Diana is a Spanish-English certified medical interpreter (CCHI), a licensed court interpreter in Texas, and a lecturer for the Minor in Translation & Interpreting at the University of Texas at El Paso.

This was an extra special visit for Diana, because she herself was once a student in this same translation class at El Paso High School. She shared with us that it was in this very class that she first fell in love with the field of translation and interpreting.

Feeling inspired to give back, Diana contacted her former teacher at El Paso High School to offer a School Outreach presentation. Diana ended up presenting to all three of the teacher鈥檚 translation classes.

Diana shares about her visit: 鈥淚 hoped to inspire them with the many paths available in translation and interpreting, and how cool it is that we get to wear different hats鈥攕ometimes using microphones and headsets, other times dictionaries and CAT tools. I reminded them they get to read the books they love in other languages because of translators. We also explored the wide range of workplaces for language professionals: agencies, private companies, schools, courtrooms, freelance roles, and more.鈥�

In her presentation, Diana shared stories from her experience鈥攊nterpreting in medical settings, translating official documents, and working with government agencies. She also led a quiz game to test what they knew (or thought they knew!) about the profession.

Describing her experience giving these School Outreach presentations, Diana said, 鈥淭he best part was their curiosity.鈥�

We loved reading about Diana鈥檚 School Outreach presentations and seeing this special full-circle moment come to life in her winning photo. We are thrilled to recognize Diana as the winner of the 2025 School Outreach Contest. We share in Diana鈥檚 hope that one day, one of these students will return to El Paso High and say, 鈥淭his is where it all started for me, too.鈥�

School Outreach Contest

By sharing your story and photo, you could win a free registration to the ATA Annual Conference!

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Bringing Interpreting to Life for Young Students

Suhey gave her School Outreach presentation to a lively group of third- and fourth-graders at her niece鈥檚 school, McKinna Elementary, on Career Day. Although she was hoping to present to her niece鈥檚 own class, Suhey delighted another class with an interactive presentation on interpreting. To prepare, she thought about what would resonate with this young audience, incorporating a mix of videos, live demonstrations, and activities to keep the students engaged.

Suhey鈥檚 presentation began with a simple explanation of the difference between translators and interpreters, followed by a video from ATA titled A Day in the Life of a Translator or Interpreter. This sparked curiosity and questions from the students, who wanted to know, 鈥淲hat if you don鈥檛 know a word?鈥� and 鈥淒o you have to say EVERYTHING?鈥� Suhey answered these questions with stories from her experiences, sharing both the challenges and the rewards of her profession.

She then played聽a clip from a classic TV show,聽, where the characters participate in a funny relay interpreting situation. This clip had both the students and the teacher laughing out loud. Afterwards, the students compared the clip to the 鈥渢elephone鈥� game, which was a clear sign that they were actively engaged in the presentation and understanding the concepts Suhey presented.

Suhey said the highlight of her presentation was when she brought in her interpreting equipment, giving the students a chance to try simultaneous interpreting themselves. The students were thrilled to step into the role of an interpreter and navigate the challenge of listening and speaking simultaneously. 鈥淪eeing their excitement and curiosity reminded me of why I love what I do,鈥� Suhey said. She loved watching them give interpreting a try: 鈥淭he activity was challenging for them, but they approached it with such enthusiasm and creativity, and it was really fun to watch,鈥� she explained.

She also told the students what she enjoys most about her career as an interpreter: helping people understand each other, ensuring language access, and the travel opportunities it provides.

The presentation ended with a piece of advice Suhey wished she鈥檇 heard as a student: 鈥淔ind a career that excites you and makes you happy to go to work every day.鈥� With enthusiastic applause and warm feedback from both the students and the teacher, Suhey knew her message had resonated.

School Outreach Contest

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Serving Idaho High School Students

When a teacher from Rigby High School in Rigby, Idaho, was contemplating taking her 10th grade Spanish students on a field trip to Boise State and asked for an activity for her students, F谩tima immediately had an idea. She prepared a special presentation that revolved around using Spanish for specific purposes, and more specifically medical interpreting.

The teacher said yes and the field trip was planned. The Spanish 202 students that visited F谩tima at Boise State were part of concurrent enrollment, which allows high school students in Idaho to earn both college and high school credit for college courses offered at their high school. High school concurrent enrollment instructors use Boise State curriculum, books, and grading scales.

