Scholar Stories: Lim Checks All Student-Athlete Boxes
1/17/2018 10:45:00 AM | Women's Golf, Features
Continuing the popular series that began in 2016-17, each Wednesday MGoBlue.com will highlight a Michigan student-athlete and their academic pursuits. These are our Scholar-Athlete Stories, presented by Prairie Farms.
By Austin Turner
University of Michigan women's golfer Kathy Lim is a quick learner.
When you see the senior from Langley, British Columbia, on the golf course, you would think she has been playing her whole life. But you would be surprised to know that she did not pick up a golf club until she was 12 years old.
"One day I was bored, so I went to the range with my dad," Lim explained. "I hit my first shot really well. Even though I totally whiffed on the second shot, it was OK because the first attempt got me hooked."
Following her introduction to golf that day, Lim began to play more. Though at first she viewed playing the game as a hobby -- she grew up focused on volleyball and track -- she quickly grew more competitive on the links. After a couple of lessons and tournaments, Lim began to have success and took the game more seriously. She was on to something.
"I made the Canadian Junior National Team less than two years after I started playing, but those two years were not easy," Lim said. "I put everything I had into the sport of golf during that time."
Since Lim arrived on campus in 2014, the women's golf team has consistently improved, recording back-to-back trips to the NCAA Championships. Now a senior, Lim will try to help extend that streak to a third year this coming spring.
"There has been huge growth over the last couple years thanks to the leadership of our coach, Jan Dowling, and the change in culture of the team," she said. "Even though golf is an individual sport, at the end of the day it obviously comes down to the team. We really grew as a team once we started wanting to get better as a whole rather than wanting to be better than the other members of the team."
But Lim did not choose Michigan solely for golf. She has proven to be a superstar in the classroom, twice earning Academic All-Big Ten accolades.
However, success in the classroom was not always easy.
"Coming into college I had really high goals, but I definitely struggled at first. It was a tough transition for me, but I think it was good for me to have had that tough semester because it taught me how to adjust," Lim said. "I always worked hard. I just didn't know what to do or how to do it."
As a lifelong athlete, Lim always had an interest in sports. To her, it only made sense to combine that with her interest in business by becoming a sport management major. But her interest in business soon expanded even further, causing her to pursue a minor in the Ross School of Business.
While Kathy Lim is always looking for improvement on the golf course, she also has an eye on her career outside of golf and ways of getting involved to help others.
"There were a couple of classes within Ross that I wanted to take, like finance, and I think it is a very good mix with sport management," Lim said. "Obviously there are a bit more credits to take because of it, but it is what I want to do. I don't really think of it as two things. I think they are very much alike and I enjoy doing both."
Lim has used her educational experiences to get a jumpstart on her career. After her sophomore year, she completed an internship with New York Life Insurance in New York City. Though enjoying her experience with the company, she was looking for a more demanding work environment.
After meeting with a couple of U-M alums in New York City during that summer, Lim decided to pursue a career in business. When returning to Ann Arbor for her junior year, Lim began recruiting for a job in finance and got an internship with JP Morgan. After a summer of hard work, Lim earned a return offer to work full time with the bank following graduation in April.
"The hours were brutal," Lim said about her internship this summer. "Everything was super tough, but I think I thrive in a more cutthroat environment like that and I do credit that to being an athlete. I was learning something every day and even if it wasn't easy, I thought it was better than doing something I know."
Even when having to juggle a difficult course load and the commitments of a Division-I athlete, she continues to get involved in other ways. As a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and Let's Go Do, a student-athlete organization focused on community service, Lim continues to find ways to give back to her community.
"I have always been an avid volunteer. I wanted to get involved with SAAC and Let's Go Do because it is so fun getting out in the community," she said. "Reading to kids, visiting children in the hospital. Who doesn't want to do that? I have always been interested in being involved in more than just the team or what I am supposed to be involved with. It is just my personality to want to get involved."
When asked about taking initiative, Lim showed the humility of a true leader.
"I don't like using the word 'leader,' because I am not the only one," she said. "I like to take on leadership roles. If people need academic help, I will help them. When a teammate wants to do drills or play games at practice, I will join them. During my time at Michigan, I have just become more responsible and mature."
When it comes to the ideal student-athlete, Lim checks every box: academically accomplished, athletically gifted and always yearning to do more.
Players Mentioned
