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Azia Kim is my hero

May 25th, 2007 by

Straight from Jim Zhuang @ Google China comes one of the more hilarious education fraud stories that has come across my IM window.

azia_kim.jpg

IMPOSTER CAUGHT

High school graduate pretends to be a Stanford student, even living in the dorms, buying textbooks and ‘studying’ for exams

Azia Kim was like any other Stanford freshman. She graduated from one of California’s most competitive high schools last June, moved into the dorms during New Student Orientation, talked about upcoming tests and spent her free time with friends.

Azia Kim allegedly climbed through this first-floor window in Okada to sleep during spring quarter. The 18-year-old was evicted after her ruse was uncovered Monday night.

The only problem is that Azia Kim was never a Stanford student.

Kim, an 18-year-old from Orange County who graduated from Fullerton’s Troy High School, lived in Kimball throughout fall and winter quarter. She lived in Okada, the Asian-American theme dorm, until Monday night, when University staff finally caught onto her ruse.

…

I always knew that this was possible, given how lax security is on college campuses. I just didn’t think someone would actually carry this through! Now let’s hope Stanford doesn’t over-react in its response.

I am a big proponent of colleges having “open classrooms”. By that I mean, anyone who wants to attend class, whether a student or not, should be allow to attend. The students are really paying for the diploma anyway. Afterall, colleges are suppose to spread knowledge and produce our next generation of leaders, why not let those who want to learn.. learn?

Unfortunately, Azia Kim went overboard when she decided to move into University Housing. Her “roommate” is actually pretty cute:

amy_zhou1.jpg

But seriously, how do you not know something is amiss.. when she’s going through windows every day.

Still, Kim had neither a Stanford ID nor a key, forcing her to sneak into meals and enter her room through its window, which overlooked the Munger construction pit, the Wilbur parking lot and a dumpster, three feet off the ground. Zhou never noticed, as she spent nearly all her nights in her boyfriend’s room.

The Stanford Daily later posted another article poking fun at the situation. There’s some prized quotes in this one as well.

Dear Ms. Azia Kim . . .

I tip my hat to you. Many of us actual Stanford students read your story in awed delight yesterday, but I for one saw through the carefully orchestrated deceit to the underlying genius of your plan. You are an American heroine for managing to pull a fast one on so many of us who considered ourselves the best and the brightest. Turning lemons into lemonade — or rather, I should say, a free college education — is no easy feat, but you, Ms. Azia Kim are a mastermind, deserving to be ranked up there with Frank Abagnale and D.B. Cooper as one of the greatest con artists of the 20th century.

…

The only drawbacks to your plan were the potential ramifications for your roommate from Okada — her parents just found out that their daughter was sleeping with her boyfriend so much that she practically wasn’t even in the room they were paying for. Oy. I know my parents would kill me. I can’t even imagine what hers will do to her.

…

That . is . just . priceless .

UPDATE: Since someone asked, here‘s the PDF copy of “Dear Ms. Azia Kim” from Google Cache, since the actual article got taken down.

UPDATE 2: It seems like the Stanford Daily didn’t completely take down Dear. Ms. Azia Kim, but rather updated the article with the new title “Dear Ms. Kim“

Posted in Academia, Fraud, funny, Jokes

  • terence

    They should admit her, and let her graduate. (And don’t let me hear anything about “what if she can’t keep her grades up?” Everyone knows the grades at Stanford are inflated.)

    Then she would learn that a Stanford diploma is worth . . . just about the same as every other college diploma, which you don’t need to pay $50,000 a year for.

  • etametabetafeta

    terence sounds jealous that he couldn’t manage to get himself into a stanford/ivy league caliber school. tell me, if every diploma is worth just about the same, why is it that me and my friends from a certain unnamed elite college were able to score prestigious jobs on wall street that pay nearly $200k/year straight out of college while other friends who didn’t go to an elite college got mediocre jobs at second-rate firms that don’t even come close?

    why is it that so many of my friends from said elite college went on to law school, medical school, and Ph.D. programs at ivy league institutions/stanford/caltech/MIT while those of my friends with diplomas from less prestigious universities say the percentage of graduates attending such institutions from their colleges are so much lower?

    yeah, a diploma from an elite institution is worth much more than one from an average institution, but i guess you’d never know that since you’ve never attended a prestigious college. tell me, what do you do for a living? and what do your friends from college do for a living? how many of them are on their way to being at the forefront of their chosen professions? yeah, that’s what i thought

  • compassionate student

    as a stanford student, i got curious about this whole to-do since i’m off-campus right now and i’ve lived in that dorm for three years (and i know the roommate). yeah, the roommate probably didn’t take time to get to know her “freshman” roommate–housing does NOT assign freshmen to upperclass rooms. smart one. also, if you keep assuming everyone is who they say they are, you’re going to be in big trouble one day. that goes for the whole fracking student body. if you never find out your roommate’s stanford ID or wonder if she doesn’t have a key at all…or if you leave your door/windows open instead of closed and locked, then you’re already asking for trouble.

    azia broke a bunch of laws, but i think given the circumstances, she should not be prosecuted–the publicity will hurt her enough already. just let her go…give her counseling and make sure her parents don’t kill her. everyone needs a break at least once in life, and i think azia could use one right now.

