Jin-Kim Family Crest

Family History

The Jin-Kim family began in recent years with the marriage of Linda Jin and Elice Kim. The couple originally met in Seattle, and following a private marriage moved to Italy. The early years of their acquaintance were marked by chance encounters and brief but happy exchanges on the streets of Seattle as well as the classrooms of the University of Washington. The pair first hit it off at the Academy of Young Scholars Welcome Reception, when Linda fatefully chose a seat next to the alluring Elice in an auditorium filled with empty seats. The subsequent establishment of a shared acquaintance sealed the budding friendship. However, the relationship did not take a serious turn until their third year, when the two found each other, again fatefully, often sitting together in Biochemistry. Most mornings began with Elice eating a poppy seed muffin and Linda commenting on how Elice was once again eating a poppy seed muffin. Then, in the cold winter of that third year, a freak snow-storm and suspended bus routes forced Elice to spend the night in Linda’s apartment. Of course after that weather-induced romantic night, marriage was a must. The two then wed and lived happily ever after in Rome.

About our Crest

The strip of blue water running down the center of our crest represents the Tiber River. On one side of the river, there is a partial map of Trastevere where our apartment was. The two of us lived on Via San Francesco di Sales in a small, but cozy apartment near many artisans and, as we later found out, a penitentiary. The dark, grayish-blue background stands for our nightlife, which mainly consisted of late dinners and preparing for the next day’s adventures.

On the other side, a picture of cobblestones and a yellow flower represent the Campo de’ Fiori (“Field of Flowers”). We thought the cobblestones were appropriate since we spent so much time walking/tripping on them. The flower has 5 petals (5 weeks of the program) and is centralized because we spent much of our time there (and also for compositional purposes). The background is red like marinara sauce because of the many, many pasta dishes we consumed during our stay.

Every day, we crossed the Tiber via Ponte Mazzini to get from Trastevere to the Campo de’ Fiori and back. A bridge in the center represents this connection and gives a sense of unity as it spans from one side of the crest to the other.

We included books in the bottom section of our crest to symbolize our student status as well as our interest in reading. It also represents how we spent most of our time—learning about and “reading” the city of Roma. The sun was the inspiration for the yellow background of this section. We were fortunate to have wonderful weather almost every day as we learned and explored. Ah, Roma.