Passion

Dear all,

I just want to give you some encouragement.

Although we are all mean and devilish teachers, we care about your feelings and sense of gratification as much as your progress and performance. Successful interpreters come in all sizes and shapes, but one commonality is that they all like interpreting. You might hear us complain about certain speakers, certain subject matters, or even certain venues, but that is part of our job, and we still have a passion for the bulk of our job. So it is not strange or unacceptable for you to complain about the heavy work load, the stressful classes, or the never-ending readings and assignments that fill in any vacuum in your time. But whenever you feel depressed, discouraged, or helpless, go back and look deep into your soul to see if there's still that flicker of passion in there.

Liisa Joronen, Chairperson of SOL, Finland's largest house cleaning service company and Europe's most admired company, said:

It is not enough to dream,
There must be a passion.

It is not enough to fix a distant goal,
You must know the way.

It is not enough to know the way,
You have to start moving, sometimes first--often alone.

You cannot merely wish,
You have to do and do again.

We as teachers strive to show you the way, keep you moving, and make you do it again and again. But the passion has to be there, and only you know where it is.

Joseph once said, when people see a beam of light in a dark room, all they can see is the projection of light on the wall. Only the interpreter traces the beam back to its source, be it a flashlight or a candle flame. I think this is a wonderful metaphor.

Good luck!