22 Oct Do I have enough?
Background Growing up in Mexico, I spent all my Christmases with my paternal grandparents and with many of their fifteen children (my aunts and uncles) and their families. Needless to say, my sisters and I had tons of cousins and amazing holidays. Since all families...
03 Sep It’s Up in the Air
An open or shut case? A couple of weeks ago, a woman I was interpreting for started chatting with me before an interview, and she asked me if I had heard about upcoming plans to reopen the courthouse. During this conversation, she shared her view...
20 Aug Desarraigo (Uprooting)
Posted at 20:51h
in Community, Hilda Zavala-Shymanik, Immigration, Interpreters, Recent Posts, The Profession, Uncategorized
23 Comments
Uprooting While I was sitting on the couch with my mother, who is currently visiting me from Mexico, she sighed deeply, and when I asked her why she was sighing, she looked at me and said: “I so regret the decision I made years ago...
16 Jul Message from the Chair
Posted at 14:21h
in Janis Palma, NAJIT Affairs, Recent Posts, The Profession, Uncategorized
13 Comments
This message from the NAJIT Chair was originally published in the 2021 summer issue of Proteus, NAJIT’s Quarterly Newsletter. Dear NAJIT Members: For those of you who don’t know me, let me tell you a little bit about myself. I have been a member of...
04 Jun To be or not to be , that is the question…
Posted at 14:29h
in Court Interpreting, Ethics, Interpreting, Personal Growth, Recent Posts, Uncategorized
17 Comments
When I hear fellow interpreters say they entered the profession for their calling to help others, I worry. I guess, in a sense, we do help people. We are a communication bridge, making it possible for a voice to be heard in a different language....
23 Apr Virtually Impossible? The Opposite is True!
Posted at 12:45h
in Interpreting, NAJIT Affairs, NAJIT Conference, Odds & Ends, Personal Growth, Professional Development, Recent Posts
4 Comments
If I had been told a year ago that NAJIT’s Conference Committee would be organizing a remote event, I would not have believed it. The virtualization of “virtually” everything around us caught us all by surprise. It is a well-known fact that humans by our...
08 Jan Finding a Home at NAJIT
Posted at 01:00h
in Community, Language Associations, Leadership, NAJIT Affairs, Odds & Ends, Professional Development, Recent Posts, The Profession, Volunteer
7 Comments
Before becoming a staff interpreter in 2015, I freelanced for more than seven years. During that time, I exchanged information with every single interpreter I crossed paths with during assignments or in class (once I found interpreting courses). I was desperately searching for a sense...
28 Aug On Being a NAJIT Volunteer
Posted at 12:06h
in Community, Language Associations, Leadership, NAJIT Affairs, Odds & Ends, Professional Development, Recent Posts, The Profession, Volunteer
4 Comments
I used to think that to be an association volunteer you needed to be extraordinary, extremely qualified, have all sorts of accreditations, certifications, a long resume, and be known to all in the profession. However, all you need is to have the will, the time,...