Meet the MATI Board: Amanda Bickel

MATI Director Amanda Bickel is a French to English translator. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in French from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Why did you decide to join MATI? I started translating very part-time around working other full time jobs that didn’t use any language skills. My freelance clients grew over time, requiring me to go down to part-time at my other job and to now finally quit my other job all together. Now that freelance translating is my primary employment, I wanted to join MATI to connect with other local linguists since the job can be a bit solitary at times.

What is your favorite part of the workday? My favorite part is being able to take a break to eat, walk my dog, run an errand, prepare a meal for later at any time of the day.

What do you do in your free time? I love my dog, Gunner, who I adopted last year. I also work a few hours per week as a consultant for a non-profit organization called Haiti Medical Education Project and sometimes serve at a local restaurant too to get out of the house and to get a good workout. I’m from Madison, so any other free time I have I tend to spend with family and friends. 

What are you most looking forward to about your participation on the MATI Board? I want to take a stronger and more professional role in the translation world, particularly to promote translating as a profession. No one in my family has ever gotten a 4-year degree, so when I told them I wanted to major in French (without knowing exactly what I wanted to do with it), I could tell my family was disappointed in me. Now I am proud to say not only do I have a career that uses those skills, but one that allows me to work from home and raise a family (someday), pays great, and is growing exponentially!