A Balancing Act

Over a year ago, I landed a great gig. I work four days a week under an open-ended long-term contract and have been happy there. However, the job is unexciting and repetitive.

My colleagues are great, the judges treat me well and are accommodating when I ask for a short break or for someone to slow down so I can catch up. But I haven’t worked a single half-day trial or the kind of grueling weeks-long or months-long trials that I used to encounter quite often when I worked as a staff interpreter in Essex County Superior Court in New Jersey. Back then I worked trials almost every week, even short ones or at family court, although my favorite are criminal trials.

The constant challenge and the networking with colleagues provided enormous opportunities to improve my skills and the creation of glossaries, the product of collaboration among a great crew of staff colleagues and freelancers alike.

Priorities

As I grow older, I am interested in stability but, at the same time, I long for adventure. How can I explain? I would be happy to get a full-time job, where I will be challenged constantly, enjoy paid time off, holidays, and benefits. On the other hand, I am always daydreaming about quitting it all and flying to Mexico, South America, or Europe to live from a backpack (well, in my case a suitcase), to visit the world, and work remotely. Dollars can go a long way in other countries, and this may be my last opportunity to do it before age or infirmity prevents me from traveling.

However, I have family and grandkids in the Chicagoland area and Mexico, so I need to balance my personal wants with that aspect of my life as well. I was raised in a close-knit family that values our relationships and I don’t want to be away from them.

However, I have family and grandkids in the Chicagoland area and Mexico, so I need to balance my personal wants with that aspect of my life as well. I was raised in a close-knit family that values our relationships and I don’t want to be away from them.

My dad passed away eight years ago, and my mom is getting older. I would be happy to take Mom with me wherever I go and just enjoy her company, but then my sisters may not be in favor of having Mom far away because the clock is moving for them, as well. So, it all gets complicated.

When I accepted this contract in which I only have Wednesdays off, I was thinking of my family and thought I would leave those days open to do things with them or catch up with all my work at home, like paying bills, setting up appointments, etc. That way I’d be able to clear my weekends for family and friends. But here’s the catch: this ongoing assignment is not challenging enough, so now I find myself working on those Wednesdays that were supposed to be my days off. Those are the days when I can book more challenging assignments that keep me on my toes. So there goes my extra time for family.

Job security at the expense of skill?

So, to summarize, I have the following choices at this time:

• Go back to being a full-time freelancer again, where I can find more challenging work, select assignments with the right partners (meaning team interpreting), where I will have different colleagues every day to learn from, to network, and interact with. I could work in choice courthouses within metropolitan areas with big caseloads. The pay is good but there is a great deal of traveling involved and that can be tiring and overwhelming.
• Accept a challenging full-time job again. Unfortunately, this will force me to move out of state because there are no such properly compensated full-time jobs locally. Plus, I would be far from my closest family members.
• Remain in this long-term contract and be close to my sisters, sons, and grandkids, working my easy job, challenging myself on Wednesdays, or taking my day off for courses or training programs like Athena Matilski’s and Virginia Valencia’s, SCSI, José Varela’s, the National Center for Interpretation, Castillo Language Services, etc. Again, that would mean I’d have to sacrifice the time with my family that I crave so much.

In the end, none of those choices gives me what I want, which is more family time.

But one thing is for sure. To continue with my current course of action means that my skills will decline due to a lack of work that truly challenges me. If my skills start to decline, I will not be able to do the work I truly love. This is the best profession as far as I am concerned, and the truth is that no one can have a fulfilling life if they are not doing what they love. Without a fulfilling life, we cannot be a positive influence in our community, much less on our families and friends. In short, it’s a lose-lose situation.

So, dear colleagues, what are your thoughts? What would you do if you were in my shoes?

Hilda Zavala-Shymanik is a state certified/approved Spanish court interpreter and translator with more than seventeen years of experience in legal, medical, corporate, and non-profit settings in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and Wisconsin and is certified/approved in those four states. Hilda is a former Vice Chair, Board Member, Treasurer, Conference Committee Chair, member of the Training and Education and Advocacy Committees, and current member of the blog team and Chair of the Elections Committee of the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators, as well as former president of the New York Circle of Translators.

She is an active and voting member of NAJIT, ATA, MATI and other professional groups. Hilda has two certificates in Legal Interpreting in Spanish and English, the latest one from NYU. Hilda is the current staff interpreter of the 23rd Illinois Judicial Circuit as well as a Cook County (Illinois) Spanish Interpreter employee. Hilda is a former Staff Interpreter at Essex County Superior Court in New Jersey, where she worked for six years. Born in Chicago, Hilda lived for twenty years in Mexico and loves traveling. She continuously looks for opportunities to promote and advance the interpreting profession. Contact:  hshymanik@yahoo.com