  • Simfish InquilineKea

    Does anyone still have the Dear Ms. Azia Kim . . . article? I loved it so much – but failed to save it before it got deleted =/. If so can you please e-mail me at simfish@gmail.com? Thanks

  • http://www.jackpo.org JackPo

    wow, I usually don’t pick sides on comments, but etametabetafeta is absolutely outrageous.

    Why all the personal attacks?

    It’s true that prestigious institutions afford you more opportunities, but they aren’t offered so that you can be an elitest prick. Those of us blessed with these opportunities should go out and help others!

    (P.S. judging by Terence’s IP address, I’d imagine he’s doing quite well for himself).

  • etametabetafeta

    perhaps i jumped the gun, but it gets on my nerves when people who went to a less-than-great school try to rip on the better schools due to a massive inferiority complex, regardless of the fact that no one said anything about where they went to school

  • terence

    okay, etametabetafeta, you got me.

    I went to UCLA. Sure, it’s not one of the snooty elites, and sure, it’s a public school. But I object to your automatic assumption that merely it’s “less than great.”

    I am a government attorney. I attended a U.C. law school, where one of my classmates was a Stanford grad. She was intelligent and sharp witted. She practiced for four years and then quit to become a mom. Before government work, I was in private practice, where two other attorneys were Stanford grads. They were good attorneys, but nothing exceptional.

    I don’t doubt that the top-flight schools have their excellent alumni. But, it’s not the Stanford diploma that gets them there. It’s the personal qualities that got them admitted into Stanford to begin with. They would have been excellent no matter where they went.

    Your post went on a little bender, when all I was trying to point out was that the mere FACT of a Stanford diploma is meaningless. It’s the person, not the paper, that counts.

    Your response, however, is more telling.

    TS.

  • etametabetafeta

    I apologize for being a fucking jerk and a stupid elitist prick. Me and all my friends who attend these certain unnamed elite colleges like to put people down in order to make ourselves feel better. We graduates of unnamed elite colleges also have massive egos and enjoy making others feel inferior. I’m just an asshole and one day, I will become a white collar criminal just like all my friends who graduated from certain unnamed elite colleges.

    XOXO HTFH

  • tewkewl

    Well. honestly, the elite edu-ma-cation you receive at a place like stanford isn’t measured in dollars and cents. Your college education is what molds you as an individual. It teaches you critical thinking skills. It teaches you how to think and solve problems, period.

    I went to an undisclosed ivy league institution, and went on to grad school at a prestigious but public university. During my time in grad school, i took some undergrad courses just for the heck of it and got to spend time with some of the undergraduates.

    I must say that the difficulty of the undergrad coursework at the ivy institution was several degrees higher than the coursework at the prestigious public university i attended. In fact, even the grad classes were vastly simpler than my undergrad courses were. Also students I spent time with during my undergrad days were definately a cut above the undergrads I spent time with at the public school i attended.

    The amount of concentrated talent amassed at any of the top 10 or so elite undergraduate programs in this country is simply astounding. I really feel that at least 50% of what I learned as an undergrad, I learned from these very special individuals.

    It was a privilege to spend four years amidst such excellent individuals.

    The subject matter of the conversations I had with my undergrad peers was also very different than the ones I had with the undergrads at the grad school i attended. There was more academic curiosity and a thirst for debate, discussion, and learning that I haven’t experienced in the 11 years since I graduated (except for when I go to social groups/gatherings full of ivy level folks…).

    But at the end of the day, talking like Fraiser and being interested in obscure historical events is no better than talking about how kobe bryant prefers icyhot to bengay… it comes down to what you like to do. One thing is for sure… The people I went to college with NEVER turned into snooty snobs. They are just regular folks, who often prefer the company of the “workin folks” of the world over the white collar super stars (as do i!). Any snootiness vanishes within a few years of graduating… unless you’re a vain idiot.

    By the way, UCLA is a fine institution. Is it harvard, or dartmouth, or columbia or whatever? no. but i would send my kids there if they wanted to go!

  • Michael

    I graduated from the UCLA Electrical Engineering program.

    I don’t understand why an “ivy league” school is better, is it because US News and World reports says so?

    Haven’t had any trouble finding work in my field of interest, nor making a good living, nor anything else that would be fixable with an “ivy league” education.

    But then again I don’t have an insatiable ego to feed either :)

  • Anonymous

    It is a great introduction of Azia Kim. I am really impressed by her life style. I also like her attitude and positiveness about study. She also looks cute and beautiful.

    student travel