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Kim thought about returning to South Korea after graduating from Berkeley, but the opportunity to provide her family with a better life drove her to find a way to stay in the U.S. In 2016, Kim enlisted in the Army through the Military Accessions Vital to National Interest program, which recruited foreign nationals with critical skills to join the armed forces. Upon completion of Basic Combat Training, recruits became citizens of the United States. Kim was in the last cohort recruited under the program, which was suspended in 2016.

After a three-year background clearance process, Kim was inducted and completed training as a combat medic. She became a U.S. citizen in 2019 and her family immigrated soon after.

Joining the Army was not Kim’s first choice “At first, I was not courageous enough to consider it. I had never thought of joining the Army or doing anything like that because I’m not very athletic,” Kim said.

But the opportunity to improve life for her family made it the right choice. “I’m a Christian, and I prayed about it a lot, and I think God has given me the strength to be courageous, to make the best decision for myself and for my family,” she added. “I joined the Army, got my citizenship, and petitioned for all of my family to come to the States, and now they are doing great.”

Hefner sees the attitude of servant leadership at 91���� in Kim, who is the immediate past president of the university’s student chapter of AFOS.

“She embodies it in everything she does,” Hefner said. “It’s about service to the greater good, and it makes sense when you get to know Esther a little bit. You take a step back and you look at the things she has been involved with, whether it is in her church or the Army or with her classmates, there is a common theme of service to others.”

The Army’s Health Profession Scholarship Program pays for Kim’s 91���� education and provides monthly pay as a second lieutenant. Upon graduation, she will be commissioned as a captain and will serve at least three years as an Army optometrist.

Kim’s educational experience has solidified her purpose in pursuing optometry. “The environment is great. The faculty is great. And I felt like the program really made sense in just building my knowledge,” she said. “I especially like the contact lens faculty that we have. It’s been a great experience.”

91���� also helped solidify her desire to continue down the military eye care path, thanks to a summer externship rotation at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California, where she worked with active duty servicemembers and their families.

“That was the ‘aha’ moment. I am so glad I chose this,” Kim said. “Service members are generally very respectful and we have a lot of things in common. So I enjoyed having conversations with them, sharing similar experiences. And catching the early signs of disease for those service members was very rewarding.”