Episodio 19: Career Changes (Cambios profesionales)

En este episodio, dos relatos de personas que se ven obligadas a cambiar de profesión y descubren un mundo nuevo.

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Transcripción

Diana: Cuando por fin fue al médico, la pierna de Stephanie Wolf le había estado doliendo varias semanas. Stephanie había sido bailarina profesional durante una década y ya había padecido lesiones antes… pero esta vez notaba algo diferente.

Stephanie: Walking was difficult. But I finally had my dream job after working so hard for most of my life. I was only concentrating on performing, and I didn’t want to admit that I was in pain. I hoped that it would just go away.

Diana: Pero no fue así. Así que, finalmente, Stephanie pidió cita al médico.

Stephanie: I thought the doctor was just going to tell me to take a break. But when she saw that walking was really hard for me, she looked worried. After some tests, she told me that my femur was broken. I was 30 then, which is old for a professional ballet dancer. I started to wonder, “Is my career over? What else can I possibly do now?”

Diana: Welcome, bienvenidos y bienvenidas a “Relatos en inglés”, un podcast de Duolingo. Soy Diana Gameros. En cada episodio podrás practicar inglés a tu propio ritmo, escuchando historias reales y fascinantes, contadas por las personas que las vivieron.

Los protagonistas hablan en un inglés sencillo y fácil de entender para quienes están aprendiendo el idioma. En cada capítulo, yo te acompañaré, para asegurarme de que entiendas todo.

Hoy, te contamos dos historias de gente que inesperadamente se ve forzada a cambiar de carrera… Antes de comenzar la segunda historia de este episodio, por favor tengan en cuenta que trata el tema de la pandemia de coronavirus, y las muertes que ha provocado.

Diana: En su niñez, Stephanie era tímida. Tan tímida que le daba vergüenza alzar la voz en clase. Su maestra no se enteró hasta mucho tiempo después, que ella ya sabía leer. Pronto, Stephanie encontró una forma de expresarse sin tener que hablar: el ballet.

Stephanie: I started taking dance lessons when I was 10. My teachers told me that I was very talented. They said that my body was perfect for dancing because I was flexible and had long arms and legs. I liked being active and feeling creative at the same time. And I loved performing on a stage.

Diana: Stephanie tenía trece años cuando hizo su primer baile, sola en un escenario.

Stephanie: It was also my first time wearing a tutu on the stage, which is an important moment for a ballerina. My tutu was light blue with flowers, and I still remember some of my dance movements. It felt so amazing to be on that stage. And after that, I knew that I wanted to be a professional ballet dancer.

Diana: Para entrenarse como bailarina profesional, Stephanie aplicó y fue aceptada en una academia de ballet especial, en el estado de Tejas… a doce horas manejando desde su casa en Georgia. El ballet se convirtió en su vida.

Stephanie: You’re trained to believe that you can only be successful if you think about ballet and nothing else. So that’s what I did. I watched videos of ballets. I read biographies of dancers. All day, I only thought about dancing. My life and my identity were ballet. As a teenager, I never went to a school dance or football game, and I never had any romantic relationships. I didn’t have time for that because I spent weekends and evenings in a ballet studio.

Diana: Cuando Stephanie tenía diecinueve años, logró su primer trabajo en el Ballet del estado de Minnesota, en el que se quedaría siete temporadas, o seasons.

Stephanie: I moved to a city really far away from my family, and I didn’t know anyone there. Also, I didn’t make much money. But I was still getting paid to dance, so I was happy. I danced there for seven seasons before I joined another professional dance company in Minnesota. And then I went to work with companies in New York City, including the Metropolitan Opera.

Diana: Durante esa época, Stephanie comenzó la universidad, pero nunca se graduó. Las giras con la compañía de danza le impidieron estudiar. Pero sabía que necesitaba un plan para cuando no pudiera bailar más.

Stephanie: I took an English composition course and one day, my professor asked if I was interested in being a writer. I loved writing. I wrote in a journal often. And when I danced with the Minnesota Ballet, I also wrote a blog for the company. But I never thought about a career in journalism — until then.

Diana: Después de que su profesor le dijo eso, Stephanie comenzó a pensar que obtendría un título en periodismo, o journalism, cuando finalmente, un día, dejara de bailar. Pero aquello siempre fue solo una idea. Pensaba que iba a poder bailar muchos años más.

Stephanie: My dream was to dance with a specific ballet company in the state of Colorado. I loved the style of dance at that company, and it was my goal to work there.

Diana: Y en el 2012, cuando Stephanie tenía treinta años, finalmente obtuvo una plaza en esa misma compañía de danza. Vendió la mayoría de sus cosas, empacó las pocas que le quedaron, y manejó rumbo al oeste.

