Profile Written by: Ben Hollingshead, Volunteer
The Words Alive 2023 Language Accessibility Volunteer of the Year awardee Esther Kim is a gifted translator and editor who works on translating Words Alive reading kits from English to Korean.
Originally from Daegu, South Korea, Esther’s family moved to northern Virginia when she was very young. While Esther finds it hard to pinpoint what sparked her interest in reading, she knows it started when she immigrated to the United States. “At a time of drastic transition from one place to another (and from one language to another), I often found solace in literature.” Esther found immersing herself in the world of the characters in the novels to be a comforting and enriching experience that sustained and reinvigorated her. After high school, she went to Georgetown University for her undergraduate degree in Accounting and Japanese, and she spent a few years after graduating in public accounting. She is enjoying a gap year before she attends Columbia Law School this fall.
Esther found Words Alive on Volunteer Match as she was looking to work on something meaningful during her gap year. Since she started to volunteer with Words Alive in July 2022, she has completed nine translations and edited four translated drafts. In talking about what her volunteer work means to her, Esther shared that she gets a lot of joy and fulfillment knowing that the work she does as a translator is shared with Korean families in San Diego, families who share her background and upbringing. Esther believes that “reading is one of the best ways to immerse in the lives of others while appreciating the beauty of language. I volunteer with Words Alive to help cultivate a love for literature and reading among students and their families.”
This extraordinary volunteer loves to ski in her spare time, is a massive fan of the X-Games, and listens to Japanese rock. Esther, thank you for all your hard work, and congratulations on winning the Language Accessibility Volunteer of the Year!
Book Recommendation: Esther is currently reading Island by Aldous Huxley. Some of her other recommendations include: The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler, The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon, and The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner