The Gates by Mo Kim

SEO Scholars San Francisco’s annual Achievement Benefit celebrates the accomplishments of Scholars and showcases the impact of SEO’s tuition-free college access program. As we celebrate the last 11 years in San Francisco, we’re also looking to the future and opening our doors to the next generation of Bay Area leaders. SEO San Francisco continues to chart a unique path with its 8-year approach, resulting in 100% of Scholars gaining admission to a four-year college and a 90% college graduation rate. Thanks to the continued investment of our generous sponsors, SEO San Francisco will continue to foster this growth and potential for hundreds of deserving students.?

The Scholars program also wouldn’t be possible without the incredible staff within SEO who seek to empower students and help them achieve their academic and professional dreams. As we prepare to celebrate with our community, we wanted to share the inspiring story of Mo Kim , SEO Scholars San Francisco’s 12th Grade Program Manager.?

The Gates

The first day of my freshman year, I stepped onto 美国哈佛大学 ’s campus and peered up at Johnston Gate—behind its locked doors, the labs, lecture halls, and lawns where I’d spend the next four years. As campus superstition goes, you can only pass through Johnston during Commencement and Graduation: anybody who breaks this taboo may be cursed not to graduate. Be careful, my resident advisor warned me that evening, with a wry chuckle. You’ll have to wait until graduation to walk through those doors again.

I laughed, biting back the question behind my lips: What if I don’t make it there?

Looking back, I see what I couldn’t when I was 19: there was an entire hidden system of rules and expectations I had never learned. Many of my peers took to Harvard like ducks to water, having spent years in private schools or wealthy districts learning how to swim; the rest of us were left flailing, struggling just to stay afloat. I still remember how that first winter felt. The shuttle stop blanketed in ice; the wind howling in our faces as we waited together; Harvard and its towering gates above us, its countless opportunities just beyond our grasp.

This is why SEO Scholars is so special to me—it’s where I see us writing a different future.

Every Saturday at work, I see the SEO Scholars community reaching towards greater possibilities. I see sophomores coaching each other in their Geometry class, tackling problems together they didn’t know they could solve alone. I see juniors diving into 1-on-1s about internships with their career mentors, as they forge career visions into concrete plans. I see Amalia and Xitlalic, my seniors, laughing as they swap advice on scholarship programs and college interviews. I see the learning community I wished I had experienced when I was in high school.

Behind the scenes, I see a team of dedicated professionals. I see Miranda, my supervisor, who taught herself about college admissions from scratch so she could advise seniors through the application process. I see Cynthia, Jose, and Brandon, who in 18 months have tripled our enrollment numbers—and aren’t even close to done yet. I see Briana and Genesis, who through tireless persistence push our scholars to take community college courses starting freshman summer so they can graduate with over two semesters of college credit under their belts. I see what is possible when students have a network of adults rooting for their success.

And at our annual Achievement Benefit, our first time together in-person in three years, I know I will see our larger SEO Scholars community - all of you - coming together to rewrite this story. Because the truth is that many of us have embarked on this journey before. We know how it feels to step onto a classroom you don’t feel prepared for; how it feels to forge a way forward that nobody in your family has taken before; how it feels to question whether you actually belong here. But what’s more important is that we know, more than anybody, what it takes to change that reality for our students today. SEO Scholars is more than those who work and learn here—SEO Scholars is a network of people who, through our continued time, care, and advocacy, can lift our youth up to reach even higher than we could.

Eventually, I found my network, too: I owe my success at Harvard to the professors, advisors, and friends who believed in me before I believed in myself, whether the public service leaders at Phillips Brooks House Association Inc. or the mentors I found at the Harvard Graduate School of Education . After four years of joy and struggle, I got to put on my cap and gown. As we posed for pictures and marched towards Harvard Yard, passing cars and trucks honking in celebration, our numbers grew larger, louder, stronger. And as I walked through Johnston Gate for the second and final time, I thought about how insurmountable it once felt, back before I found my community, back before I knew what I was capable of.

I hope we can make that entrance a little bit wider for the next person who walks through.

Mo Kim grew up in Los Angeles and Seoul, raised by two immigrants, the Korean church, and countless mentors and friends. In college, Mo discovered his passion for youth empowerment and creative expression, which led them to the world of education. After obtaining his B.A. and M.Ed. degrees, Mo spent four years teaching 10th grade English at Leadership Public Schools before becoming the 12th Grade Program Manager at SEO Scholars SF. He believes deeply in his students' voices and is excited to help them build the confidence, courage, and self-knowledge they need to envision a better world!