<p>Born in Haiti, <a href="https://www.sps.nyu.edu/explore/degrees-and-programs/ms-in-translation.html">MS in Translation and Interpreting</a> alum Safira Amazan is the founder and director of language and cross-cultural programs at Cultures Communicate LLC, where she is a passionate advocate for language access and preservation through community-centered work.</p> <p>Her interest in translation and interpreting was sparked when volunteering with medical missions in her homeland. “Translation found me before I found it,” says Amazan. &quot;At first, I thought I could be an interpreter because I love to talk, so I earned my certification. Then I realized I preferred translation, and now—15 years later—I still move between the two.”</p> <p>When she enrolled in the MS in Translation and Interpreting program, she was already a working translator seeking to hone her skills. “The curriculum aligned with what I felt I was missing,” shares Amazan, noting the program also gave her the flexibility to travel. Classes on topics including comparative law, editing for translators, contract translation, and patent translation “made translation feel like an art form of the mind,” she tells us.</p>

<p>While Amazan acknowledges the many challenges facing the current industry, including the rise of machine translation post-editing and AI, Amazan is far from pessimistic about the future.</p> <p>In fact, <a href="https://www.atanet.org/starting-your-career/embracing-the-future-see-ai-as-ally/">her recent op-ed for the American Translators Association</a> delves into the evolving relationship between AI and human translators. “AI should be seen as a valuable enhancement to the translation industry because adaptation has always been part of the profession,” says Amazan. “[AI] can take on repetitive, mechanical, and time-consuming tasks, allowing translators and interpreters to devote more energy to the work that truly requires human intelligence: judgment, cultural competence, nuance, empathy, and ethical responsibility.”</p> <p>To those considering enrolling in the fully online MS in Translation and Interpreting program at NYU SPS, Amazan suggests they “start building a client base as early as possible” and that they “treat it like a business from the beginning.”</p> <p>“Visit your local small business administration office, attend conferences, build relationships, and begin seeking direct clients while you are still in school,” she adds. “Do not just follow trends. Follow what genuinely speaks to you, and when you are unsure, choose the path that makes the most sense from a business perspective.”</p>