This summer, the Translation Certificate Program’s graduate Héctor del Valle (‘21) got hired as the District Translator for the Seminole County Public Schools.
Before joining the program, Héctor was a Spanish High School Teacher for 22 years in New York City. He holds a BA in Secondary Education from the University of Puerto Rico, and a Master’s Degree in Bilingual Special Education from Fordham University in NYC.
At the end of the program, Héctor volunteered as a reviewer of one of the 2021 New England Translators Association Conference presentations titled “From Snippets to Corpora – Looking up the Senses of a Word’s Meaning” by Alejandra Patricia Karamanian. His review was published in the Summer 2021 issue of the NETA News. He received a special recognition from the Conference Committee for his contribution to the 2021 NETA Conference.
After successfully completing two semesters of the program, Héctor passed the UMass Boston Translation Certificate Exam, which is designed to determine whether a candidate is able to produce a translation that is professionally usable within the framework provided by the Translation Instructions.
We were happy to receive the news about Héctor’s becoming the District Translator for the Seminole County Public Schools, knowing that he will become a true asset in this education setting.
Grateful Notes from Héctor:
“It is an honor to let others know how this excellent and well-organized program has given me the tools, the motivation, and the relevant methods and techniques to empower me with the ability to become an efficient translator.
While I was taking the classes, my goal was to implement my translation knowledge in the education field. I was constantly searching for positions from various agencies on a weekly basis. Finally, the position I hold today was there on the SCPS website. It was like a dream come true, but it was real. Today, I am translating documents and students transcripts from countries like Cuba, Honduras, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, México, and even from Turkey.
Every time, at the end of the day, I thank the Almighty and the UMB Translation Program Faculty.”