Haha, see that photo up there? That “rookie in the khaki hoodie” is me—at that moment, I was gritting my teeth and translating for New Zealand’s former central bank governor. Even now, when I think back to that day, it still feels like “a dream on fast-forward.”
Here’s how it went down: One day, my teacher suddenly pulled me aside, all hush-hush, and said, “There’s a big gig—dare you take it on?” It was translating for a big name in finance, with two rules: “No flubs with jargon, and keep the vibe casual like a chat.” My brain just went “why not?” in that second—I didn’t overthink how big a deal a “central bank governor” was. All I remembered was that I’d always been curious about “how money moves around the world,” so I pounded my chest and said, “Let’s do this!” Looking back now, that bold naivety was something else.
When I got to the venue, I took a deep breath and faked calm—but the second the governor started talking, my brain almost short-circuited. It was all tongue-twisting financial jargon: “monetary policy transmission mechanism,” “inflation targeting”—each term felt like a little goblin with legs, bouncing around wildly in my head. I scrambled to pull up all my knowledge, silently breaking down the jargon into plain language while spitting out the translation as fast as I could. My tongue felt like it was tied in knots, and my palms were secretly sweating. But as we chatted on, that nervousness slowly melted away.
The governor was super gentle. When he saw I was stuck, he’d pause and explain things with simpler examples. I remember when he talked about “how interest rate adjustments affect ordinary people,” he even used the example of “when coffee shops raise prices, how often people buy coffee changes.” I couldn’t help but think “That’s brilliant!” while translating. In that moment, it hit me: no matter how advanced the knowledge is, when it connects to real life, it becomes so vivid.
After it was all over, I walked out of the meeting room, and my brain felt like it was filled with “soda bubbling with new knowledge”—fizzing nonstop. I didn’t just learn a ton of financial stuff; I also realized: no matter how accomplished someone is, they’re willing to talk to young people as equals; no matter how professional a field is, you can always find “little hooks” that connect it to daily life. Even now, I still grin when I think about it—who knew “talking to a big shot” could be so nerve-wracking and fun… and feed my curiosity so well?
