Grad School Applications and Translations

As regular readers know, I am applying to master's in education programs for next year. I'm highlighting my experience working as an educator at FyA 44 for the last two years in various ways – it would be foolish not to – but it comes with a special complication.

All applications require recommendations. The general guideline is to have one recommendation from a former professor and then one or two letters from supervisors. If you've worked in education, as I have, it's all the better to have recommendations from your supervisors in the educational context. For me, that means getting a rec from either Pd. Eddy or Hna. Rosario. The complication is that neither of them speak English.

I've talked with the admissions departments of all the programs I'm looking at and they've all agreed to accept a recommendation written in Spanish with an official translation attached. Obviously I have the skills to translate a document into English,* but as the document in question is a recommendation for me, that would be unethical. So I coordinated with the parish administrator in Andahuaylillas, who knows absolutely everyone in Cusco, and found a translator. Now Hermana Rosario has both her original letter and the official translation, which she can email to the four programs to which I'm applying.

It was a complicated process, but I think it was well worth it.

*I've done some translations for the Andean Barroque Route website and documents.