A Year of Self-Discovery Sparks a Passion for Hospitality
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY RICHARD HOLKAR
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hen Hyungtae Kim ’15 learned he had been accepted to the University of Pennsylvania, the school of his dreams, he couldn’t help but wonder if he was truly prepared to take advantage of everything college would offer him. In his last semester at Hotchkiss, Kim took Emma Wynn’s class on East Asian religions, which opened his eyes to a new way of experiencing the world. He was raised a Catholic, and as he struggled to find his footing after leaving Hotchkiss, Asian philosophy struck a chord with him. “I fell in love with what I now realize was a very romanticized image of India, Hinduism, and Buddhism,” Kim reflected. “I saw the opportunity to explore Eastern spirituality as a chance to run away from everything that I knew.” Through the Office of International Programs, Kim learned about a hospitality internship at Ahilya Fort, a hotel in Maheshwar province owned since 1971 by Richard Holkar ’62. So he decided to defer enrollment at Penn to take a fivemonth internship at the hotel. For Kim, the decision was dramatic — he was moving halfway across the world to a place where he didn’t speak the language, and he’d never worked in a hotel before. He remembers sitting in the car on the two-hour ride from the airport in Indore to Maheshwar, wondering what he’d gotten himself into. But once he arrived at Ahilya Fort and became swept up in the rush of hotel life — greeting guests, helping with events and weddings, and meeting people from all over the world — Kim started to feel at home. “There was never a typical day,” he said. “We had designers from Balenciaga, grandfather clock technicians driving cross-country in a vintage Lanchester carrying eight kilograms of parmesan, and even former Hotchkiss head of schools. Each guest made every day different. Not a single day went by in my five months there in which I did not see, learn, or live something new.” Holkar spoke highly of Kim’s work at Ahilya Fort. “Hyungtae has the ideal temperament for someone in the hospitality
“I had these sublime occasions that were just filled with the brilliance of the present.” — H Y U N G TA E K I M ’ 1 5 business — friendly and efficient with a good sense of humor,” Holkar said. “He was a star.” After completing his internship at Ahilya Fort, Kim spent a few months in a monastery in South Korea, where he deepened his understanding of Buddhism. This spring, he returned to the U.S., and before he starts at Penn this fall, he’s decided to pursue another hotel internship over the summer, either in New York City or Hoboken, N.J. But Kim’s time at Ahilya Fort gave him more than just a vocational direction; in
his daily routine at the hotel, he found Zen-like peace. “I had these sublime occasions that were just filled with the brilliance of the present,” he said. “Like a bus ride from Indore to Maheshwar, looking out the open window as the sun set, filling my lungs with the country air.” — Chelsea Edgar
Kim, far left, with Ahilya Fort guests
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