Introduction to Interpreting in Columbus (Ohio)

Hello, Prospective Interpreter!

Allow me to introduce myself by way of a statement of purpose:

Many bilinguals (or polyglots) who are in need of both income and interesting employment reach the conclusion that interpretation or translation must be a lucrative and exhilarating option. Interpretation can be, but only if someone with knowledge in both the employment field in general and the specific geographic location where you plan on working is both honest and frank, offering you full disclosure, and willing to put your best interests ahead of the impulse to keep opportunities for him or herself. My blog is, as far as I am aware, the first open door to real and frank information on interpretation in Columbus, Ohio. So do take note, and spread the word.

Let us begin! I will pretend that you, the prospective interpreter, have come to me, "The Skinny on Interpretation" blogger, or "Skinny" for short (though I am not actually skinny), seeking advice. Now the conversation begins.

Question 1: Are you aware of the difference between "interpretation" and "translation"? They are, point of fact, vastly different and must be distinguished, now especially.

Interpretation is spoken work, oral work. Interpretation is the act of you hearing a message delivered in a source language, and then the act of you delivering that same message in an auditory or spoken target language. Said more succinctly: "You hear, then you say."

Translation is textual work. Translation is the act of you reading a message delivered in a source language, and then the act of you delivering that same message in a textual or print target language. Said more succinctly: "You read, then you write."

The two processes, interpretation and translation, only coalesce (come together) with each other as far as the core action of converting a message from a source language to a target language is concerned. Otherwise, dear reader, take note: Interpretation and translation are very different activities, and you may not be suited to one or the other in skill set or in personality. Generally translation requires a much higher skill set, but unless you are well-guided by an honest and caring mentor, you will (not might, maybe or could, but will) get brutally exploited. This blog is "The Skinny on Interpretation", though I will address some translation issues in the future.

Interpretation may not always require the same depth of knowledge as translation can, though if you seek professional status as an interpreter, interpretation will require that same depth of knowledge. Even if your run of the mill interpretation encounters do not always require advanced lexical (dictionary, knowledge of many words) skills, interpretation requires advanced skills in speech. I must say the same for interpretation as I did for translation: Unless an honest and frank mentor guides you through the employment process, you will (not might, maybe or could, but will) get brutally exploited.

Question 2: Why do you want to be an interpreter? Do you just want to earn some money or do you actually wish to become an interpreter in addition to earning money?

Let me be clear, "ain't nothin' wrong with wantin' to earn some money." We are all need employment that will allow us to provide for our needs, obligations and aspirations. We all want that employment to be exciting and ennobling, though we often have to sacrifice the latter qualities for the former monetary exigencies. If you are a bilingual in search of a job, if you have never had official training as an interpreter, and if you came upon the idea of interpreting (not translating) as an easy way to make good money because you already know both languages and can just start working, STOP. I need to address your issue right off the bat, before you go any further.

If you have had no formal training as an interpreter most likely you are absolutely unprepared to interpret. This is a harsh statement, but the statement is true. I am a trainer of interpreters, and I have 15 years of experience. I have literally trained thousands of interpreters in Columbus, Ohio, and Grand Rapids, Michigan. We needs to learns us some terms:

Bilingualism is the knowledge of two languages. There is no standard for bilingualism, meaning that anyone with any degree of knowledge of a second language can claim he or she is bilingual. Although there is third party testing available to support the assertion of bilingualism, most bilinguals have no knowledge of this third party testing, and even if many bilinguals know of this testing, too many bilinguals are overconfident of their abilities and thus see no need to substantiate their assertion of knowing two languages.

Glossing is the process of taking a word that is in one language and replacing that word with its general equivalent in another language. Linguists frequently gloss words and phrases in academic writing and presentations. In academia glossing is a way of letting you analyze a word or expression in a language you are unfamiliar with. For example, if I wrote "Minulla on kirja", you may not understand it unless you are familiar with Finnish (language of Finland). But if I gloss the same phrase to English (by swapping out each word and word part), I could offer you "Me-on is book". But what does that mean? "Me-on is book" is how Finns construct the idea of "I have a book".

Question 3: Skinny, why have you brought up the topic of glossing? I brought up the topic of glossing because an overwhelming majority of bilinguals who have come to me seeking to become interpreters actually gloss rather than interpret. If I say in English, "My hand hurts here" the Spanish-speaking bilingual will often respond saying, "Mi mano duele aquí". Let me gloss "Mi mano duele aquí" to English (let me swap each Spanish word out for its general English equivalent): "My hand hurts here." Notice that the Spanish sentence was identical to the English sentence. Is this one of those circumstances where two languages just happen to produce identical sentences? No, actually. The "Spanish" sentence was in reality a literal gloss from English to Spanish. No native speaker of Spanish would say "Mi mano duele aquí" but "Aquí me duele la mano", which when glossed to English is "Here me hurts the hand".

