In mid-June, Linda Ozola-Ozoliņa, a graduate of the Ventspils University of Applied Sciences professional master's program in "Translation of Applied Texts", received the prestigious 2024 AABS Undergraduate Paper in Baltic Studies award at the 29th conference "The Baltic Way: Unity and Assistance" at Yale University in New Haven, USA, for her research paper "Latvian environmental term 'purvs': Problems and solutions in Latvian-English-Latvian translations of helonyms". We invited Linda for an interview to find out how she achieved this great success!

Tell us a little bit about yourself!

Although I excelled at languages, literature, and writing during my school years, I wanted to pursue a career in art rather than languages. At the time, I didn't think about language as a valuable resource that could be used in my career search, nor did I know that translation was a real profession. I used to be interested in painting and decided to study at an art high school to become a clothing designer. If I could go back in time and change that choice, I would choose to study languages instead of art in high school in order to build a stronger foundation in language skills. On the other hand, my translation studies at Ventspils University of Applied Sciences have led to me no longer being able to write like a normal person — I often catch myself thinking about the most precise choice of words and whether a particular sentence should be split into two shorter sentences to make it easier for my family. When I receive a carefree string of words in response, where I can safely place punctuation marks as I see fit, I realize that I am strange, I calm down and record a voice message. In my free time, I like to go for long walks with my best friend - my dog Renci. If I want peace and need to recharge my batteries, we go to the forest, but if my mind is cluttered with too many thoughts, we choose the sea as our destination. It's best to go there when it's windy, so that my head is cleared and my mind is like a blank sheet of paper, clean and ready for new ideas. One thing I realized quite recently is that nowadays there is no such thing as "free time" because there is always something to do, so you simply must make time for yourself.

In winter, you defended your master's thesis with honours. Can you tell us what your studies at Ventspils University of Applied Sciences were like?

For a long time, I couldn't bring myself to start my bachelor's studies at Ventspils University of Applied Sciences because it seemed that four years was too long to study translation. When I started thinking about writing my course paper in my third year of studies, I wanted someone to "add" a fifth year, because, together with lectures and absorbing new information, studies turn out to be a rather intense process, which in my case passed by unnoticed. Since my bachelor's studies were intense and I quickly forgot some of what I had learned due to fatigue, my master's studies were valuable in that I was able to consolidate my existing knowledge and find the missing pieces of the puzzle to create a clearer picture of the translation process. Frankly speaking, translation is a field where it is difficult to see the big picture, because there are many words in language and it is constantly changing. A translator needs not only language skills, but also intuition, which tells them during the translation process that they have not "hit the nail on the head" with a particular word. It is an inner feeling when you know that something in the text is not right, but you don't really understand what and where. Then you must start searching and be able to look at the same text with different eyes. Our painting teacher at art school once told us that painting is a process of searching for mist in mist. The same can be said about translation. In terms of terminology, the greatest difficulty in my master's studies was translating medical texts, because it is a very specific field that requires in-depth knowledge, ideally a medical education, as translating such texts is a responsible process.

You have had several successes and achievements in the academic environment - can you tell us what projects you have participated in and what your role was in them?

I participated in the project "Specialized Biology Lexicon Information System Intelligent Complex for Language Diversity Research and Preservation" as a research assistant. It was an unusual and valuable experience that combined two areas of interest to me – terminology and nature. Working with plant names was particularly close to my heart and reaffirmed how important it is to work with topics that you enjoy, because I translate texts in some fields with gritted teeth. As part of the project, I also had the opportunity to participate in the international interdisciplinary conference "Linguistic Diversity, Terminology and Statistics," where we presented our research on "swamps." It was my first time participating in this type of conference, so I was very nervous before the conference, but later that nervousness was replaced by satisfaction with what we had accomplished. It is a pity that the project has come to an end, but I am glad that this work has a lasting and accessible result – the organism’s name database Bioleksipēdija.lv, which can be particularly useful for translators.

Congratulations on receiving the Baltic Association (AABS) award for your research on the environmental term "purvs" (bog). Could you tell us more about the research, the development process, and the results?

Thank you! The research on bog names began as a bachelor's thesis, which later, at the encouragement and with the help of my lecturer Silga Sviķe, became a scientific article. Although the road to a published article is long and consists of various details and corrections, the most difficult part is finding a topic that interests you and has not yet been described from a specific perspective. If you succeed in this, the rest is just a matter of doing the work. Students, myself included, realize too late that they should listen to their teachers' advice and start thinking about course topics in good time. Although nothing encourages you to write your thesis in a last-minute panic, I recommend that other students allow plenty of time to find a topic.

I came across the idea of bog names by chance while writing a course paper on plant names, and I largely consider it a fortunate coincidence. I noticed that translations of the same helonym, or marsh name, from Latvian into English did not match, and I began to investigate why. As a result of my research, I concluded that no comprehensive wetland classification system covering all the world's wetlands has been developed to date, and this uncertainty is also reflected in language. I enjoyed the research process and collecting materials the most, but planning the writing stage, especially dividing it into chapters, seemed the most difficult to me, as it requires a great deal of specificity and organizing my thoughts.

It is very impressive that this award was presented at the prestigious Yale University in the United States. How do you feel about this recognition and what does it mean to you?

This award was a complete surprise in the truest sense of the word, because I didn't know we were participating – Silga submitted the article for the competition, so my joy was twofold. Since I analyse the names of swamps in both Latvia and the US in the article, I really appreciate that a US university has also given this work a positive assessment. To be honest, I am happy about any recognition from anyone, but I am most happy about kind words from the harshest critics – small children. It is more important that the recognition is genuine and, of course, it is important that I am satisfied with what I have achieved.

What are your plans for the next five years? Are you planning to get a PhD? 

I no longer try to make plans for several years ahead, because they always turn out differently, but I plan to do more of what brings me joy. I want to continue working with languages, not only in the translation industry, but also to try my hand at something more creative. I'm still thinking about doctoral studies, but I'll probably make that decision at the last minute, when life seems to have become too monotonous.

What advice would you give to prospective students who are just planning to start their bachelor's degree, and to graduates who are planning to study for a master's degree?

 For those who are planning to start their studies and can't bring themselves to apply, I recommend just going ahead and doing it. Time will pass anyway, so it's better to spend it wisely. I also recommend starting to think about thesis topics on September 2 of your first year, because later it will be too late. If, however, you find yourself in a situation where May is already knocking on the door, your work has piled up, you are tired and "everything is bad," then you need to do as much as you can. It will still be better than nothing.

Would you like to add anything else?

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our university's responsive and patient lecturers, who must correct the work of diligent students late into the evening every spring.