Anise Kim, a fourteen-year-old rising freshman, was born in the state of Georgia, although she especially loved living in France for a year when she turned four. She is now living with her family in Mali, West Africa where she has been living for the last 9 years. With an older sister, Sophia, and an older brother, Judson, Anise is blessed with all the youngest child privileges. This year, she’ll be taking American History, Lit and Comp (Honors), Geometry (Honors), Biology (Honors), French 3 (College French), and finally, Bible Survey. Anise has a wide range of hobbies but as of now, she’s passionate about books, writing poetry, reading an unhealthy amount of manhwa, and playing PUBG. Besides being extremely talented at sleeping and eating, she says she’s decent at photography and writing. Anise’s passion for books truly shows in her reading goals. She has had a desire to read 100 books a year since 2020. In 2020, she read 137 and in 2021, she read 121. So far for 2022, she’s read 70 and is aiming to get over 100. When asked the question, “If money was no object, what would you do for a day?” she explained she would have an extraordinarily busy day. First, she’d splurge at a shopping mall in Koreatown. Then she’d head over to Broadway and see a few musicals. Finally, she’d get tickets to as many K-Pop concerts as possible because they’re ridiculously expensive.
An exciting but dangerous story she likes to tell is about the time she almost died at the Grand Canyon. “Basically, I pushed myself too hard, got a bloody nose, collapsed, my fingers got cramped up, and I had a lot of trouble breathing. But I’m still alive so that’s nice.”
Some of Anise’s favorite movies are Pride & Prejudice (2008)—which she staunchly believes is superior to the miniseries—as well as The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Ford vs Ferrari. Taylor Swift, Gracie Abrams, the Strumbellas, and Trousdale are some of her favorite singers. A few of her favorite manhwas are The Savior’s Time, Spirit Fingers, Romance 101, and After School Lessons for Unripe Apples. Finally, her favorite animals are owls. Favorite authors include: Lucy Maud Montgomery, Maud Hart Lovelace, Betty Smith, and Shirley Jackson; they are all immense inspirations for her when it comes to writing. Anise’s favorite Bible verse is 1 Peter 5:7, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” She finds this verse comforting since she says she’s a “professional worrier.” Anise hopes that everyone will enjoy her future articles in the book column!