Mentoring an up & coming interpreter
by Susanne Evens
Kaliah and I met in 2020 through the St. Louis Hillman Scholars Program, becoming the first translation industry mentor for an aspiring interpreter for this particular program.
Kaliah, an incoming freshman at Loyola in New Orleans, has a strong desire for a career in interpretation. Despite Covid restrictions, we communicated via Zoom and met in person when she visited her home = St. Louis.
During our last meeting, she shared her excitement about leaving for a study abroad exchange program in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but expressed her nervousness about communicating in Spanish. I encouraged her, saying that immersing herself in the language was the best way to learn it fluently.
For almost 20 years, we have been working with our amazing team in Buenos Aires.
I introduced Kaliah to Carolina (picture below), in case she needed local support during her exchange program.
In her first communication, Kaliah shared that the orientation was interesting but mentally tiring since she had never engaged in Spanish for that long. She found it fascinating that despite everyone having different mother tongues, they had to communicate in Spanish to understand each other. Kaliah was having fun, making new friends, and noticing an improvement in her Spanish skills. She even overcame her fear of talking to native speakers.
Kaliah also mentioned meeting with Carolina, who was sweet and helpful, just as I had said. Kaliah and Carolina's daughter planned to see a musical at her theater, which they both looked forward to.
Carolina shared her experience with Kaliah, saying that despite the terrible heat, Kaliah came to their neighborhood on her own by subway. They visited a temple and found out the service times. Afterwards, they had lunch at a local "parrilla" so that Kaliah could taste the real Argentinian grilled meat Asado. Carolina even shared a picture of their meal (picture above) and one with Kaliah and her (picture below).
Before publishing this newsletter, I sent it Carolina for review and she came back with this:
We have adopted Kali as our own “exchange student”. Last week she was away visiting Salta, and she will be cooking with us again next weekend (her soup was a success, and we will be making empanadas as well). Her Spanish comprehension improves every week, and her speaking has improved 1000%.
She is conscientious and diligent, and I love her questions about usage and grammar.
I admire that mentoring program in St. Louis and would love to have something like that here.
Our daughter is trying to convince Kali to come back sometime and live with us for another term!
Since 2008, I've been mentoring a diverse range of individuals from immigrants to university students and entrepreneurs. My goal is to help them overcome challenges that I have faced and to offer different perspectives that can aid in their growth.
Mentoring has become a way for me to give back and make a positive impact on the lives of others. It's also helped me to gain a broader understanding of the world through the eyes of those I mentor. Each mentee brings a unique set of experiences and challenges that require an individualized approach to problem-solving.
Through these mentorship relationships, I've discovered the rewards of seeing someone else succeed and thrive, thanks in part to my guidance and support. It's a fulfilling experience to watch someone overcome their fears and doubts, achieve their goals and reach their full potential.
In summary, mentoring is a way for me to pay it forward while gaining a fresh perspective and personal growth. It's a mutually beneficial relationship that fosters learning, development, and success for both mentor and mentee.
It gives me such great pleasure to mentor this intelligent young lady, hungry for learning about the language industry. I feel like I have a protégée and that I have this purpose of passing on the knowledge! Thank you Hillman Scholars Program for bringing Kaliah into my life.
