By Mery Molenaar,
CTA President
October 20, 2018
Earlier this year, then CTA Media Coordinator, Martina Heine-Kilic, was elected to the position of CTA Secretary. Fortunately, it didn’t take us too long to find a replacement for her. Allow me to introduce our new Media Coordinator, Norberto Jr. Cardenales Cardona.
Mery Molenaar: Norberto, welcome to CTA! What made you decide to volunteer for the position of CTA Media Coordinator?
Norberto Cardenales: While I was at the 2018 CTA Conference, I met so many great people though not many of my age. A lot of passion for language, in just one place, motivated me to join. I talked to Marion about being the Webmaster but later decided to become the Media Coordinator.
MM: You’re a relatively new face in our association. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
NC: I am from Puerto Rico. I moved to Colorado to get my masters in Hispanics Linguistics at the University of Colorado at Boulder (I just graduated in May). Before that I received my bachelor’s in Interdisciplinary Studies in Translation at the University of Puerto Rico. While in Puerto Rico, I was a professional ballet dancer but when I moved to the mainland, I decided to not dance anymore. Right now I am an interpreter and translator.
MM: You have lived in Puerto Rico and the US, but you are also proficient in Italian. Where did you learn to speak Italian?
NC: During my High School, there was a program to take language courses online. I joined and decided to study Italian. Once I started my bachelors, I decided to get a Minor in Italian studies.
MM: CTA has several active social media channels, thanks in part to you. Why do you think social media is important for an organization like ours?
NC: I am from the generation who still knows to play a cassette but also was introduced to the new technology. Being sensitive to these changes, my generation had to adapt quickly to the internet. Today, social media is one of the fastest, if not the best, way to promote, share, inform and connect ourselves with the world. What could take us days, now takes us minutes to get. All this thanks to technology, in this case social media. It is through these channels that we connect with others, share ideas, keep in touch with the translation and interpretation world and learn; and that is important to each one of us. All this can happen with the help of Social Media.
MM: As Media Coordinator you must know a thing or two about social media, so do you have any specific ideas on how CTA can further use social media to reach out to language professionals across Colorado and beyond?
NC: Each social media channel has a specific who uses it more often. That in itself, is great. For example, LinkedIn is not like Facebook; each of them has a specific purpose and audience, but both are good ways to reach people. Understanding this audience is key to be able to reach them so that we can impact them. Many still do not know that CTA exist and that is a great resource. Part of my job is to be able to reach them.
MM: I read on your LinkedIn profile that you are a dance teacher at the National Ballet Academy in Denver. Can you tell us a little more about that?
NC: Yes! Since I am unable to dance, teaching ballet is the closest thing to my passion. I love ballet, and seeing younger generations achieve great things with their mind and body is beautiful. I believe people think that ballet is hard, but they are unaware how hard it is. Ballet is an art form where you have to break yourself physically and mentally, literally. You have to be able to endure pain but on top of that, you have to overcome yourself. Constantly. One day you are learning something and when you think you mastered it, you find out the next day that you were just taking the first step towards the real thing. Seeing that happen in younger students is beautiful.
