA. One day, she hopes to start up her own accounting business, and establish a scholarship foundation to help students who are ready to pursue the career of their dreams.

What does the scholarship mean to me?: I am so honored to be one of the recipients of the Professor Harry Simons Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship for the Study of Accounting. This scholarship will ease the financial burden on me and my parents, and allow me to fully focus on studies. I will also have more time to participate in extracurricular activities, and career related workshops for my senior year of college. Once again, I offer my sincerest thanks for this generous support.