My dream of becoming a Translator for UN
Donation protected
Synopsis
Hello Everyone! I created this page on gofundme.com in order to help fund my dream of becoming an interpreter. I am 23, a university student at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. I am about to graduate this upcoming spring semester, with a degree in physics. I decided late in the game that I wanted to go into interpretation/translation, so I figured that I will finish my degree in physics, and then pursue the translation. I currently speak spanish, english, and am teaching myself russian independently. I currently work full time and go to school, with whatever is leftover going to studies of russian and perfecting my spanish. My goal is to one day work for the UN; however, I do not have enough money to cover the ¨mandatory fees¨ that Georgia Tech demands in addition to the tuition. I have saved up around $1800, but I need YOUR help in order to make my dream come true!
Why Translation and Interpretation?
I get asked this question alot. I spent my initial years in the university system of the US studying to become an engineer, at the urging of my parents. I discovered that this was not what I wanted to become, and that the amount of pressure placed on me by my parents was unfair. I started seeing a psychologist, in order to understand myself and to see if this was the right path. What we had uncovered was startling: I had been physically abused throughout my childhood by my father and mother, and had succumbed to their pressure to study something that ill-suited me. At the urging of my psychologist, 3 years ago, I confronted my parents. The result? I was kicked out of the house, and was left in the street. That was my first year at Georgia Tech. I have not heard from them since, except through email. Feeling more than a bit discouraged, I picked myself up, and lived out of my car for a month, before my best friend James Culpepper offered me a place to stay for awhile. I sold my car for tuition that year; I had to make sure that education came first. Eventually I discovered through therapy that, what I really wanted was to help people to have a voice in the world, and to help others connect and communicate with each other. I realised that, for me, it is more important to help people find community with each other. Although I will always love physics, I just found the idea of doing research boring and uninspiring, not rich and alive, like language.
So What have I done so far?
So far, I have been able to pay enough of my way through college, working as a waiter, and more recently, as a bilingual receptionist at a luxury hotel in Atlanta (Renaissance Atlanta Midtown, by all means, stop by and come visit me! :-) ). Everything has been going slowly but steadily; I have retaught myself to speak spanish (my mother is from Spain, but I was always a bit rusty), and now I am currently in the process of teaching myself russian and perfecting my spanish. All of this has been going on, while I´ve been working 40+ hours a week, and taking classes in school. I´m dedicated, and I want this so very much. Someone once told me that, ¨Life is not a dress-rehearsal. It´s the final show¨. I took this message to heart, and realised that, I can´t blame anything on mom and dad. I have all of the power to change my destiny, and to make my life what I want it to be.
What are my goals right now?
My goals right now are to graduate from college, and to eventually apply to interpreter school in Europe, where I would like to (in 10-15 years or so) work up to translating for the UN, WTO, or the European Comission. Some large international organisation, where I can have a profound effect on the world, just by what I translate.
However, my CV currently does not support a direct route to Interpreting/Translation school. Therefore, I want to spend several years living in russian-speaking and spanish-speaking countries before I apply, in order to build my resumé sufficiently. I have already started this process; I have recently accepted a job offer through AIESEC (an international student-run organisation) to teach english in Azerbaijan ( a russian-speaking country).
Where am I now?
I have set everything in motion. I am on the right path, the only thing left is graduating from college, and finishing two more classes at Georgia Tech. I know I can do this. However, I am currently short of tuition money by about $1,300.00. As I stated earlier, I am not ¨legally¨ considered indepedent (I tried to ask my parents to cooperate in the process to help make me a legally independent student; they refused to help me). Therefore, I do not qualify for FAFSA, nor for student loans (students loans need my parents´ signature, basically).
I only have 2 classes standing between me and college graduation. Any donation, no matter how small, is greatly appreciated. I hope that one day I can repay all of you with the translations that I will work on. Thank you for your consideration.
Hello Everyone! I created this page on gofundme.com in order to help fund my dream of becoming an interpreter. I am 23, a university student at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. I am about to graduate this upcoming spring semester, with a degree in physics. I decided late in the game that I wanted to go into interpretation/translation, so I figured that I will finish my degree in physics, and then pursue the translation. I currently speak spanish, english, and am teaching myself russian independently. I currently work full time and go to school, with whatever is leftover going to studies of russian and perfecting my spanish. My goal is to one day work for the UN; however, I do not have enough money to cover the ¨mandatory fees¨ that Georgia Tech demands in addition to the tuition. I have saved up around $1800, but I need YOUR help in order to make my dream come true!
Why Translation and Interpretation?
I get asked this question alot. I spent my initial years in the university system of the US studying to become an engineer, at the urging of my parents. I discovered that this was not what I wanted to become, and that the amount of pressure placed on me by my parents was unfair. I started seeing a psychologist, in order to understand myself and to see if this was the right path. What we had uncovered was startling: I had been physically abused throughout my childhood by my father and mother, and had succumbed to their pressure to study something that ill-suited me. At the urging of my psychologist, 3 years ago, I confronted my parents. The result? I was kicked out of the house, and was left in the street. That was my first year at Georgia Tech. I have not heard from them since, except through email. Feeling more than a bit discouraged, I picked myself up, and lived out of my car for a month, before my best friend James Culpepper offered me a place to stay for awhile. I sold my car for tuition that year; I had to make sure that education came first. Eventually I discovered through therapy that, what I really wanted was to help people to have a voice in the world, and to help others connect and communicate with each other. I realised that, for me, it is more important to help people find community with each other. Although I will always love physics, I just found the idea of doing research boring and uninspiring, not rich and alive, like language.
So What have I done so far?
So far, I have been able to pay enough of my way through college, working as a waiter, and more recently, as a bilingual receptionist at a luxury hotel in Atlanta (Renaissance Atlanta Midtown, by all means, stop by and come visit me! :-) ). Everything has been going slowly but steadily; I have retaught myself to speak spanish (my mother is from Spain, but I was always a bit rusty), and now I am currently in the process of teaching myself russian and perfecting my spanish. All of this has been going on, while I´ve been working 40+ hours a week, and taking classes in school. I´m dedicated, and I want this so very much. Someone once told me that, ¨Life is not a dress-rehearsal. It´s the final show¨. I took this message to heart, and realised that, I can´t blame anything on mom and dad. I have all of the power to change my destiny, and to make my life what I want it to be.
What are my goals right now?
My goals right now are to graduate from college, and to eventually apply to interpreter school in Europe, where I would like to (in 10-15 years or so) work up to translating for the UN, WTO, or the European Comission. Some large international organisation, where I can have a profound effect on the world, just by what I translate.
However, my CV currently does not support a direct route to Interpreting/Translation school. Therefore, I want to spend several years living in russian-speaking and spanish-speaking countries before I apply, in order to build my resumé sufficiently. I have already started this process; I have recently accepted a job offer through AIESEC (an international student-run organisation) to teach english in Azerbaijan ( a russian-speaking country).
Where am I now?
I have set everything in motion. I am on the right path, the only thing left is graduating from college, and finishing two more classes at Georgia Tech. I know I can do this. However, I am currently short of tuition money by about $1,300.00. As I stated earlier, I am not ¨legally¨ considered indepedent (I tried to ask my parents to cooperate in the process to help make me a legally independent student; they refused to help me). Therefore, I do not qualify for FAFSA, nor for student loans (students loans need my parents´ signature, basically).
I only have 2 classes standing between me and college graduation. Any donation, no matter how small, is greatly appreciated. I hope that one day I can repay all of you with the translations that I will work on. Thank you for your consideration.
Organizer
Matthew Steinberg
Organizer
Atlanta, GA
