About me,
or shameless self-promotion
Well, I am actually not very good at bragging about myself (not that I lack self-confidence or something but I hate blazing out my expertise), so I will keep it short and sweet.
But if you want some serious talk about me being a super professional, reliable native Russian translator with vast experience who always meets deadlines and stuff, please feel free to download my CV below.
So, here is my story.
* * *
It all started on a very cold day in January (and everyone knows that Moscow winters are brutal) twelve years ago when I was walking down the street, desperately trying not to slip on ice and daydreaming about moving to some place warm and nice (Florida would most definitely do). An hour later, I was standing in front of the building where I was taking some classes.
"Hello", I said to a good friend of mine who was standing by the front door with a cigarette in her hand. She ignored my greeting (which I didn't appreciate), grabbed my hand and said while pulling me up to the third floor that somebody wanted to see me.
A woman who was sitting in her office worked for a non-profit that needed volunteer translators. I've never dreamt of working in this field, had no time for volunteering (just like any other breadwinner) and was damn sure that my English wasn't good enough for the venture.
For the next hour, I was trying to prove that it was a very bad idea and find an excuse to leave but somehow ended up signing a deal: if I pass the test and agree to volunteer for them, they give me some super duper training (which I should consider a free education, she said, because their volunteers enjoy a unique training program that seriously improves English reading and Russian writing skills if you have some natural talent which the test would show).
To my surprise, I passed the test just fine. The training was good (though sweating over training materials and dictionaries while trying to bring home the bacon was pretty rough sometimes), the instructor was strict, and I was introduced to valuable translation tools needed to succeed in the industry.
After a year of practice under strict supervision, I realized that it might be a good idea to start my own translation business, especially because I hated 9 to 5 jobs and enjoyed doing this work even for free. It was scary but worked out very well.
Years of ups and downs passed by, and today, I am a proud hard-working professional English>Russian translator who delivers hundreds of thousands of words and dozens of projects every year.
This 24/7 job gives me much more satisfaction than a 9 to 5, and nothing makes me happier than helping people who want to connect and expand by expressing their ideas in my favourite language.
And yes, I moved to Florida and haven't seen ice'n'snow for a while. Dreams really come true!
P.S. Had to move to Chicago lately but always have a choice to come back.