Her Story
About Adriana
I have been working in the interpreting field for 25 years. I started my career as a preschool teacher in Argentina, and when I came to the USA, I studied English and became a teacher assistant for the Dual Immersion Program. While taking classes to become a legal interpreter, I discovered educational interpretation and successfully applied for that position, where I worked for a long time. I then went back to school to get my certificate in professional interpreter and translator, which opened other doors and verified that I knew what I was doing. After the pandemic, I obtained a certificate from UC San Diego, and I'm currently finalizing the requirements to get my medical certification. I decided to become a freelance interpreter to be my own boss, and now I handle medical, educational, and community interpretations. My day-to-day varies greatly - I can go to a hospital, a school, a doctor's office, or work remotely. I'm my own boss, my own secretary, my own scheduler, handling everything from the actual interpretation work to all the paperwork, mileage, and parking documentation needed to get paid.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Adriana
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to the necessity of keeping going - you don't have other choices. You can't just say 'I'll do it' or 'I'll think about it' or 'I'm too scared.' You have to try, so I keep trying and trying. Even though I had the job, I went to school and got my formal education, which opened other doors and verified that I knew what I was doing. Sometimes you need to keep going even if you're scared - there is no other choice. I came to this country with no family, I was married and got divorced, and I had a little kid, so I had to keep on going. When I decided to change my job, I had to keep on going. Nobody's going to do it for you. Now that my daughter is older and an adult, I can risk it a little bit more, but yeah, taking risks sometimes - calculated risks - they pay off.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I ever received was to keep going with what I feel and what I think is right - like the correct term or translation - just keep using it and keep going. I had a lot of ups and downs in my career with people that, unfortunately, were not trained to do their job. But one of my teachers knew that I was prepared to do this, so she told me to keep doing it. If you think it's right, keep doing it. Keep going for it.
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