Jihu Lee

Jihu aspires to become a speech and language therapist. She is pursuing a double major in cognitive science and linguistics, reflecting her interest in how language shapes thought. She is bilingual in English and Korean.

She works on campus as a barista to help meet her expenses but also finds time to engage in extracurricular activities related to her double majors. She is active in the Cognitive Sciences Student Association and is the lead for their marketing and social media presence. She is also involved in the Peer Mentorship Program, where she works with three mentees providing academic guidance and support for navigating college life. She is also a research assistant at the Language and Cognition Lab on campus, where she facilitates the development of a Korean-English database for future lab study.

Off campus Jihu is an observer at schools in University City. Watching these speech therapy sessions has reinforced her desire to pursue that discipline. She also volunteers at J&S Pediatric Therapy, where she assists the speech and language specialists in creating engaging activities for the children.

Jihu juggles these activities while maintaining top grades; she was awarded the E. Coke Hill Scholarship last year.

Her other passion is music. She has spent years studying piano, and joined the pit orchestra for Muir Musical. She believes that this experience strengthened her ability to “collaborate, focus under pressure, and adapt to unpredictable challenges in live performances.”

Jihu believes that “balancing academics, research, leadership roles, and work” has taught her “resilience and adaptability.” On a more personal level, she hopes to be someone who “listens, communicates and connects with others in a meaningful way.” She is enrolled in Sixth College.