May 14, 2026, Seward Folly Staff

Somi Clendaniel, a graduating senior from Seward High School, has had an unusual and difficult path leading up to receiving her diploma next week. Some of her earliest memories are in South Korea, caring for her younger siblings in a small apartment near their school.

“It was just me and my two little siblings and my parents weren’t really around,” she recalls.

But after a tumultuous childhood spanning multiple continents, from Seoul to Fairbanks, and eventually Seward, Somi will walk across that stage with a heart full of hope, thankfulness, and resolve.

“As we continue our mission to support talented students with financial need, we are proud to recognize this year’s cohort of Cooke College Scholars,” said Seppy Basili, Chief Executive Officer of the Cooke Foundation. “These students have demonstrated extraordinary academic achievement and leadership. We are excited to celebrate them as they move forward in pursuing their educational and professional ambitions.”

The Scholarship provides more than just financial support. Scholars receive comprehensive advising, access to enrichment opportunities, and a vibrant network of fellow scholars and alumni. After completing their undergraduate degrees, they can apply for additional funding for graduate study. Somi, who will attend the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, says, “I wrote a paper for that scholarship about how I want to make change in the future through medicine.”

The selection committee was moved by her ability to transform adversity into hope: “They were very taken by how I was able to apply what happened to me into something positive.”

But Somi’s achievements don’t stop at the scholarship. Her cheerleading squad took high honors this spring. This summer, just as she turns 18, she’ll attend the FutureDocs Abroad program in Athens, Greece — a two-week honors program for aspiring physicians that offers hands-on experience rarely available to high school students.

“I am excited to expand my knowledge in medicine and to experience the lives of physicians firsthand,” Somi says.

In Athens, she’ll join students from across the U.S. to observe surgeries in real operating rooms, learn dissection techniques in the gross anatomy lab, and shadow doctors in emergency rooms, clinics, and wards spanning over a dozen specialties, including pediatrics, surgery, orthopedics, and OB/GYN. The program is designed to identify and nurture the next generation of leaders in medicine by providing early, in-depth exposure to the medical field.

Now, with the support of her guardians, Jodi and Rob Kurtz, Somi is looking ahead.

“I have a bed, and a pink comforter and everything, and I have a car that I can drive around. I’m just truly blessed,” she says.

She credits her faith for helping her see purpose in the hardship she and her siblings endured before arriving in the Kurtz family. 

 “I’m Christian. But I know that…. so many things had to happen to be where I am… Like, my difficulties with my parents, … there was a reason everything happened in my past, for me to be moved around all over the states — at the end of the day, that’s what got us here, to this house, with the people that I truly have gotten to love and care about.”

-Somi Clendaniel

 

With college and new opportunities on the horizon, Somi tries to hold onto that sense of perspective.

“I’m going to go to Wisconsin, to Eau Claire for college. I’m going to Greece this summer — like, all these things happened for me to be where I am today. And I’m trying to apply that to my future, just go with the flow, because at the end of the day, there’s a plan and there are things for me to do. That’s another reason why I want to be a doctor. So people can experience these things. So I can get them to the next part of their lives where there are things waiting for them. I have deep empathy for others.”

-Somi Clendaniel

Somi clearly understands that this care for others comes, in part, from her difficult childhood. She also thinks that insight will help as she steps into leadership roles in the medical field in her future. 

Despite it all, Somi remains close to her siblings, Sean and Sobina.

“We know each other’s deepest, darkest secrets, or what every micro expression means,” she says. “I know I’m never going to get that kind of relationship with anybody else.”

Asked how she keeps moving forward, Somi says, “If I’m sitting here sad and mad or frustrated that I ended up with these difficulties, then I’m letting my hard past win. That’s another part of my competitive piece. If I follow my past, I’m just giving it all the power. So, I think I’ll channel that energy into what I’m going to do next.”

With her sights set on medicine and a world of new experiences ahead, Somi Clendaniel is determined to use her earned wisdom, her hard work, and her scholarship — not only to build her own future, but to help others find theirs.