The day the students visited F谩tima, they also got a tour of campus, received their student IDs, and more. 鈥淲e gave them the experience of what it鈥檚 like to be a university student,鈥� F谩tima said.

An Interactive Presentation on Medical Interpreting

When asked about the presentation, F谩tima鈥檚 first reaction was, 鈥淚t was so much fun!鈥� F谩tima had invited a fellow interpreter to help her with the presentation, saying 鈥淭wo heads are better than one!鈥�

The presentation highlighted the shortage of certified interpreters in Idaho, interpreting as a career, the skills needed to be an interpreter, and how to work with an interpreter. The students also practiced consecutive interpreting using a short script.

鈥淭he students had to catch the bus at 6:00 a.m. for the four-hour ride to Boise, so we really had to keep things upbeat.鈥� F谩tima and her colleague started with questions along the lines of 鈥淕uess how many interpreters鈥�?鈥� and brought chocolate for all who volunteered their answers.

Then, they explained and modeled consecutive interpreting. Once the students had a general idea of what interpreting entailed, they were allowed to use their phones to research vocabulary and create a glossary. With glossaries in hand, students paired up for practice.

鈥淭o end on a fun note, we asked for three volunteers to play the role of doctor, patient, and interpreter and to wear the props we brought: a lab coat, stethoscope, Band-Aids, notepad, and name tags.鈥� The students used the script to redo the activity in front of the class and F谩tima and her colleague gave them some feedback.

The presentation wrapped up with an awards ceremony, where students selected the best actor. 鈥淭he interpreter won!鈥� F谩tima exclaimed. The winner got a statuette similar to those given out at the Oscars for their best performance.

When asked what the students thought, F谩tima was happy to report that 鈥淪ome students thanked us at the end, and the teacher was very pleased with the full immersion experience.鈥�

Inspiration for Participating in School Outreach

F谩tima says her reasons for giving a School Outreach presentation were quite personal. 鈥淲hen I look back at my formative years, I remember people always asking, 鈥榃hat do you want to be when you grow up?鈥� In college, the question turned to 鈥榃hat is your major and what are you going to do with it?鈥欌�� F谩tima never had the opportunity to attend any type of career exploration class. When she was in school, there was no such thing as take your children to work day or internships to expose students to possible careers.

鈥淭hankfully, things have changed,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 really enjoy talking about being an interpreter. And although many students will not follow that path, they may one day have to work with an interpreter as future attorneys, nurses, doctors, etc. So maybe, just maybe, they will remember to speak slowly and clearly, use the first person when addressing the person with limited language proficiency, cut back on the jargon鈥攜ou know, little things that make interpreters鈥� lives much easier.鈥�

A Cross-Continental Life that Led to a Career in Languages

F谩tima鈥檚 parents immigrated from the Azores Islands in Portugal to the U.S. during the Salazar regime. 鈥淢y sisters and I were born in the U.S., but in 1974 we all moved back to the Azores.鈥�

鈥淎nd in 1992, I came back to the U.S., where I now live.鈥� She got her BA in Spanish and her MA in Spanish in the U.S., and then stumbled into interpreting by chance. 鈥淟ike many of my students, I was pursuing a major in Spanish and had no clue what I could do with it as far as a profession.鈥�

F谩tima recalls the exact moment when interpreting entered her life. Her college graduation was fast approaching, and one day her husband was reading the newspaper and saw that the Idaho Supreme Court was offering free interpreter training. 鈥淚 had never heard of translation or interpreting but thought, 鈥榃hy not?鈥欌�� F谩tima loved everything about the training, especially the instructors Holly Mikkelson and Alee Alger Robbins. 鈥淚 knew then that I was being taught by our professions鈥� giants! The rest is history.鈥�

F谩tima is now a federally and state certified court interpreter in Spanish and Portuguese and is also a certified Spanish medical interpreter (National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters). While she doesn鈥檛 necessarily think of it as a specialization, her knowledge of European Portuguese is what often gets her hired for specific jobs.

