Major Moment: Psychology and Linguistics with Katelyn Kim '26

In addition to being a Tour Guide for the Admissions Office, Katelyn Kim ‘26 is an ARCH Research Intern, the Vice-President of Bryn Mawr's Taekwondo Club, a Teaching Board Member of Choom Boom, a K-Pop dance club shared between Bryn Mawr and Haverford, and a member of KSA (Korean Student Association). Here, she tells us about her academic journey and how her three disparate academic interests have culminated in a double major in psychology and linguistics with a minor in philosophy.  

Did you enter college knowing what you wanted to major in? How have the classes you’ve taken at BMC either confirmed your interest in the major or surprised you with a new interest? 

I knew I had an interest in psychology before attending Bryn Mawr, but my Introduction to Psychology course provided a general overview of psychology and its subfields and solidified that I wanted to continue studying the field. I found my interest in linguistics during the fall semester of my first year because I had to add one more class to fulfill the minimum 4 credits enrollment per semester. My first-year dean saw an opening for an Introduction to Syntax class (which also turned out to be a required class for the Linguistics major/minor anyway). The course description made it sound new and fun, so I thought “Why not?” and signed up for the class. Little did I know that I would really enjoy this class, want to take more Linguistics classes, and decide to major in it.   

One of my favorite stories to tell prospective students and families is how I declared my Philosophy minor. My uncle studied philosophy as an undergrad. During family gatherings when I was younger (around 4 years old), there was always a conversation where he mentioned Aristotle and Plato and philosophical questions such as “what is happiness? What is peace? How do you know you’ve achieved them?”  I always thought that these were the most confusing, boring, uninteresting conversations and I vowed to never study philosophy. Lo' and behold, for my second semester of my first year, I was again looking for another class to meet the 4-credit minimum, (yes, I had a theme my first year), and came across Happiness and Reality in Ancient Thought, which is essentially an introductory Philosophy class. The course name alone drew me in. Even though it was a philosophy class, I decided to break the vow I took when I was four years old and registered. Once again, I enjoyed it so much that I took more Philosophy classes and decided to minor in it.  

Favorite class you’ve taken for your majors?  

For my Psychology major, my favorite class is the one I’m taking now, Lab in Social Psychology. I really love this class because we were able to come up with our own research question, gather real data, and write our own research paper for class. I feel that all the work I’ve done has truly been my work, and I’ve been supported every step of the way by my professor. 

For my Linguistics major, my favorite class so far has been Intro to Syntax. Syntax is how words are grouped together in a phrase and sentence. This has been my favorite class because it was, in the best way, mind-boggling to really delve into how we often group words together, how changing the way we group words in phrases can change the meaning/way we think of the sentence, affect the movement within sentences, and how syntax varies across all languages.  

What experiential learning opportunities have you had connected to your academic interests? 

I’m very excited for next year because I will be studying abroad for the entirety of my junior year at the University of Oxford, St. Edmund Hall, where I’ll be taking psychology and philosophy courses. This program is one of Bryn Mawr’s 90+ pre-approved study abroad programs. I was beyond happy when I was accepted, as I’ve never been to the UK, and I’m super hyped to travel, take distinct, diverse courses that will help boost my learnings from Bryn Mawr, support my academic and career goals, and apply all my studies on an international level.  

What advice would you give to a student on the process of declaring a majors?  

Explore! Take all of the classes that interest you! Take a class you never would have imagined taking before! You might come into college knowing what you want to do and major in it, and this is awesome (I envy you too haha); you might also come into college knowing what you want to major in, take some classes, and change your major, and this is also awesome; or, you might come into college not knowing what you want to do (and this is totally fine!), and find your major by trying out various classes. Whatever your path is, you will find what you enjoy studying and what excites you the most, and these thrilling feelings will help you find your major.