1. What do you do?
As a case aide at the IRC, I interpret for Arabic or Spanish-speaking refugee clients to help them navigate their first months and years in the U.S.
I interpret in many situations, from doctor’s offices to work interviews. I help clients access crucial services such as government benefits, equitable healthcare, and affordable housing, and help them adjust and find employment to support themselves and eventually thrive in their new communities.
2. What’s the coolest part of your job?
Interacting with people from all over the world. In one day, I can help all kinds of people from the Arabic or Spanish-speaking worlds have important conversations across language and cultural barriers, directly contributing to the increased accessibility of quality service in the U.S. for limited English proficient speakers.
3. Why are you passionate about it?
I am passionate about languages and cultures and love connecting with and learning from people.
In my job, my research involves connecting with and learning more about people in order to facilitate communication and mutual understanding between two or more people who might not have enough knowledge of each other — be it in the linguistic or cultural sense or both — to communicate effectively.
I have worked for many years helping refugee populations, especially providing service to the Arab refugee community. In this way, I am also continuing my commitment to helping others in my job.
4. Which skills from your IAC degree have helped you be successful in this career?
So many skills from my degree apply to my work. Many of the guiding principles for an interpreter outlined by serious large language service providers are based on the principles I studied while earning my degree.
Every interpreter training I attend, or anytime I further my education in the field of interpretation and translation, I see the same principles I saw when my professors were guiding my research or giving lectures.
What I learned about identity and culture deeply and directly relates to the current qualms and quibbles, the aims and aspirations, and even the philosophies and practices of many organizations fighting for a more just and equitable society in the U.S., especially those working with vulnerable populations, like refugees.
Working in one of these organizations, I can say that the guiding principles I learned so deeply at Tech — sustainability, intersectionality, and intercultural sensitivity, to name a few — are the foundation upon which many minds are coming together to do good work. My understanding of these concepts from the great minds of my professors at Tech is something that I dip into daily.
5. What’s your #1 tip for students and alumni interested in your field?
Don’t give up on finding a way to do something you love. You might not be sure what you want your future to look like exactly, but if you are pursuing something you love, the thing you are searching for will come to you.
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