Hello! My name is Keong Mu Lim, and I go by Jason. I graduated from the University of Washington in June 2021. I majored in Neuroscience (B.S.) and minored in Chemistry. My bigger goal is to reconceptualize and bring equity in healthcare in the States and Korea by promoting progressive capitalistic ideals. I see my career in medicine, working in clinical, research, and entrepreneurial settings.
Outside the class, I love exploring the nature and getting involved around campus. I love hiking, camping, and hope to start beekeeping someday! I was part of several activities and programs on campus, including the interdisciplinary honors program, which helped me enrich my education at UW. For those who are not familiar with the UW Honors program, this portfolio is for the UW Honors Program students to showcase their college experiences. This includes classes, extracurricular activities, and research. |
My Learning Statement
Looking back at my 4 years at UW and my childhood, perhaps, I have changed and grown a lot. I wanted to become a priest when I was younger. But after shadowing my dad later in high school, I decided to pursue a career in medicine as well. When I first came to UW, I was still very much interested in theology and philosophy as well as science.
This mix of interests has been channeled through my both academic and non-academic activities. I found the Philosophy Society at UW my freshman year, which grew to become the largest philosophy related club on campus. I was just awarded the Husky Seed Fund to launch the first undergraduate philosophy journal at UW, called The Garden of Ideas.
Outside humanities, I found my place and comfort in biomedical research. Because I couldn't come to UW to do research in high school, I felt insecure about my research capabilities. Knowing that, I joined a lab as soon as when I entered college. I have been part of the Kaeberlein Lab since freshman year and am leading an independent project supported by the Washington Research Foundation Fellowship and Mary Gates research Scholarship. I also joined the SANS my sophomore year to gain more translational and clinical experience.
I also found that there's a big gap in brining educational equity for high school students.This paired with my background in lacking access to research in high school, partnered with the SANS center, I found the SAY Program, an educational outreach program that brings research projects to local high schools. I was awarded the Mary Gates Leadership Scholarship with this project.
And perhaps, one fo the biggest turmoil I went through was during the sophomore year. As the political climate in Korea shifted a few years ago, my family was pushed to the brink of bankruptcy; my mother was outspoken and politically targeted, while new healthcare laws significantly affected my dad’s income. I have stayed uninsured since then and worked, multiple jobs, and took out loans. I started to apply for more scholarships, and though I didn't have much success initially, I was able to get multiple scholarships my senior year.
Now after I graduate, I plan to finish up my project at the Kaeberlein Lab and move to Boston with my best freinds in the summer. I will be working as a research associate at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard for 2-3 years before applying to medical schools. At Boston, I hope to take my ideas inspired by Alan, one of my mentors who's been battling cancer for 7+ years, to the next level and prepare to launch a start-up to better help cancer patients.
Ultimately, I wish to work towards building a network of hospitals, research institutions, and start-ups in Korea to help people. I truly believe that this network can advance medicine by effectively transforming scientific discoveries into scalable and applicable innovation that can quickly become accessible.
This mix of interests has been channeled through my both academic and non-academic activities. I found the Philosophy Society at UW my freshman year, which grew to become the largest philosophy related club on campus. I was just awarded the Husky Seed Fund to launch the first undergraduate philosophy journal at UW, called The Garden of Ideas.
Outside humanities, I found my place and comfort in biomedical research. Because I couldn't come to UW to do research in high school, I felt insecure about my research capabilities. Knowing that, I joined a lab as soon as when I entered college. I have been part of the Kaeberlein Lab since freshman year and am leading an independent project supported by the Washington Research Foundation Fellowship and Mary Gates research Scholarship. I also joined the SANS my sophomore year to gain more translational and clinical experience.
I also found that there's a big gap in brining educational equity for high school students.This paired with my background in lacking access to research in high school, partnered with the SANS center, I found the SAY Program, an educational outreach program that brings research projects to local high schools. I was awarded the Mary Gates Leadership Scholarship with this project.
And perhaps, one fo the biggest turmoil I went through was during the sophomore year. As the political climate in Korea shifted a few years ago, my family was pushed to the brink of bankruptcy; my mother was outspoken and politically targeted, while new healthcare laws significantly affected my dad’s income. I have stayed uninsured since then and worked, multiple jobs, and took out loans. I started to apply for more scholarships, and though I didn't have much success initially, I was able to get multiple scholarships my senior year.
Now after I graduate, I plan to finish up my project at the Kaeberlein Lab and move to Boston with my best freinds in the summer. I will be working as a research associate at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard for 2-3 years before applying to medical schools. At Boston, I hope to take my ideas inspired by Alan, one of my mentors who's been battling cancer for 7+ years, to the next level and prepare to launch a start-up to better help cancer patients.
Ultimately, I wish to work towards building a network of hospitals, research institutions, and start-ups in Korea to help people. I truly believe that this network can advance medicine by effectively transforming scientific discoveries into scalable and applicable innovation that can quickly become accessible.