Introducing Gina Pupillo – SWITS

My name is Gina Pupillo and I am currently a first year ITP student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Two weeks ago I attended the WisRID Fall Conference for the first time, on scholarship provided by Southern Wisconsin Interpreting and Translation Services (SWITS.)

It was inspiring to be surrounded by so many skilled interpreters, gathered for one common goal: learning new subject matter and developing tools in order to better provide services in the interpreting profession. This year’s Fall Conference offered a diverse selection of workshops which sent everyone who attended home with newly acquired knowledge to apply to everyday work.

Personally, my favorite workshop was Jazmin Vollmar’s Improv for Interpreters. This being my first year attending Fall Conference, it was comforting to have Jaz create a safe space within the workshop to learn. One concept introduced during the workshop which made a lasting impression on me was: simply saying “yes” in response to another person’s proposition stops the creative and communicative processes. Everyone’s ideas are valid and deserve to be acknowledged.

By allowing ourselves to listen to who we are working with and creating a holistic understanding of their thought world(s), it encourages everyone involved to complete the task at hand as a cohesive team. One way to do this is to follow up with a question to better understand what has been communicated.
Interpreting is a human based profession, and when working with individuals of diverse backgrounds, effective and efficient communication is crucial. We know the work is not about us, the interpreters, but rather the consumers we are working with and how we can best fulfill their needs and meet their requests.

By asking questions to foster our own understanding of what is presented, it supports us in achieving our common goal, which is effective and efficient communication for all parties involved. I thoroughly enjoyed attending this year’s Fall Conference and look forward to attending many more in the future.

Thank you, SWITS for supporting me in this learning experience and furthering my education!