BY AMY ZILLNER
Apple Valley Review
Granite Hills High School senior Kevin Yi, 17, reaches a goal he started high school with: He’s been accepted to the United States Military Academy, also known as, West Point in New York.
He said, while watching history and war on television along with the “go Army” commercials, “I would get this weird feeling I wanted to be one of them and just serve.”
And after graduation at West Point, Yi said he plans to serve in the United States Army.
“The main reason is a lot of immigrants like my parents see America as the land of opportunity, the place to be — I want a role in protecting that beacon so it can continue on,” Yi said.
Mike and Insook Yi, Kevin Yi’s parents, immigrated to America from South Korea more than 20 years ago. They have two more children, Jenny Yi, 21 and Jacob Yi, 11.
Kevin Yi recalled a strong message his father passed along: Without money, good grades won’t get a student into college in Korea but in America there’s funding for college.
They immigrated, “for the opportunity to live in a bigger world,” Insook Yi said. “South Korea is one race — America is more diverse, has a more worldly view, you gain more of an understanding by living here.”
One of eight valedictorians, Kevin Yi said he would advise fellow students at graduation on May 30, “Live to your potential.”
Kevin Yi is doing just that as a wrestler, volunteer tutor and dedicated student with a 4.47 GPA.
“He’s been top in his class since he entered Granite Hills — he never wavered,” guidance counselor Connie Johnson said. She added that Kevin Yi will receive a Seal of Biliteracy on his diploma for “being bilingual in English and Korean, as well as fluent in reading and writing,” she said. Fifteen students will receive the seal, a first time offering by the district, Johnson said.
Coach Mike Witham said Kevin Yi doesn’t quit during wrestling matches.
“He’s tenacious on the mat and in the classroom,” Witham said. “As a sophomore he placed in a CIF individual tournament, he’s qualified for masters, qualified for CIF for all four years, he’s a four year letterman and a two year captain.”
“When he puts his mind to something, whether it be wrestling, his education, or volunteering he doesn’t do it a little or just enough,” Zayra Hall, who runs the after school tutoring program at Granite Hills where Kevin volunteered, said. “he gives it a 110 percent.”
“It still feels like a dream because I’m not at West Point yet,” Kevin Yi said, whose academic focus there will be civil or mechanical engineering. “Everything I worked for is paying off.”