Translator adds editing to her freelance business skillset
After a period of soul searching, Vancouver’s Patricia McDonald found herself looking for a career that would allow her to do meaningful work from anywhere in the world. She established a business as a freelance translator, and thanks to SFU’s Editing Certificate, can now add editing to her services.
Patricia lived in Peru for more than two decades before moving back to Canada in 2015. She worked in various administrative roles in the healthcare and research field while also putting her bilingual skills to work as a Spanish/English translator.
“A lot of the roles I had since coming back to Canada involved an unofficial editing component,” Patricia recalls.
When health issues forced her to leave her full-time job last year, she enrolled in the Editing Certificate to enhance her portfolio as a freelancer.
“Both skillsets complement each other,” she says. “Helping people uplift their voices, to allow their own voice to shine through and get their message across, is a challenge I enjoy.”
As she went through her classes, Patricia recognized that the way she processes information is best suited to stylistic and structural editing, which require big-picture thinking. Once she underwent testing and found she was neurodivergent, the news transformed the way she approaches her work.
By embracing her neurodivergence, she could lean into the aspects of editing that play to her strengths, rather than trying to be proficient in every part of the profession.
“It was refreshing to find out,” she says of being able to identify her neurotype. “It explains so much and it helps redirect your life to a path that just works for you,”
Patricia also connected with fellow certificate alumnus Jahleen Turnbull-Sousa, who has ADHD, and joined online forums for neurodivergent editors. Hearing others’ experiences has been inspiring, she explains.
As she continues to build her editing portfolio, Patricia is seeking out clients in areas she’s passionate about, including decolonization, accessibility and social justice.
At this stage in her life, she says, she wants to focus on work that matters: “Being able to help a person get their message across and reach those they need to reach is just beautiful.”
By Bernice Puzon