Stephanie: In the beginning, things were great. I loved the dances I was doing, and I felt like I was becoming the dancer that I had always wanted to be. But a month after I started, I fell.

Diana: Ella estaba ensayando una elevación, o lift, con un compañero.

Stephanie: The lift wasn’t high up in the air. But it was difficult, and I had to land on one leg. As I was landing, I fell on my side. The fall was so bad that everyone stopped what they were doing to see if I was okay. My partner helped me stand up. And I didn’t feel any pain immediately, so I thought I was fine.

Diana: Más adelante, a Stephanie le comenzó a doler la pierna… y mucho. Pero ella temía contárselo a sus compañeros. ¡Este era el trabajo de sus sueños! ¡Y sólo llevaba en él un mes! Ella no quería que una lesión se interpusiera en su camino.

Stephanie: There isn’t much job security for dancers with ballet companies in the U.S. We only sign contracts for one season at a time. I really wanted to stay for the next season, so I needed to show the company that I could work really hard. Also, pain is just part of the job. As a dancer, you learn how to manage aches and pains, just like you learn how to improve your pirouettes.

Diana: Pero al final, el dolor llegó a ser demasiado fuerte. Stephanie se dio cuenta de que no podía seguir ignorándolo más. Así que fue al médico para lo que ella pensó sería una visita rápida.

Stephanie: The doctor sent me to another clinic to get some tests. I was there all day. Finally, they told me what was wrong with my leg, and it was very bad.

Diana: Stephanie se había fracturado el fémur, se había desgarrado el cartílago de la cadera y había sufrido otros males graves por seguir bailando con una lesión. La recuperación, o recovery, iba a tomar mucho tiempo.

Stephanie: That meant that I couldn’t dance for months. I had a frustrating recovery and walking was incredibly difficult for me. I was used to dancing for eight hours a day, but during recovery, I couldn’t even do basic things. Since I was new to Denver, I didn’t know many people. All of my colleagues continued with their busy dancer lives, and I just wanted to go back and work with them again. I felt really lonely.

Diana: Durante su recuperación, la compañía de baile de Stephanie le dijo que no le renovarían su contrato debido a su lesión. Era oficial: había perdido el trabajo de sus sueños. Después recibió noticias aún peores.

Stephanie: My hip wasn’t getting better, so the doctor said that I needed to have surgery. When I heard that, I knew that I might never dance professionally again. I made a lot of sacrifices during my ballet career: with relationships, my education, my health. I knew I couldn’t dance forever, but I couldn’t believe it was all ending so soon. It was totally out of my control. You might think that it’s just ballet, but being a ballet dancer is more than a profession. It was my whole identity until then. I didn’t know who I was without ballet in my life.

Diana: Sin embargo, Stephanie supo que era hora de aceptar una realidad dolorosa: tenía que cambiar de carrera. Entonces, en el verano del 2013, nueve meses después de lesionarse, consiguió una pasantía, o internship, en un canal de noticias de televisión.

Stephanie: There I was, starting a new job at 31. It felt strange to do an internship at that age. Some people in my life told me to get an office job or to choose a more practical career. They thought it was crazy to want to be a journalist. But I actually thought journalism was perfect for a performer like me. Ballet dancers have to work really hard under a lot of pressure. And just like journalists, performers tell stories.

Diana: A pesar de no tener un diploma de periodismo, Stephanie tuvo mucha suerte en conseguir trabajo a jornada completa en el sector del periodismo. La beca se convirtió en un trabajo en una estación de radio, primero en un programa de entrevistas y luego, como reportera especializada en arte.

Stephanie: At the beginning of my journalism career, I did not want to be an arts reporter. I worried that other journalists wouldn’t think my work was important, and some of them didn’t. They called art stories “fluff,” which means that they’re not “real news.” But I stopped worrying about that. As a former artist, I bring a unique perspective to journalism. I understand the amount of work that goes into a painting, a dance, or a song. And I understand the art industry. I also find a lot of creativity in my work, which is important for me.

Diana: Hoy, Stephanie vive en Louisville, Kentucky, y es la reportera de arte de la estación de radio allí.

Stephanie: I was such a shy kid, and I felt like I didn’t have a voice. But then I discovered ballet, which helped me express myself. When I lost that part of my life and I had to stop dancing, I needed to find my voice again. And I did find that with journalism. It’s funny because now I actually have to use my voice to do my job. And I love it.

Diana: A Stephanie, una lesión la obligó a hacer un cambio importante en su carrera, pasando del ballet al periodismo radiofónico. A Jenifer Veloso, fue la pandemia lo que la hizo replantearse su carrera como enfermera. Jenifer acabó siendo enfermera por accidente. Al crecer, su pasión era el teatro y quería ser actriz.

