Michelle Yeojin Kim says her oldest passion is bringing her imagination into reality. In kindergarten, she liked to draw; in elementary school, she liked to freestyle her own LEGO creations; in high school, she liked to play music. Today she is an experienced hackathon organizer pursuing a career in game development.

First finding her way to coding in high school, Michelle attended a weekly game development club, collaborating with other students to design a simple RPG. Motivated by that first experience with coding, she signed up for multiple computer science courses her freshman year at the University of British Columbia. 

When she was convinced by her friends to participate in nwHacks 2019, Michelle was initially nervous, and decided to volunteer at nwHacks that first year rather than participate. While there, Michelle felt inspired seeing more than 800 hackers all learning, building, and connecting. From that experience, one of her goals within the hacker community has been to “cultivate a healthy hackathon culture.” She joined nwPlus shortly after, wanting to make an impact on some of the largest hackathons in northwestern Canada. In addition to memorable experiences she wants to share with others, the hacker community to Michelle has meant “ever-lasting friendships, leadership skills, and organizing and public speaking skills.” Having initially been nervous herself to attend nwHacks, she saw an opportunity to help others overcome their fears of attending hackathons.

With nwPlus, she has served as logistics coordinator, logistics director, and co-president. She organized both nwHacks 2021 and 2022, supporting more than 2,500 hackers worldwide to “unleash their imagination and potential.” Michelle, with her team, attempted multiple initiatives that would enhance hacker, sponsor, and mentor engagement in online hackathons. These initiatives included a new format for sponsor Q&As and booths, a hacker information package, and increased mentor awards and mentor-specific events.

Between the 2021 and 2022 hackathons, Michelle’s favorite memory with the organization has been nwHacks 2022, where she says she “adored…hearing from the hackers and mentors who came back from last year’s hackathon.” Several hackers had become best friends and were hacking on the same team this second time around. Others had hacked with friends the year before but had decided to step out of their comfort zones and hack with strangers at the 2022 event. She continues to serve as co-president of nwPlus while working as a front-end developer at Later.

While Michelle is better known for her contributions to the hacker community as a hackathon organizer, she has participated in hackathons as a hacker as well. Seeking to understand what a “good hackathon experience” would feel like from the other side, Michelle began competing as a hacker after volunteering at nwHacks 2019 and cmd-f 2019. Entering senior year of her computer science undergraduate program and excelling academically, Michelle continues to give back to the hacker community as both a hacker and an organizer.