When Kayler Kim ’26 arrived at St. Michaels University School from South Korea in Grade 10, she described herself as “a scared little girl” who was dependent on the people around her and reluctant to step outside her comfort zone.
Three years later, she graduated with an extraordinary record of academic, creative and leadership experiences behind her. She completed nine Advanced Placement courses, starred in three school musicals, founded the Girl Up chapter, organized student-led chapels and served as editor-in-chief of The Jag, while also pursuing music as a percussionist in the school’s Symphony Orchestra and Greater Victoria Youth Orchestra.
This fall, she will begin her next chapter at Columbia University.
But ask Kayler what changed most during those three years and she doesn’t point to any of those accomplishments. The biggest change began one afternoon when she decided to go downtown on her own.
“It might sound like nothing crazy, but for a 16-year-old boarding student to explore their unfamiliar environment was a huge deal.”
That single afternoon began to loosen something a packed schedule never could: a fear of being alone, of being seen alone and of feeling lonely. In its place grew a genuine comfort with her own company and a new sense of independence.
“Some people may describe me now as more independent, reserved, doing my own thing, and maybe even distant,” she said. “But I am proud of myself for finding different sides of myself and continuing to grow into a multidimensional individual.”
Boarding was part of how that growth happened. Alongside the independence came the experience of sharing daily life with other students: late-night conversations with roommates after the houseparents had checked in, decorating their room with the seasons, trips to Hillside Shopping Centre and simply having someone to come back to after a long day.
“Boarding school may seem like a long-term sleepover with people your age, and honestly it sometimes kind of is,” Kayler said. “But there’s way more to it. It really is a unique experience, something that I don’t think people could get out of a college dorm either.”
She credits countless people for helping shape her experience. Teachers encouraged her curiosity, challenged her to pursue ambitious goals and supported everything from Girl Up to theatre productions. Houseparents and boarding staff helped create a sense of home, while roommates became the people she laughed with, leaned on and returned to every evening.
“It really is about the people after all,” she reflected.
If there is one lesson Kayler believes she’ll carry with her to Columbia, it is the confidence to ask questions without worrying that uncertainty might be mistaken for weakness.
“Being inquisitive is never a weird or abnormal thing at SMUS,” she said. “Students are extremely lucky to live and study in an environment where asking is normalized.”
That mindset feels fitting for someone whose greatest growth came from learning not to fear the unknown.
“I’m on my journey to embracing even the fearful and unpleasant parts about uncertainty,” she said. “You never know what it’s going to be like if you don’t try, and if the goal was to experience, you can never lose.”
When Kayler looks back on her time at SMUS, however, what first comes to mind is not Columbia, an AP course, a musical or a leadership role. It is a spot: a patch of grass near the campus clock where the music building, Sun Centre Commons, the field, the science building and the sky all come into view at once.
She crossed it after sailing practice, after striking a musical set on closing night, after house dinner with her Symons sisters, after a spare-block coffee run and on countless ordinary walks to class, waving to friends along the way.
“My two feet were standing on the grass or around there every day,” she recalled. “I am more than grateful for all the memory that spot holds.”
It is an ordinary place that came to hold memories of the many different parts of the person she became at SMUS.
Looking back on those three years, she doesn’t hesitate when asked to complete one final sentence.
“SMUS gave me... another dimension of myself.”
Read more about Kayler's journey from Korea to SMUS:
From Korea to Victoria: Kayler Kim Finds Her Place at SMUS
Kayler Kim performing in Les Miserables
Kayler Kim plays the xylophone
Kayler Kim at graduation
