A Love Letter to NYU Langone Medical Center Interpreters
It's time to attempt to help each of you, my NYU Langone Medical Center interpreter colleagues, to understand the floating globs of magic that you have each been during this chapter of my life. Together you add up to one huge magic show that's worth being alive for.
On a professional level, practicing within this department has been an experience that I never thought possible. Schedules are so well-organized, dispatching so seamless, communication so thorough and warm, hospital staff so respectful and aware, department leadership so positive and accessible, and you–my colleagues–so professional, motivated, open and seeking.This might as well be an ingredient list to running a highly fruitful interpretation department. To miss being at work while away on vacation is an all-together new sensation.
The opportunity to work as a freelancer, the gift of being able to technically choose day after day whether to work or not, and then observing myself choose yes and yes and yes over and over again has been enormously satisfying, motivating and freeing. This system reflects my values. It's the philosophy I like to apply to everything from flossing to marriage.
Department hugs.
Beyond the accolades with which I would most certainly decorate the department, Laura the person has fallen in love with each one of you. I would bail you each out of jail, or donate a kidney to you, or travel with you to far away places (particularly if you have a useful language in your combination for zee destination).
Your belief in me, your trust of me, has solidified the notion that I might be, at a minimum, a pretty decent person and possibly even a good interpreter. You are responsible for inspiring me to get my master's degree in Conference Interpreting. You have each accompanied me into the understanding that this specific realm of communication work known as interpretation is what I'd like to spend the rest of my life fiddling around with.
Whether you meant to love me so much or not I cannot know. In any case, that is certainly how I feel and I am grateful.
