The School Outreach Program congratulates Diana Lara as the winner of the 2025 School Outreach Contest. Diana gave her winning School Outreach presentation in May 2025, speaking to students in a translation class at El Paso High School in El Paso, Texas.
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!