Ellie Kim ’26 Represents Springfield Commonwealth Academy at Cambridge Judge Business School’s Ignite Young Minds Programme

Sean Hwang '26  • Aug 22, 2024

For many students, summer is a season of rest—a brief pause before another demanding academic year begins.

For Doyoung “Ellie” Kim ’26, however, the summer of 2024 became something much more than a break. It became a turning point: an intensive week of entrepreneurial learning and global collaboration that reflected both her personal ambition and Springfield Commonwealth Academy’s expanding international vision.

This past July, Ellie participated in the Ignite Young Minds Programme, a Learn with Leaders entrepreneurship programme delivered in partnership with the Entrepreneurship Centre at Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge. Held from July 28 to Aug 3, 2024, the programme brought together high school students from around the world for an immersive entrepreneurial bootcamp hosted in Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Ellie attended the programme as a representative of Springfield Commonwealth Academy, bringing the values, academic discipline, and leadership mindset cultivated at SCA into one of the most prestigious business and innovation environments in the world.

A Programme Built for Future Innovators

The Ignite Young Minds Programme is designed for high school students (Grades 9–12) who aspire to explore entrepreneurship, innovation, and leadership. Delivered through a rigorous full-time schedule, the programme combines lectures, workshops, mentorship, and team challenges to guide students through the real process of building and validating an idea.

Throughout the week, participants engage in a bootcamp-style experience where they are expected to think critically, work collaboratively, and respond quickly to feedback. The curriculum emphasizes skills that are essential not only for business, but also for leadership in any field: analytical thinking, creativity, communication, and the ability to influence others through clarity and vision.

Rather than learning entrepreneurship as a theory, students are trained to treat it as a practice—something that requires testing, revision, discipline, and resilience.

Ellie described the experience as demanding, but deeply rewarding.

“It wasn’t the type of programme where you sit and listen,” Ellie shared. “Every session pushed you to apply what you learned immediately. You had to think fast, collaborate well, and learn how to explain your ideas clearly. It felt like training for real life.”

Leadership at Springfield: A Natural Foundation

Within Springfield Commonwealth Academy, Ellie is already recognized as a student with strong leadership presence. She currently serves as the Vice President of Springfield Commonwealth Academy, a role that requires not only responsibility but also maturity and organizational skill. Ellie is involved in school-wide planning and student leadership initiatives, supporting the coordination of academic schedules, major student events, and overall campus activities. Her peers describe her as someone who does not seek attention, but consistently earns trust—someone who leads through reliability, preparation, and follow-through.

Even while based at the Seoul Campus, Ellie remains highly engaged with the SCA community. Students often describe her as approachable and responsive, someone who is genuinely happy to be contacted, whether for advice, guidance, or support.

“I always feel grateful when someone reaches out,” Ellie said. “It means they trust me. Even if I can’t solve everything immediately, I want to be someone who listens and helps them move forward.”

This mindset of leadership—service-driven, steady, and grounded—became a natural foundation for her experience at Cambridge.

From Springfield to Cambridge: Expanding Education into the World

One of the most meaningful aspects of Ellie’s participation is the way she treated the programme not as a separate “summer credential,” but as a continuation of her academic and leadership development at Springfield.

Ellie has long viewed Springfield’s unique educational structure as an opportunity—an environment where students can develop independence, global awareness, and academic discipline across multiple contexts. Rather than seeing her education as limited to one campus or one location, Ellie has consistently approached learning as something flexible, expandable, and deeply connected to real-world outcomes.

At Cambridge, she took what she had built at Springfield—her organizational leadership experience, her academic preparation, and her ability to communicate with clarity—and expanded it into a global environment.

Ellie used this experience as a launching point, transforming the business-oriented mindset and leadership skills she developed through Springfield’s programmes into an opportunity to engage with international peers and explore entrepreneurship on a broader stage.

In many ways, this is what made her experience especially meaningful: Ellie was not simply a student attending a programme. She was a student actively building a bridge between what she learned at Springfield and what she hopes to accomplish in the world.

An Intensive Bootcamp of Learning and Collaboration

Throughout the week, students participated in an immersive schedule that included:

• Academic lectures delivered through the Cambridge entrepreneurship framework

• Interactive workshops focused on innovation and problem-solving

• Mentorship-based sessions to apply lecture content to real entrepreneurial projects

• Team-building challenges and collaborative idea development

• Business planning exercises and financial awareness training

• Communication workshops focused on persuasive speaking and pitching

• Final pitch preparation and presentation to a panel of entrepreneurs and innovators

Students were placed into small teams and tasked with developing a business idea with real-world potential. This process required not only creativity, but also structure: students had to justify why their idea mattered, who it would help, and how it could realistically be developed.

Ellie shared that teamwork was one of the most challenging—but also one of the most rewarding—parts of the programme.

