myintrovertedlife

2012 Goals

Nina — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:58:14 +0000

This is the fourth week in January, but I don’t think that it’s too late to set goals for myself for the year. I’ve divided my goals into personal and professional goals that I’ll be working on achieving throughout the year.

Personal Goals:

Self-Acceptance – For the past few years, I’ve been working on change and trying to be a “better person”. The truth is that I am who I am and I’ve chosen to accept that. I want to grow as a person who is secure in who they are.

Daily Writing – Writing is my favorite hobby and I’ve gotten away from it again. I plan to write each day for 30 – 60 minutes on whatever comes to mind.

Join a Spanish Language Group – I’ve participated in a Spanish language group in the past but I would only show up once or twice a year. This year I am going to participate each month. I enjoy going to these groups to speak Spanish with other language lovers.

Professional Goals:

Find a new job – This week I’ve started looking for a new job that will be more of a fit for my interests and values. I plan to devote time each week to job hunting.

Continue with my studies – I will continue taking classes and working towards achieving my graduate degree. Even though working full-time and going to school are a challenge, I’m committed to my studies.

Time-management – I am an organized person but over the past few months I’ve been struggling with a heavy workload. I took a time management training at work and I’ve been using the strategies to be more productive.

New Class: Basic Translation

Nina — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 06:04:03 +0000

This quarter I’m taking a course called Basic Translation. It’s designed to give us an opportunity to translate different types of texts (medical, legal, literary, cultural, political, scientific, and technical). The texts we are translating are a small portion of a larger text and the word count is 300. We have a week to complete each translation. To be honest 300 words isn’t a lot and most translators can translate that many words in an hour. Since we are just learning this process it will take us longer to translate however, I do hope that with each translation I will improve my speed. I’ll also be creating a terminology list of the difficult or unknown words or phrases the I have encounter while translating each text. This way, I can begin to build my vocabulary in Spanish and English in specialized areas.

There are two issues that I hope to work on in this class. The first issue is with regards to specialization. Specialization seems to be an important aspect of the translation profession. Many translators specialize in a particular area such as legal, medical, etc. Many translators have had experience working in other industries and know specific terminology for that industry. At this point, I don’t have a specialization but I’m hoping that the fact that I’ll be translating different types of texts will help me to focus on which area or areas I’d like to specialize in. Since I’ve worked in education and finance, these could be possible areas of specialization for me. I was also reading that a translator’s natural interests and hobbies can lead to an area of specialization. This has me wondering if my interests/hobbies in writing, history, literature, and music could be areas that I specialize in as well.

The other issue I want to work on is the fact that I’m a perfectionist when it comes to my work and study. I don’t know if it’s even possible to create a “perfect” translation of a text but I could see myself trying to make each translation perfect. This could be a huge problem and I don’t want to spend unnecessary time trying to make a text perfect. I’m putting myself on a strict schedule to help me stay focused and to not get sidetracked.

Working and going to school is difficult and most evenings I feel exhausted. I have to fight and keep pushing myself to achieve my goals. Each week I’m giving myself two days to have just for myself so that I’m not always doing school work. It’s important to take time for myself so I don’t burn out.

Sunset

Nina — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 04:35:23 +0000

I took this photo while I was walking one day. I stopped to watch the geese that are in the background playing in the snow and the sun was going down. It was a beautiful and peaceful moment.

Office Holiday Parties

Nina — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 05:00:06 +0000

As far as I can remember, I have never attended the office holiday parties for any of the companies I’ve worked for. Unlike the majority of my co-workers, I’ve never felt a need to attend these parties especially because I normally don’t socialize with the people I work with outside of work. I’ve always been the type of person that keeps my work life separate from my personal life. Since I work with these people Monday – Friday, I don’t want to see them on the weekends. I’m also not good with small talk and I dread the uncomfortable and awkward interactions that happen during these events.

Another big reason why I don’t attend holiday parties is because of my diet. I was raised eating a kosher-type diet and most people don’t eat the way I do. I never expect people to accommodate me and it’s a lot easier to not attend these events then having to explain why I do or do not eat certain foods. On top of my kosher diet, I’m allergic to nuts. My nut allergy can be serious so I have to be very careful. Basically, I’m not always able to eat the foods served at these events.

After each office holiday party, there is always a lot of gossip about how someone got drunk and started acting out. I detest gossip and I’m always happy I wasn’t there to witness anything that happened.

Ultimately, I don’t believe I’m missing out on anything important by not attending the office holiday party. I’d rather spend time with my family and close friends, which is what the holidays are about.

