An HOLA Alumna of 2019 and a 2023 graduate of Wellesley College, Esther has a passion for Economics and is in search of her long-term career. Esther’s parents were Korean immigrants, and Esther sought out a community that reflected her family and her faith during her time at Heart of Los Angeles. She did this through the Mayor’s Youth Council (MYC) that “connected [her] with the political, social state, and local concerns… [and] encouraged [her] to speak about [her] family and [her] experience in the city.” She was the co-president of the Youth Drug Abuse Prevention Program (YDAPP) and engaged in the Koreatown community volunteering. She felt through Heart of LA, she was able to pursue her love for the arts, interview Angelenos, and join a group of students aiming for higher education. Esther says she found Boston hard to adjust to, so she stayed connected with the community she found in LA.
During college, Esther filled her time outside of class with community-based work that promoted the interests of Korean and Korean-American youth. She attended the Korean American Grassroots Conference (KAGC) in 2020, held multiple internships during her summers at the Koreatown Youth + Community Center as a Prevention Education Intern, and took a semester abroad at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea. On her college campus, Esther was a Wellesley Asian Alliance Senator, a student volunteer teaching girls in the local community about science, a Think Tank web designer, and a Student Aid Society Student Worker, which she continues to participate in today.
Esther is now an accountant at Seung Yol Kim Company and is working towards obtaining her CPA license.