Not just a translator but an advocate

After she and her sister found out about their father’s diagnosis in 2021, the two worked together to get the best care for him. 

“We had no time to process our own feelings,” Kim said. “I often wonder if my vigilance was perpetuated by being on guard, with my shields up, ready to fight for my parents at any given moment.”

Kim found herself in a whirlwind of decisions and challenges. Whether it was moving her father to a better hospital, ensuring he had a cancer specialist, or finding the correct Korean translation of medical terminology, Kim was experiencing a level of urgency she had never felt before.

“This sense of urgency was so unfamiliar, so much stronger than anything I had felt before. I was so scared, and sometimes, I really didn’t know what to do,” Kim said. “It’s that common point in many young adults’ lives when you are learning to care for your parents — in ways they have cared for you — for the first time.”

Although Kim sometimes felt lost, she reminded herself of her significance in her father’s life — she was not just his translator but his advocate.

“I was really translating care, not words. Any translator could’ve just been very literal, asking questions like ‘Is the cancer gone?’ or ‘What do we do now?’” Kim said. “But my sister and I can advocate for him, ask all the right questions, like ‘How can he take care of himself at home? ‘What should he eat?’ We became advocates, and the translator was just a secondary role.”

Looking back at that difficult period in her life, Kim understands the true power of translating for her father.

“To figure out his needs, to find the best care for him, all of that was so that I could help him be seen,” Kim said. “That’s what advocacy is all about.”