Interpretation is the skilled conversion of a message in one language to the same idea in the target language. Unless you are a linguist and are intentionally glossing with care and precision, your accidental glossing is little more than the untrained and forced conversion of a message in one language to its equivalent words in a target language. Consequently, the converted message may sound unnatural and may not even be sensible.

Let me be clear, everyone who is untrained glosses, and only the trained interpret. So the fact that you are a bilingual means you are a candidate for interpretation, but you are, point of fact, wholly unprepared as of yet to assume the duties of an interpreter.

Skinny, why should this reality matter to me? This reality should matter to you because in order for you to work as an interpreter, you will have to invest in excess of one hundred hours of training, and most likely this training will be unpaid training and may even cost you hundreds of dollars (minimum $500).

Skinny, if I am a bilingual who is not interested in investing over a hundred unpaid hours in training, maybe even of paying hundreds of dollars for that training, plus hundreds of dollars in required documentation costs, and who just wants to make some money with my current bilingual skills, what options do I have? You have the option of seeking work as a bilingual. On occasion Nationwide Children's Hospital will post positions for receptionists, call center operators, financial counselors, and even lab technicians, and your bilingual abilities would be an asset. Your bilingual skills will largely be assumed, though some testing may be administered to verify your second-language skills. Chase Bank in Columbus is also known to hire bilinguals from time to time as call center operators or loan officers. Working as a bilingual means that sometimes your client is more comfortable speaking in a non-English language, and if you speak that same language, you can provide service to your client in his or her native language. Just be clear now; working as a bilingual is not "interpretation". Also, bilinguals often earn the same as monolinguals, though some employers may offer a small increase (as little as $0.25 an hour) as a bonus for your ability to work with two language communities.

If you want to work as an interpreter, now I must be frank and tell you what others will deliberately hide from you: There are only three spoken languages with which you may succeed at earning a living as an interpreter in Columbus, Ohio:

1. Spanish
2. Somali
3. Nepali

There are likewise two spoken language communities in Columbus where you could, if you strive to interpret with precision and sacrifice, possibly make a living as an interpreter, but the income fluctuates more, and there are often periods of little work:

1. Arabic
2. French

But what if you speak another language, such as Amharic, Cantonese, Chinese (Mandarin), Fulani, Hakha Chin, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Oromo, Portuguese, Russian, Twi, Ukrainian, Urdu, or any other? I will tell you the truth: You are probably wasting your time with on-site interpretation. 

Skinny, why do you say I would be wasting my time? You would be wasting your time seeking to make a living in on-site interpretation because the work volume is very low. Agencies will tell you what you want to hear, because if you agree to work for them, the agency makes money. The conversation goes like this.

Q: How much work can I expect to get as a Mandarin interpreter?

A: Oh, there is a need for Mandarin at the moment. Mind you, Mandarin is not Spanish, so this is part-time work, and there are no guarantees, but we're giving back 3 Mandarin assignments a day. If you come work for us, you could see two or three assignments a day, sometimes more.

Q: But how long does each assignment last?

A: The duration varies, but anywhere from an hour to several hours, sometimes 12 hours if at labor and delivery.

The prospective Mandarin interpreter then concludes, "Well, if I get three assignments a day, and they last on average 2-3 hours, I would be working for about 6-8 hours a day, at $20 an hour. Sounds pretty good!" 

Now let me have the same conversation but with a mentor in the field who knows the truth and is willing to share it with you:

Q: How much work can I expect to get as a Mandarin interpreter?

A: Oh, the agency has a need for Mandarin at the moment. The agency is giving back three Mandarin assignments a day, but all three assignments are at the same time and they are in three different locations. One may be at a pediatric office, the other at a physician's clinic, and the third at physical therapy, but all three are at 9:00 AM, for example. So no matter what, you could only accept one of those assignments.

Q: But how long does each assignment last?

A: The duration varies, but anywhere from an hour to several hours. Most of these assignments will last about an hour, and you will need to invest 1 hour of driving and as much as 20 minutes for walking from your car and back. There are also days where you will have one assignment or none at all. Furthermore, because the work volume is low, the agency will offer you assignments where you will have to drive 90 minutes or more round trip, for 1 hour of work. On occasion there may be a long assignment at labor and delivery, for up to 12 hours, but these assignments are infrequent.

