Chloe Kim is fast, brave and gifted. The snowboarding champion became the youngest woman, at 17, to win an Olympic gold medal in the halfpipe competition in last year's Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Beginning next term, Kim, who grew up in California, will join Princeton University’s Class of 2023.
Kim will study sciences at the Ivy League university in New Jersey. And she says she'd like to make it as normal as possible after becoming one of America’s top Olympians, and ESPY Award winner.
While all of this was fun, Kim says she now looks forward to her new challenge - earning a degree from one of America’s top universities. She says she considers her acceptance to Princeton just as much of an honor as earning an Olympic gold medal.
“It’s really crazy because Princeton was my dream school before snowboarding took off,” Kim told the Associated Press. “I just liked the name when I was really young and didn’t know about college or anything. My parents were like, ‘OK, whatever.’ When it really happened, it’s like, ‘Oh ... OK.’ It’s just really exciting.”
She is still deciding what her exact field of study will be at Princeton. But she said it will involve something science-related, possibly chemistry or biology. And she does not plan to put her snowboard away anytime soon. She is attempting to work out a plan that will permit her to keep training while going to classes.
Kim says her sports and educational goals go hand-in-hand.
“It’s all about progressing the sport and also pushing myself,” she said. “To see what I can do, and how far I can go.”