“It was the first time I worked in such an international group where everyone had different communication styles,” Ellie explained. “You learn quickly that leadership isn’t about talking the most. It’s about organizing ideas, listening carefully, and helping the group move toward something clear.”

The Importance of Communication: Ellie’s Standout Strength

A key component of the Ignite Young Minds Programme is learning how to communicate ideas with clarity and confidence. Students are repeatedly trained to pitch—not only in the final presentation, but throughout the programme as they receive feedback and refine their projects.

Ellie distinguished herself through her ability to express ideas in a persuasive and organized manner. Rather than presenting ideas as abstract dreams, she demonstrated the ability to speak in structured logic: identifying a problem, proposing a solution, explaining its impact, and supporting it with reasoning.

This ability reflects the leadership maturity she has already developed through her role at Springfield.

“Being in Cambridge made me realize that entrepreneurship is not just about having ideas,” Ellie shared. “It’s about learning how to test them, build them with a team, and communicate them in a way that other people can believe in.”

Her confidence and professionalism during discussions and presentations demonstrated that she was not simply absorbing information—she was actively learning how to apply it.

Cambridge’s Ecosystem: Learning Beyond the Classroom

In addition to academic learning, the programme also provided students with the opportunity to experience the broader Cambridge ecosystem. Students explored parts of the University of Cambridge environment, interacted with current students, and gained exposure to the culture of innovation that exists within the Cambridge academic community.

For Ellie, this setting reinforced a powerful message: that ideas can grow into real projects when supported by the right environment and network.

“Cambridge has this atmosphere where people are always building something,” Ellie said. “It made me think more seriously about what I want to create in the future, and how important it is to be surrounded by people who challenge you.”

A Reflection of SCA’s Global Mission

Ellie’s participation reflects Springfield Commonwealth Academy’s commitment to preparing students for an international future. SCA has consistently supported students in building academic strength alongside real-world leadership experiences, encouraging them to pursue opportunities that stretch beyond traditional classroom boundaries.

Ellie’s presence at Cambridge demonstrated that SCA students can thrive in competitive global environments—not only as participants, but as contributors who bring maturity, discipline, and vision.

In an era where global collaboration is becoming essential across industries, Ellie’s experience also highlights an important truth: leadership today requires the ability to adapt across cultures, communicate across differences, and remain grounded in purpose.

Ellie’s success at Cambridge reflects exactly that.

Recognition and Completion

At the end of the Ignite Young Minds Programme, Ellie received an official Certificate of Attendance from the Entrepreneurship Centre at Cambridge Judge Business School, recognizing her completion of the programme.

While the certificate is a meaningful credential, Ellie emphasizes that the experience itself was the real reward.

“The most valuable part wasn’t the paper,” she said. “It was the experience of learning how to think differently—how to approach problems in a way that feels practical and real.”

Looking Forward: A Student with a Global Mindset

Ellie’s Cambridge experience is not simply an impressive summer programme. It represents a larger trajectory—one shaped by consistent leadership, intellectual curiosity, and a desire to expand beyond familiar boundaries.

Whether serving as Vice President at Springfield Commonwealth Academy or collaborating with international peers in Cambridge, Ellie demonstrates the kind of mindset that defines true leadership: the ability to learn quickly, communicate clearly, and build trust in teams.

More importantly, Ellie continues to view her education not as something fixed, but as something expandable—something that can grow into the world.

Ellie has repeatedly shown that she does not treat opportunities as isolated achievements. Instead, she treats them as stepping stones—building a foundation through Springfield’s academic and leadership programmes, and then using that foundation to step confidently onto a global stage.

Springfield Commonwealth Academy congratulates Ellie Kim ’26 on this outstanding achievement. Her participation in the Ignite Young Minds Programme demonstrates not only academic ambition, but also the confidence and maturity to represent SCA in an international setting. Ellie’s story is a reminder that Springfield students are capable of far more than meeting expectations—they are capable of expanding boundaries, entering global communities, and carrying the values of SCA into the world with purpose. Through her Cambridge experience, Ellie has shown what it means to transform learning into action, and leadership into impact.

Springfield looks forward to seeing what she continues to build next.

Programme Overview: Ignite Young Minds

• Programme Name: Ignite Young Minds (Learn with Leaders Programme)

• Delivered In Partnership With: Entrepreneurship Centre, Cambridge Judge Business School (University of Cambridge)

• Dates: July 28 – Aug 3, 2024

• Location: Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge (Trumpington Street, Cambridge, UK)

• Format: Full-time, in-person programme

• Participants: High school students (Grades 9–12), international cohort

• Key Learning Areas:

  • Innovation and entrepreneurial mindset

  • Problem-solving and creative thinking

  • Business planning and financial awareness

  • Leadership and collaboration

  • Communication and persuasive pitching

  • Building networks and professional connections