Jenifer: When I went to college, I had this strange idea that studying theater was selfish. I thought that I should study medicine and become a nurse or a doctor instead. I wanted to help people. Looking back, it was a little silly. You can help people in any career that you choose. But I decided that I had to study medicine.

Diana: Así que, Jenifer terminó estudiando medicina. Al principio quería ser doctora. Pero luego, se hizo amiga de una enfermera que la animó a considerar la posibilidad de dedicarse a lo mismo que ella.

Jenifer: She said I should volunteer at the emergency room, or ER, at a public hospital in the city of Flint, in the state of Michigan — where I’m from. Then, I could see how the doctors and nurses work together. So, I volunteered at a trauma center, which is a type of hospital for patients with complicated conditions. I was 19 at the time, and I remember watching the nurses. They did everything! The ER was so busy and crazy, and the nurses were working hard in the middle of the organized chaos. I wanted to do that too.

Diana: Y lo hizo. Jenifer se inscribió en la facultad de enfermería, y luego terminó consiguiendo un trabajo en esa misma sala de emergencias. En los cuatro años que trabajó allí, vio a pacientes con todo tipo de lesiones, o injuries.

Jenifer: Some of my patients had injuries from guns, some were in car accidents, and some had heart attacks. There were also less serious injuries like broken arms. It was hard work, but I liked it.

Diana: Luego llegó marzo del 2020… y la pandemia del COVID-19. Jenifer se sintió llamada a ser parte de la lucha contra el virus. Entonces, decidió trasladarse a una unidad de cuidados intensivos en un hospital a una hora de distancia en carro, cerca de la ciudad de Detroit.

Jenifer: It was overwhelming. It wasn’t so bad when I first got there. But then we heard that the hospital in Detroit was completely full of COVID-19 patients. So, they were going to transfer some patients to our hospital. A day later, we had a huge number of people coming in, all sick with COVID. It was crazy!

Diana: Jenifer debía atender a pacientes que ya estaban en su lecho de muerte.

Jenifer: Our patients were dying so fast, and at the same time, we continued to get more patients. People died in the ER often, but this was different. It was early in the pandemic. There was so much we still didn’t know about the virus, like exactly how it was transmitted. Young doctors were dying because of COVID. Everyone was so scared.

Diana: Jenifer sintió miedo. Para protegerse del virus, tuvo que usar todo tipo de equipamiento de seguridad.

Jenifer: I felt like an astronaut in a spacesuit. My face was covered, so my patients couldn’t really see my eyes or hear my voice very well. And I had to explain to them what was happening while wearing all of that protective clothing. It felt surreal and almost inhumane.

Diana: Los pacientes de COVID no podían recibir visitas… lo que significaba que no podían estar con sus familias, incluso cuando estaban muriendo. Jenifer ayudó a varios pacientes a despedirse de sus seres queridos por medio de teléfono o videollamada.

Jenifer: One of my patients asked me to do something very important for him. He wanted me to knock on his window when his oxygen levels got low and remind him to breathe. I made a sign that said, “Breathe deeply and slowly” and put it in his window when he needed to breathe. When I knew he was going to die, I helped him call his daughters so they could say goodbye.

Diana: Después de conectar al paciente con sus hijas, Jenifer intentó comunicarse con la esposa. Llamó varias veces, pero nadie contestó.

Jenifer: I later found out that his wife was at a hospital in Detroit. She also had COVID, and she wasn’t doing well. It broke my heart. I was with my patient when we had to intubate him, which we hoped would help him breathe. When COVID patients need that procedure, it isn’t usually a good sign. I cried the whole time. He died later… No one should die without someone they love next to them.

Diana: Jenifer estuvo en el hospital de Ann Arbor durante un mes. Ella solo tenía un contrato a corto plazo. Cuando terminó, quería ir a trabajar a una unidad de cuidados intensivos en Detroit.

Jenifer: I just wanted to help COVID patients and do nothing except work and sleep. Because I knew that if I stopped working in a COVID unit, then I would have to think about all of the horrible things that I saw in the hospital.

Diana: Pero cuando Jenifer se preparaba para comenzar su próximo trabajo, la cantidad de pacientes con COVID en ese hospital disminuyó. Le dijeron que ya no necesitaban refuerzos y quedó desempleada, o unemployed.

Jenifer: When I was unemployed, I had a lot of time to think. Too much time. I started to process all of the things that happened, and I remembered the trauma of watching so many people die. That’s when I decided that I couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t continue taking care of people who were dying. I was ready to find a new profession.

Diana: Unos años antes Jenifer había comenzado a tomar fotos en su tiempo libre. Había visto un montón de vídeos de YouTube sobre fotografía y leído libros de fotógrafos famosos. Uno de esos libros fue una autobiografía de Lynsey Addario, una fotógrafa de guerra.

