What I’ve Learned So Far Interning As An Interpreter
An internship that has already taught me so much in a week and with lessons that I will always carry with me.
I have just recently started my internship at the Maricopa County Law Library as a Spanish interpreter. And just from a week in, I have already learned a lot about Arizona laws, myself and the people in my community.
Every day I meet new people, that are a part of the community I have had the honor of calling home for the past year in a half, and I can't help but feel amazed about how different my life is from theirs.
There are people seeking a divorce, those that need help filling out child support forms, there are even people who are filing a restraining order against an abusive significant other, just to name a few things.
These same people come in feeling stressed, depressed, indifferent and then there's even some that are happy to be filing what they are filing.
However, these are the same people that are teaching me strength.
It takes a great amount of strength to do the things that these people are doing. Not only that, but it also takes a lot of strength to reach out for help in these types of situations.
My job, specifically, consists of helping Spanish speakers with the interpretation of their documents they are filling out.
And my favorite part of my job is when I get to help these Spanish speakers because their faces light up with relief from having some help with these important documents. What makes me even happier is seeing them leave happy.
It brings me so much joy because it reminds me of the people from my community back home. Many people within my community are Spanish speakers and are often people that need someone to translate for them but are also extremely grateful for the help they receive.
There are times when people tell me that my internship is hard and can be emotionally draining, and while they might be right, the fact that I get to help the people from my community.
I strongly believe it was a really great thing that I took on this internship. I got to learn how to fill out all of these different legal documents such as divorce papers. I got to learn how people feel like when they go through certain hardships, I would never picture myself going through. I got to learn more about the real world beyond my college student bubble.
Ultimately, my internship has taught me that so far, my life hasn't gotten to the point that the lives of these people have gotten to. Now, I don't know if that is a blessing or a curse, but I have learned a lot more about different aspects about life just from helping these people.