Orion Kim, 23-24 co-Editor in Chief of The Rubicon, was named a Free Spirit Scholar on Apr. 21, earning himself a five-day all-expenses-paid trip to the Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference in Washington, D.C, Jun. 24-29 and a $1,000 scholarship to the college of his choice.

As described by the founder of the conference, Al Neuharth, Free Spirits are people who “dream, dare and do.” Every year, one junior from each of the 50 states is chosen to be a Free Spirit Scholar based on their achievements in journalism. When Kim started his journey in journalism three years ago, he knew nothing about what he was getting into, and could only dream of accomplishing so much.

Now he is representing Minnesota.

Due to COVID-19, the conference has been held online for the past three years. But this year, the event welcomes back prospective journalists to the capitol. There, they will meet top journalists and visit landmarks in D.C., all the while meeting each other and developing essential skills to further their careers and become leaders in journalism.

Kim looks forward to this new experience, “I’m pretty excited and honored to have this opportunity. It’s pretty selective. So I’ll be able to meet and learn from other journalists from other states who are just as accomplished, maybe even more accomplished than me. You know, there’s always things to learn and people to learn from,” he said.

He had no idea the Free Spirit Conference existed until the Director of Publications Kathryn Campbell, his journalism adviser, encouraged him to apply. In the process of applying, along with letters of recommendation and two essays, he submitted three pieces of work: an article written on ChatGPT and educational values, an illustration displaying the consequences of consumerism, and the front page design from the culture issue of The Rubicon. Kim wanted to display the diverse skillset he developed from his three years of experience as a staff writer, sports editor, and most recently, Chief Visual Editor.

However, in order to step up to be a leader of The Rubicon as a new co-EIC, he believes that he still has some learning to do: “I feel like my whole life I have been more of a person who followed from the back, not up front directing and helping people. So, leadership is definitely a skill I’m gonna learn there,” Orion said.

He believes that these skills will help him succeed during his senior year and also carry on throughout his future life. Though Kim doesn’t know where he will attend college, he hopes to continue working in journalism as an extracurricular in his future school’s press.