Lan Sung

Lan's journey into interpreting began with a magazine article she stumbled upon in middle school. It featured a conference interpreter based in Shanghai who described a lifestyle that immediately captured her imagination: working intensively for just a few months each year, then spending the rest of her time skiing in the Alps or exploring the world. She remembers thinking, "That's not just a career, that's a way of living."

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Around the same time, she realized that language was where she naturally thrived. Chinese and English felt intuitive and almost effortless, especially compared to math and physics. Pairing that ease with the inspiring glimpse of freedom she'd read about, she realized she'd found her path.

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Today, what keeps the work endlessly fascinating is the constant shift in domains. On any given week, she might be in a multi-day EMBA class on foundation models and AI applications, and a few months later interpreting depositions about the chemical composition and manufacturing process of glass in an intellectual property case. That intellectual demand is precisely what makes it rewarding.

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When asked about her most memorable assignments, Lan finds it hard to choose just one. Some stand out because of the subject matter, some because of the stakes in the room, and others because of the connection she felt with the people she was interpreting for and with. Those moments remind her why she chose this path in the first place.