Passionate Helping Hands behind SCU Ultra Marathon: Volunteer Student Interpreters

On July 21th, 2015 as the 24^th Soochow University International Ultra Marathon proceeded amid loud cheers from teachers and students spectating alongside the tracks, what’s inspiring and exciting was not just the perseverance and sportsmanship many runners showed during the arduous long race, but also the language assistance provided by the school’s volunteer student interpreters. It was their active and passionate help that had made a great contribution to the success of this annual event.

Jing Wang of the English Department, who was in charge of international communication during the event, talked about the challenges volunteer student interpreters faced, including the various accents of many foreign contestants, as well as how to divide and assign all the tasks and coordinate with other team members among all volunteer students. Nevertheless, she and other student interpreters still gained a lot of valuable experiences outside the classroom, and were touched and inspired by the sportsmanship shown by many runners, such as the physically challenged Mr. Zhi-Long Tseng, who insisted on finishing the entire race with his earnest attitude in taking every challenge in his life seriously.

“We are the world. People home and abroad are all our friends. And we are happy to help them as they come here to fulfill their dreams,” said Wang, encouraging her junior schoolmates to join the volunteer team at the Ultra Marathon in the future. She also hoped that this marathon race may maintain its wonderful tradition of providing an arena for people around the world to realize their dreams and let their sportsmanship shine through.

The interpreter adviser Kent Chien-Hui Wang pointed out that it was a golden opportunity for students to be interpreters on this occasion because most grand events like this rarely let students do on-site interpretation. He thanked the school administration, who hosted the Ultra Marathon, for their generosity in giving student interpreters a great chance to learn as well as a stage to show what they’ve got. The opening remarks delivered by Soochow President Dr. Wei-Ta Pan in Chinese were interpreted by student interpreters right on the scene. 

This year’s student interpreter team consisted of eight students, with six interpreting between Chinese and English and two between Chinese and Japanese. During the intensive trainings and preparations day after day in the previous two months, students started from reciting scripts word by word to finally being able to give an impromptu speech. Not only had they learned a lot from the process, but they also showed great passion and aggressiveness in sharpening their interpreting skills. And being a volunteer interpreter in the Soochow University International Ultra Marathon was undoubtedly a true honor and pleasure for each one of them.