Meet TRIN Alum Silvana Britos Uchidiuno

When Century College Translation and Interpreting (TRIN) program graduate Silvana Britos Uchidiuno decided she needed a career change, she knew she wanted to use her bilingual skills in her new job.  She also needed job flexibility, and wanted to serve her community.  The deciding factor for Silvana was TRIN’s “language neutral” classes, which are open to students who speak many other languages (and are not just restricted to a classroom that focuses on just one language, such ”Spanish language only” classes.) Language neutral classes offer greater opportunities for those who speak “emerging” or rare languages to become interpreters and translation experts. 

“Interpreting and translation was the perfect field.  I chose Century College because of the TRIN program’s “language neutral” modality, and because of the more affordable tuition,” Silvana remembered.

While Silvana was completing the TRIN program’s required internship at Park Nicollet Health Services, she was encouraged to apply for an open Interpreting position there, and was hired as a full-time Spanish medical interpreter in December 2014.

“Internships are extremely important for ‘practice-based skills’ such as interpreting and/or translating,” says Cristiano Mazzei, TRIN faculty member. ”It’s an opportunity for students to get feedback from working professionals and also to network. Silvana is a perfect example of that.” 

After finishing her Interpreting and Translation certificate program at Century College, Silvana passed the certification exam for the National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters, and has been involved with the Interpreting Stakeholders Group as the Training Committee Co-Chair in 2016.

“We encourage our students to join professional associations for many reasons: networking, learning about interpreter-related workshops and resources, policy-making efforts, and because some professional associations also offer scholarships for interpreter training,” explains Mazzei.

“The TRIN program is excellent. Its first-class faculty really knows the interpreting and translation fields. I really felt privileged by the opportunity to learn from them,” Silvana noted. “And Century College made the registration process very smooth, which helped with the anxiety an adult student can feel when going back to school.”

Learn more about Century College’s Translation and Interpreting (TRIN) program.