Now do you see what I mean? The agency led the Mandarin interpreter to believe he or she could be working upwards of 40 hours a week, but the agency sneakily covered for itself by saying "Mandarin is not Spanish, so this would be part-time, and there are no guarantees." The reality is that the Mandarin interpreter would invest so much time in training (100 hours) and then so much in travel costs that, and I am being frank, the only people who pursue on-site interpretation for small languages in Columbus, Ohio, are people who rely on a spouse (or some other source) for their financial needs and who are therefore able to interpret merely as a way of getting out of the house, meeting people, and earning a little extra cash. In other words, interpreting for fun.

To be clear, there are a few interpreters of small languages who manage to get by, (Amharic, Hakha Chin, Twi, et al.), but they often supplement their income with other endeavors (maybe a night shift at a warehouse, often public assistance) or have a working spouse who shares the financial burdens. 

There is another option for speakers of small languages who really wish to interpret for a living: Telephonic and/or video monitor interpretation. There are companies that hire interpreters to interpret over the telephone (Pacific Interpreters, Language Line, et al.) from their home, and there are companies that hire interpreters to sit in front of a video monitor to interpret, such as Language Access Network (based in Westerville, Ohio). These companies may be able to offer you employment for your small language because they can have a greater work flow. The pay is generally about $12-14 per hour for phone interpretation (perhaps more for your rarer languages) and $15-18 per hour for video monitor interpretation for inexperienced interpreters. These companies also hire interpreters for the major languages of Spanish and Somali, but the work volume is excessive, the pay inadequate, and therefore I no longer advise my Spanish or Somali colleagues to pursue such ventures. This is a topic for a separate post.

The next consideration is for the interpreter candidate who only seeks to use his or her current bilingual skills to earn some quick cash, and presumably now these are colleagues who speak Spanish, Somali or Nepali: Did you know that there are two major divisions of interpretation in Columbus, Ohio (and elsewhere, to be honest)?

Yes, the two major divisions are medical (hospital or generally non-legal) interpreting and legal (court) interpreting. The prospects for the former are bleak, and the prospects for the latter are bright.

A little history is needed.

FACTS:

1. From about 2000-2005 several agencies in Columbus, Ohio, charged area hospitals $50 or more per hour for medical interpretation. One agency, Community Refugee Immigration Services (CRIS) paid interpreters $40 an hour for medical interpretation. The interpreters were offered the required 20 hours (now 50 hours are required) of training for free, the interpreters received a certificate, and after meeting a few inexpensive requirements (one was a $0.15 Sheriff's Office background check) the interpreter went to work. Another agency in Columbus, Ohio, charged $50 or more per hour, but paid interpreters $23 per hour. CRIS was the superior option.
2. After 2005 a new course was charted: An agency offered to charge hospitals a rate roughly between $30-38 per hour, less than interpreters were earning at CRIS. It did not take very long for hospitals to flock to the cheaper rate. Interpreter pay collapsed to an unprecedented low of $20 an hour, half of what the rate had been in the first half of the decade of the 2000s. The agency that was responsible for this action earned as much as $18 an hour for every $20 the interpreter made (CRIS earned $10 or less per hour for every hour that the interpreter earned $40), so the agency that cut the rates was reaping huge financial benefits at the cost of the interpreters' livelihood. To be fair, other agencies were exploiting interpreters as well, but the "rush to the bottom" that was triggered, it is fair to say, left healthy profit margins, mainly because interpreter livelihood paid the price.
3. By 2008 a new rate was introduced that was called "special rate" or "contract rate" or "promotora rate" ("promotorae" are interpreters who are compelled to assume some of the duties of a medical technician, such as discharging patients, and office duties such as working as a receptionist, in addition to interpreting). In one instance hospitals came to be charged less than $20 an hour, and interpreters were paid slightly more than half of that. In another instance organizations were charged anywhere from $25-40 an hour and interpreters were paid from $10-12 an hour. 

That bleak but true history is what happened to medical (and by medical I mean non-legal) spoken-language interpreting in Columbus.

