4. Taeyeon was born in the city of Jeonju, North Jeolla
on March 9, 1989. She was trained in singing and
dancing. Taeyeon was discovered in the 2004 SM
Entertainment's 8th Annual Best Contest winning
Best Singer 1st Place & Grand Award in the contest.
Then, she was trained at SM for 5 years and
3 months. In 2004, she was featured in The One's
song "You Bring Me Joy" before debuting as Girls'
Generation leader. She is a 2008 graduate of Jeonju
Art High School and was decorated by the Lifetime
Achievement Award of the high school.
5. Jessica was born in San Francisco, California on
April 18, 1989.She auditioned at the SM
Entertainment Casting System and joined the
company in 2000.Her younger sister, Krystal Jung,
is a member and one of the lead vocalists of girl
group f(x).
6. Sunny was born in America. Sunny lived in Kuwait
when she was young. However, her family then moved to
South Korea because of the Gulf War. Her father was in
the college band Hwaljooro with Bae Chul-soo. She is the
niece of Lee Soo Man, the founder of SM
Entertainment.In 1998, Sunny entered Starlight
Entertainment and became a trainee for 5 years before
transferring to Starworld where she became a member of a
duet called "Sugar" which never debuted.In 2007, she was
then recommended by the singer Ahyoomee, who
transferred to SM Entertainment.After several months of
training under SM Entertainment, Sunny debuted as a
member of Girls' Generation that same year.
7. Tiffany was born in Los Angeles, California, and
grew up in Diamond Bar as the youngest of three
siblings. She auditioned at the SM Starlight
Casting System and joined the company in October
2004 in Los Angeles. She was trained at SM for
3 years and 7 months. Although Tiffany graduated
from Korea Kent Foreign School in April 2007, she
had attended primary and secondary schools in
California - South Pointe Middle School (US) and
Diamond Bar High School (US). Tiffany speaks
both fluent English and Korean.
8. Hyoyeon was born in Incheon, South Korea on September 22,
1989. She is ambidextrous and grew up with her parents and
her younger brother Kim Min Gu. She auditioned for SM
Entertainment at the age of 11 through SM 2000 Casting
System and trained for 6 years and one month. She's the
fourth longest SM-trained Girls' Generation member after
Jessica (7 years and 6 months), Yoona (7 years and two
months) and Seohyun (6 years and 6 months). Hyoyeon
herself said she had no intentions to audition. Her mother was
a fan of SM Entertainment's boy band H.O.T. and brought
her to the SM offices in the hopes, perhaps, of seeing them. For
her audition, Hyoyeon danced. In 2004, she was sent to study
Mandarin Chinese in Beijing, China alongside with Choi
Siwon.
9. Yuri was born in Goyang, South Korea on December
5, 1989. She auditioned at the SM Casting System
and joined the company in 2001 after finishing in
second place in the 2001 SM Youth Best Dancer
Contest. She then underwent training for 5 years
and 11 months before her debut. She graduated from
NeungGok High School in 2008 and is currently
attending at Chung-Ang University along with
band mate Sooyoung and Big Bang's Seungri.
10. Sooyoung was born in Gwangju, Gyeonggi, South Korea
on February 10, 1990. She was discovered on SM Casting
System via the 2000 SM Open Audition. She then
auditioned for the 2002 Korea-Japan Ultra Idol Duo
Audition and won first place, marking her debut into the
Japanese music scene with the band Route 0.Sooyoung
graduated from Jungshin Women High School (Korean:
정신 여자 고등학교) in 2009 and is currently majoring
in performing arts and theater at Chung-Ang
University. After winning first place in the 2002 Korea-
Japan Ultra Idol Duo, Sooyoung was sent to Japan and
debuted as a member of the duo Route 0, alongside
Marina Takahashi. The band released three singles:
"Waku! Waku! It's Love,“ "Start," and "Painting,"
11. Im Yoona was born in Seoul, South Korea on May 30,
1990. At a young age, she auditioned at the SM
Saturday Open Casting Audition and joined the
company in 2002. She began to train with the other
trainees under the same company in the areas of acting,
singing and dancing. She trained for seven years and
two months before debuting as part of Girls' Generation.
She is a 2009 graduate of Daeyoung High School and is
currently attending Dongguk University majoring in
theatre and music. As of 2010, her fellow member,
Seohyun, also attends this university and is majoring
on the same course as her.
12. Seohyun was born on June 28, 1991, in Seoul, South
Korea as an only child. She attended Seoul Middle
School and Daeyoung High School, from which she
graduated on February 9, 2010 with the Achievement
Award and currently attends Dongguk University
like her fellow member, Yoona. Seohyun's major is
acting. She has been taking lessons on jazz piano.