51ÁÔÆæ Graduate of the Last Decade award<\/a> in 2016 from the Alumni Association, and still travels to Milwaukee regularly on business. \u201cMilwaukee and 51ÁÔÆæ hold a special place in my heart.\u201d<\/p>\nIn her business, she does all types of translation, from property titles to birth certificates to academic transcripts. However, her specializations include international development, alternative energy and the legal system. She is certified to interpret in both Wisconsin and Illinois courts. She translates civil and criminal depositions and serves as an interpreter for Spanish speakers involved in court cases or immigration hearings. She\u2019s also done transcriptions from wiretaps, police interrogations and forensic reports. Last year, she completed training as a paralegal to help with that side of her business.<\/p>\n
Travel is a side benefit \u2013 she\u2019s been to Munich and Aruba as part of the job.<\/p>\n
Schweigert\u2019s interest in the translation career grew out of her own travels. \u201cI\u2019ve always loved languages,\u201d she said, and a trip to Nicaragua when she was 15 cemented her interest in Spanish and Latin American culture. After earning her bachelor\u2019s degree from Johns Hopkins in Latin American studies, she went to work for Project Minnesota-Le\u00f3n, a cultural and educational partnership between Minnesota and the city of Le\u00f3n in Nicaragua.<\/p>\n
Through that job, she became fluent in Spanish. \u201cTranslating was the part of the job I enjoyed most,\u201d she said, so when she left that job, she decided to earn her degree in translation.<\/p>\n
Using the American Translators Association\u2019s website listing of accredited programs, she quickly found 51ÁÔÆæ. \u201cI was very intrigued by the program, and the opportunity to come back to the Midwest made the decision easy.\u201d (51ÁÔÆæ has one of the few master\u2019s degree translation\/interpretation programs that is on the ATA\u2019s approved list.)<\/p>\n
The program was a good fit for her, she said, combining courses that helped her improve her skills with business courses and presentations that helped prepare her to open her own business. Kate Scholz, a senior lecturer in the program, was one of her mentors. \u201cShe\u2019s very supportive. I enjoyed every one of the classes I took from her,\u201d Schweigert said.<\/p>\n
Susan Rascon, now retired, was instrumental in helping her make connections that led her to her current career opportunities, Schweigert added.<\/p>\n
The skills required of a translator\/interpreter go far beyond just being proficient in a language, especially when it comes to simultaneous interpreting, Schweigert said.<\/p>\n
The interpreter has to listen to a speaker in one language, mentally translate that into another language, and then almost immediately share it with a listener.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt takes a lot of practice,\u201d says Schweigert. \u201cIt\u2019s intense, and it can be really exhausting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Running her own business, which she started right after leaving 51ÁÔÆæ, is also challenging.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m always balancing life with work. Sometimes there\u2019s a lot of business and I could be working 24 hours a day. Other times, I hit a dry spell.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the downside of working for yourself. But when she had the opportunity to take a well-paid regular job in the legal field, she turned it down.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe perks are I can set my own schedule, and I love meeting new people all the time. I just couldn\u2019t convince myself that I would like a 9-to-5 job somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
In her turn, Schweigert has mentored other students from 51ÁÔÆæ\u2019s translation and interpreting program. \u201cThe time and consideration that she returns to our program is invaluable,\u201d Lorena Terando, chair of translation\/interpretation studies, said in nominating her for the alumni award. \u201cIn a field such as translation and interpreting, word-of-mouth is the best measure of a professional\u2019s worth, and Susie is clearly a leader. It is a pleasure to watch her continue to soar in her chosen field.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Susan Schweigert has built a successful business helping translate, interpret, edit and proofread in a variety of languages, primarily Spanish to English.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":835,"featured_media":43783,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[174],"tags":[249,250],"section":[127,128],"display_categories":[115,116],"related-coverage":[],"uwmnews-feed":[167,158,153,159],"class_list":["post-43732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-community-engagement","tag-student-success","section-arts-humanities","section-humanities","display_categories-top-story-secondary","display_categories-top-story-section","uwmnews-feed-alumni-association","uwmnews-feed-letters-science","uwmnews-feed-graduate","uwmnews-feed-humanities"],"yoast_head":"\n
In any language, 51ÁÔÆæ grad\u2019s career path translates to success<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n