I am originally from Argentina, from where I migrated in 2001 to United States, at the age of 29, and where I had been a certified surgical technician for 10 years up to that time. Upon coming to US, just like most immigrants, I worked in many different fields, such as a cleaning cages and raising birds at a store, cleaning horse’s stalls, cleaning offices at night, all while learning English! I met my husband Bruce in 2002 and after dating for two months with dictionary and notepad in hand (no google translate back then!), we got married! In 2007 we moved from South Florida to Tennessee, right in the middle of the recession. I was a real estate agent at that time, and due to the financial state of the country, I started looking for other options. This led me to the world of translation and interpretation, and to eventually becoming a TN State Certified Judicial Interpreter, and nationally Certified Medical Interpreter.

​

My first two years as an interpreter, I worked providing services as a freelance contractor through several agencies, schools, and medical facilities. In 2009 I became a full-time staff interpreter at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and the supervisor of the Interpreter Services Department in 2011. In 2013 I accepted a position as the non-clinical manager at the Vanderbilt Center for Women’s Health, collaborating with the implementation of a brand-new clinic in Springfield, Tennessee.

​

In 2014 a unique opportunity brought me to the judicial environment, and I became the Interpreter and Language Access Coordinator at the State Trials Court in Davidson County, Nashville TN. For eight and a half years, I provided interpretation and translations services for in-court proceedings as well as out of court encounters, such as attorney-client visits at the jail. I worked directly with judges, attorneys, law enforcement, coordinating the needs for interpreters for a great variety of languages, and with the public in general. This allowed me to learn a big deal from the communities and my judicial partners, and eventually to share my knowledge as well.

 

My goal became, and continues to be, to make my small contribution towards improving the way the Judicial System interacts with the vast community of Limited English Proficiency (LEP) individuals, who may find themselves in one of the scariest situations of their lives when facing legal issues while not knowing the English language to the extent necessary to navigate that environment.

​

In 2023 I decided to make the move to freelancing again, added the Kentucky certification to my list, and I am currently working in both states, KY and TN. I am also an approved interpreter with the CJA (Criminal Justice Act) to work with defense attorneys in federal cases.

 

I am currently pursuing a master’s in Forensic Linguistics, which is helping grow my knowledge and expertise exponentially, and I can’t wait to be able to put that knowledge into action to assist attorneys, on either sides, in the judicial process.