In her current position at Boise State University, her focus is on teaching Elementary Spanish I, Introduction to Court Interpretation, and Spanish for Healthcare. This job keeps her busy, which means she mostly interprets part-time during school breaks. Since the pandemic, she鈥檚 had the opportunity to interpret remotely for court hearings. 鈥淭his is especially nice because there aren鈥檛 that many certified Portuguese court interpreters. That means I can help remotely with hearing while colleagues can team up for trials, for example.鈥�

When asked what she loves best about the art of interpreting, she said she loves to learn, and the learning never ends when you work as an interpreter. 鈥淚diomatic expressions and colloquialisms are a big challenge for me because I鈥檓 neither a native English nor a native Spanish speaker.

But then that is how I justify all my online book purchases!鈥� She loves having the excuse to buy books and justify it by saying it鈥檚 鈥減rofessional development鈥� rather than her guilty pleasure.

But the learning doesn鈥檛 stop at new terms. 鈥淚鈥檝e been lucky to work with amazing colleagues, judges, and attorneys who have taught me a lot.鈥� She explained further by giving this example: 鈥淚 met a public defender who spoke Spanish rather well and, while waiting for a client at the jail, he started pitching the idea of a mock trial for my students at the Ada County Courthouse, our local courthouse.鈥� F谩tima was immediately interested. 鈥淭he public defender created fake documents we could use, including indictments, opening statements, direct examinations, and more. We invited another attorney to play the role of prosecutor and a uniformed police officer to come and testify.鈥� As a result, her students had the opportunity to interpret for school administrators and guests, and the attorneys, judge, and police officer learned about the obstacles interpreters face while interpreting, including the rate of speech, acronyms, police jargon, and more. F谩tima said it was really a unique and enriching learning experience for everyone involved.

School Outreach Contest

By sharing your story and photo, you could win a free registration to the ATA Annual Conference!

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ATA’s School Outreach Program encourages professional translators and interpreters to visit classrooms鈥攊n person or virtually鈥攁nd share their passion for language with students. We make it easy by offering presentation materials, tips, photos, and stories!

Learn more about ATA’s School Outreach Program

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A铆da spoke to 11- and 12-year-old students at Instituto Thomas Jefferson in Zapopan, Mexico. A铆da鈥檚 presentation included hands-on activities to help the students learn about translation, transcreation, and localization. Additionally, she presented examples of subtitling and had students participate in role-play interpreting exercises.

Here’s Her Story

I decided to visit my son鈥檚 classroom because he’s very interested in my profession, but also complains often, saying I work too much. I wanted to use this opportunity to show his classmates what I do and to make him proud. There were 17 students, 11-12 years old.

First, I introduced myself, told the kids I was a translator, and asked if they knew what a translator was. Their answers described an interpreter, so I showed them the difference between the professions. I gave examples of the areas of specialization a translator or interpreter could follow. I asked which languages they spoke and if they have ever used them to translate or interpret. They told me funny anecdotes from family trips and friends鈥� visits where they had to interpret for their parents or grandparents.

In teams, the students worked to translate the information on a candy package and transcreate some jokes and comics. One team decided to work on content about children and the war in Ukraine. They understood how translation can help people鈥攅ven children鈥攁nd that they can find translated content everywhere. They also discovered the importance of localization through funny and awkward translation examples.

Three students volunteered to participate as interpreters in another exercise. I read a text in Spanish and they interpreted into English, using consecutive and simultaneous modes. They enjoyed this exercise and realized that interpreting is not as easy as it seems. They gave examples about where they’ve seen interpreters at work (sports, interviews, etc.), and I emphasized the importance of interpreters in the war context.

During the last activity, the students were asked to think about which specialization they would choose if they were translators or interpreters, and they created a badge with this information. Most kids wanted to be video game localizers and subtitlers, but there were others interested in interpreting and literary translation as well.

What I enjoyed the most was that all the students were very interested in the topic and asked many questions. In the afternoon, some parents called or wrote me to tell me their kids were enthusiastic about the activities we did. One student told her mom she wanted to be a conference interpreter. Regarding my son, he said it was a very special day for him.

School Outreach Contest

By sharing your story and photo, you could win a free registration to the ATA Annual Conference!

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School Outreach Contest

By sharing your story and photo, you could win a free registration to the ATA Annual Conference!

The post 2021 School Outreach Contest Winner: Majlinda Mulla-Everett appeared first on 情侣自拍 (ATA).

Students, teachers, and parents of all ages, languages, and levels are welcome to share this video. Feel free to embed or download this video to view as needed. Click the sharing icon in the upper right to see all options, or .

Learn more about ATA’s School Outreach Program

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