Jenifer: She took photographs to show how breast cancer was treated in the Congo. And she took portraits of refugees who were escaping war in Syria. I read her book and thought, “Wow, I want to go to countries like Libya to take pictures.” So when I was unemployed during the summer, I decided to photograph my former coworkers. I wanted to tell the stories of the people who worked in hospitals during the pandemic.

Diana: Jenifer fotografió a viejos colegas de la sala de emergencias, de la unidad de cuidado intensivo y a los paramédicos, inmortalizándolos mientras hacían su trabajo. Compartió las fotos en sus redes sociales, y en su blog.

Jenifer: I also asked them how they were doing, how the pandemic affected their work, and how they stayed positive. Then, each person suggested another person for me to interview and photograph. It helped me process my experience in the hospital, and it was a cool way to celebrate healthcare workers.

Diana: También hizo que Jenifer pensara que sí podría emprender una carrera en el mundo del fotoperiodismo. Así que respondió a algunas ofertas de trabajo como fotógrafa.

Jenifer: A lot of people said no. They told me that I didn’t have enough experience. I also didn’t have a college degree in photography, writing, or journalism. I started thinking that it was a bad idea to change my career. I worried that I was spending too much money and time on photography. But I had a lot of helpful people in my life, and they made me feel confident. Some of my friends helped me improve my photography skills and others just told me that I could do it. So, I continued to apply for photography jobs.

Diana: Jenifer necesitaba ganar dinero. Tenía cuentas que pagar y necesitaba comprar un buen equipo fotográfico. Así que al mismo tiempo, solicitó también trabajos de enfermería y consiguió una entrevista en un centro quirúrgico.

Jenifer: When I left the interview, I started crying. The idea of working at a hospital again made me feel anxious. I told myself, “I don’t want to do this.” When I got to my car, I looked at my phone. I had an email from the editor of a news site called Flintside. I knew they didn’t have any job opportunities, but I had emailed them anyway to see if they wanted to hire me as a photojournalist.

Diana: En el email, el editor dijo que había estado siguiendo el trabajo de Jenifer. Le gustaban sus fotografías y quería trabajar con ella. Y adjunto en el email, enviaba un contrato para trabajar con ellos como fotoperiodista independiente.

Jenifer: It was shocking. But it was also a beautiful moment. I was worrying about working at the surgery center, and suddenly there was this amazing opportunity to start my photography career. I happily signed that contract.

Diana: El primer encargo de Jenifer con Flintside fue fotografiar y entrevistar a manifestantes durante una protesta por la justicia racial en Flint a finales de septiembre del 2020.

Jenifer: I was amazed that my editor trusted me with this story. I was also surprised that people at the protests said, “Yes,” when I asked them if I could take photos and ask some questions. I was so happy to share these stories from the community that I grew up in.

Diana: Jenifer ahora también trabaja como fotoperiodista independiente para otros medios. Ella piensa que aprender bedside manner, o cómo tratar bien a los pacientes como enfermera, la ha ayudado en su carrera de fotoperiodismo.

Jenifer: Because I was a nurse, I have a good bedside manner. I spent years meeting strangers who needed help. When I met a patient, I said, “Hi! My name is Jenifer. I’m going to be your nurse today. How are you?” I had to build relationships quickly because my patient had to trust me. Photojournalism is similar. I meet strangers and say, “Hi! My name is Jenifer. I’m a photojournalist, and I’m working on a story.” I have to quickly build connections to help each person understand that I care about their story and that I will be responsible with it.

Diana: Sin embargo, Jenifer a veces echa de menos trabajar en una sala de emergencias.

Jenifer: I miss working with a team of other nurses. And I miss the challenge of quickly finding the best treatment for my patients. But I love my job now. As a photojournalist, I can help people understand important issues. And I can help make positive changes for other members of my community.

Diana: Jenifer Veloso es fotoperiodista y vive en Flint, Michigan. Fue enfermera de urgencias antes de pasarse a la fotografía.

Al comenzar, escuchamos la historia de Stephanie Wolf, desde Louisville, Kentucky.

Ella produjo todo este episodio en su nueva carrera como reportera especializada en audio.

Gracias por haber escuchado “Relatos en inglés”. Nos encantaría saber qué te pareció este episodio. Puedes enviarnos un correo electrónico a podcast@duolingo.com, o también puedes enviarnos un mensaje de audio por WhatsApp al +1-703-953-93-69. Duolingo es la aplicación de idiomas número 1 en el mundo. Descarga la aplicación hoy mismo y, si quieres más información, ve a es.duolingo.com.

“Relatos en inglés” es una producción de Duolingo y Adonde Media. Puedes seguirnos en Spotify, o tu plataforma preferida. También hay una versión en video disponible en YouTube. Yo soy Diana Gameros. Thank you for listening!

Créditos

Este episodio es una producción de Duolingo y Adonde Media.