Translation Blogging

Nina — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 03:17:55 +0000

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post about why I blog anonymously and how I want to maintain my privacy. Last week in my translation class, we began discussing the translation profession. One of the ways that many freelance translators seem to market themselves is through their blogs. My professor has an excellent blog on the translation profession and I’ve been discovering other translation blogs as well. I’ve noticed that these bloggers use their real names and discuss their professional lives which makes sense because they are trying to market themselves but this is still something I’m uncomfortable with.

I’ve often thought about doing a separate blog on my journey from studying to be a translator to actually becoming one and I’ve even considered using my real name. However, I’m still uncomfortable with this idea and now I’m wondering if my need for privacy could potentially affect my career. I’m sure there are many translators who don’t blog and this probably isn’t even an issue for them. I’m also sure I could come up with alternative ways to market myself. I just wonder if maybe I need to step outside of my comfort zone and try something different. Thankfully, this isn’t something I need to figure out today but it’s something think about for the future.

Translation and Interpretation (myintrovertedlife.wordpress.com)
Finding My Passion (myintrovertedlife.wordpress.com)

Me, In a Nutshell

Nina — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 05:06:47 +0000

Quiet, reserved, introverted, creative, sincere

Gossip

Nina — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 05:01:21 +0000

I don’t like gossip and this is always a problem in every job I’ve had. One of the things I really liked about my current job was that there weren’t many people who gossiped but that changed recently. I don’t participate in gossiping and I don’t even want to hear it. There is nothing to be gained from listening to it and I’m not the type of person that thrives off of someone’s misfortune. This topic has been on my mind a lot recently and I listened to a talk about why people gossip. I learned that there are three reasons why people gossip: anger, life paths, and overwhelming shame.

Anger: When people have a lot of anger or low self-esteem then gossiping about someone else can make them feel better about themselves.

Life paths: This happens when one person becomes jealous of another person’s success. They see how another person’s career or personal relationships are taking off and it makes them feel less than since they aren’t on the same level as that person. Gossip becomes a mean of putting that person down and making them seem not as successful as they are.

Overwhelming shame: This is when a person uses gossip to deflect from the overwhelming shame that they feel inside.

I believe that one of the ways to overcome gossiping is to invest in your own life. Working on overcoming anger, low self-esteem, and shame takes time but it’s worth the intense work to become a confident person. Setting goals and working on a career can help someone to develop a path in life. It also helps to understand that not everyone has the same purpose in life and to follow your own path.

Why We Gossip – And How to Stop. (mararose10.wordpress.com)
Do You Gossip? (fashiondujourdaily.wordpress.com)

My Blogging Method

Nina — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 00:18:16 +0000

I started thinking about how I blog and how I decide to post something. I don’t have an elaborate method and it was important to me when I started blogging that I blogged the way that I wanted to. At first, I was a perfectionist with each post and I agonized over every word. Now I just write and then I immediately post the entry. I just have to trust that what I write has meaning. I’ve learned that I’m not a good judge as to whether or not a post I write is good or bad. I mostly write about my life and what’s on my mind at that moment. I write about being extremely introverted and the issues and misunderstandings that happen because of my personality. I also write about work and school which are also important parts of my life.

This year I challenged myself to post something each week but I honestly post when I feel like it. Some weeks I write a lot and some weeks I write nothing at all. I prefer to write my posts during the week. This can be difficult with work and school but it gives me a chance to write about something that is important to me. In the past, I would try to write my blog posts during the weekends but I prefer to use my weekends for my other artistic projects that I’m not able to engage in during the week.

The Number Four

Nina — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 23:42:56 +0000

This topic is from The Daily Post

The number four was the first number that came to mind. It’s a perfect number to me and here are four examples of the number four in my life.

- It’s the ideal number for a circle of friends: I prefer to hang out with my friends one-on-one but hanging out with a circle of four friends is also fun. I think it’s ideal because there are two pairs and no one is left out of the conversation.

- Four notebooks: I use four separate notebooks at the same time. One I use to write down my topic ideas for my blog, one is for my notes for class, one is a journal that I write in almost every day, and one is a notebook that I use to keep ongoing lists in (shopping lists, to do lists, etc).

- The number of service awards on my desk at work: I was recently awarded five service awards at my job but I kept four awards on my desk and I brought one home with me. I’m not the kind of person who needs to receive awards to feel appreciated; however it’s nice to be recognized.

-The day my sibling was born: My sibling was born on the fourth so that number always stays in my mind.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Faces

Nina — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 00:59:51 +0000

The three photos are from the Native American Art collection at the Denver Art Museum. I love totem poles and masks but especially totem poles. My interest in them was so strong that I actually took a class to study them and understand their history and how they are made.

Totem Pole from the Native American Art Collection at the Denver Art Museum

Another totem pole from the same collection.

An mask from the Native American Art Collection and the Denver Art Museum