-The Blog Team There were six of us in the Zoom breakout room: all of us interpreters, all members of the ATA’s Interpreter Division, and all logged in to spend some time with colleagues in the division’s Interpreter Connections. One interpreter in that breakout room had recently moved to the U.S. She had questions about practices and protocols in her new home state but didn’t … [Read more...]
Maya Hess: A path not planned
Maya Hess, forensic linguist and founder of Red T, grew up in the town of Wald (tr. “forest”), to the southeast of Zurich in Switzerland. Surrounded by forests, rolling hills, and a large, socially conscious family, Maya had a plan. She would be a journalist and document events for the rest of us. But life has a way of changing our plans. A different path After moving to the … [Read more...]
Prognosis for staff healthcare interpreters: The world is their oyster
By Marisa Rueda Will If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it is that change is inevitable. Perhaps that is why Gabriela Siebach’s 2021 ATA Conference presentation, Maintaining a Career as a Language Professional: An Endless Journey, caused me to reflect on how staff interpreters have been forced to unexpectedly reevaluate their career trajectories as a result … [Read more...]
Finding your power in ethical decision making
By Milena Calderari-Waldron How many times has a colleague approached you with, “The other day [fill in the blank] happened to me. What do you think I should have done?” When confronted with an ethical problem—as opposed to an ethical dilemma which is where one must choose between two conflicting codes, inevitably transgressing one of them—, one approach to answering the … [Read more...]
Lessons for the new year
Here we are. 2021 has staggered to a close and a new year has begun. COVID is still in the daily news, our professional world is still a constant mix of virtual and in-person, and we never did get our “old normal” back. In fact, it seems to me that we’re learning to hold this “new normal” lightly, knowing full well that it can change again at any time. As professionals, this … [Read more...]