Skinny, what is the current picture of spoken-language medical interpretation in Columbus? Here is the current picture:

1. Interpreter candidates must pay $500-800 for 50 hours of training, not including 30 hours of drive time and as many as 50 hours of personal study. Though such programs offer needed skills, this time commitment and its costs represent a substantial guaranteed investment with no guarantee of sufficient employment.
2. Interpreter candidates must pay upwards of $200-300 in required documentation costs (background checks, vaccination records, etc.), even if they may end up receiving only one hour of work per week.
3. The pay scale is $10 an hour for promotorae (no raises, no benefits), $12-20 for Spanish and Somali interpreters (generally no raises, generally no benefits, except for a few full-timers who earn $12-13 an hour and get about 4 paid holidays a year, but nothing more; rumor has it that one language group is paid more), and usually $20 an hour for all other assignments. 
4. Wherever possible agencies increase the rates they charge to their clients, but the agencies generally do not pass the good fortune on to interpreters. The result is that the agency will tell a hospital, "We have been charging you the same rate for 6 years, but our costs have risen, so we need greater pay", and the hospitals comply. The same agency will not, will not, apply the same logic to its interpreters, namely, that the interpreters have earned the same rate for X years, costs have risen, so the interpreters need greater pay. Generally the only increase seen is for the bottom rate, and then only to encourage more interpreters to interpret for rates as low as $12-14 an hour.

There is more. I will now reveal vile business practices in Columbus, Ohio. Now, these vile practices may not be illegal, some may argue that these practices are industry wide and simply a matter of doing good business, but Skinny says, "Let us know, and we can make the right decisions."

Vile Practices:

1. Billing for hours but not paying interpreters. It has become common place in Columbus, Ohio, (and in all honesty elsewhere), for agencies to bill for hours but not pay the interpreters. For example, an agency may schedule an interpreter for a 5 hour surgery, from 7:00 AM to noon. Maybe the interpreter gets a call at 6:00 AM telling him or her that the assignment canceled. The interpreter is paid $0 for that cancellation, but the agency will charge for up to 5 hours for the assignment, depending on the client. Or maybe the interpreter arrives at the 5 hour surgery assignment, but the patient does not arrive. The interpreter will be paid for 1 hour of work, though the agency will bill for up to 5 hours for the assignment. This practice often gets revealed when the interpreter shows up to an assignment and the client asks whether the interpreter can remain for the whole "four hours". The interpreter responds that he or she may remain if needed, then the client retorts: "We're paying your agency for four hours of your time on the off chance that we may need you that long", but the agency pays the interpreter for 1 hour saying, "You were only there for one hour." In some legal assignments the agencies will bill for 4-6 hour minimums but pay the interpreter a 1 hour minimum.
2. Charging emergency rate but not paying it. Agencies will tell hospitals and other clients, "If you ask for an interpreter last minute or within a certain window, for example, if under 8 hours or some other specified period, we charge a higher rate." That rate could be an extra $8 an hour or more, but varies. The agency will then either not pay the interpreter an emergency rate or will offer a small gratuity for the entire assignment, but call that small gratuity a "rate".
3. Negotiating a substantially higher rate due to difficulty, but pocketing the difference. An agency may have a request for a legal deposition in a rare language, maybe Mandingo. The agency will then negotiate saying, "Few interpreters for that language exist, and few of these have the requisite skills. I have such an interpreter, but he or she will not work for the regular rate and requires a guaranteed period of pay." Maybe the client will agree to pay $80 an hour for two days at 8 hours a day, then the agency will still pay the interpreter $20 for one guaranteed hour. If this practice was not egregious enough, the same agency, in order to ensure "quality service", will then require the interpreter to take 6 hours of additional unpaid training and invest 10 hours of unpaid personal study as preparation, and if, for example, the assignment finishes after just 3 hours on the first day, the interpreter gets his or her normal rate for those 3 hours, and the agency bills for the entire period that was negotiated. It is not uncommon for an interpreter to collect less than 10% of the money he or she brought the agency when interpreting on a legal assignment. 
4. Offering a below market price then passing the "savings" on to the interpreter. I mentioned this earlier, and this is a practice called "special rate", "contract rate" or "protomora rate". After the interpreter rate in Columbus collapsed from $40 an hour to $20 (due to business avarice), a couple of agencies began offering to charge less than $20 an hour, which meant that interpreters would be paid $10-11 an hour, though the range is now $10-14. It is easy to say, and correct to assert, that interpreters should refuse to work for this rate. The problem is that so many recent immigrants or underprivileged bilinguals are hungry for work that they accept work at $10-14 an hour. These low-paying assignments have a work load often far greater than the work load at $20 an hour. Often interpreters with low linguistic skills accept this work. The fact that so many interpreters take these low-paying assignments creates pressure that keeps interpreter rates just slightly above minimum wage. It is my humble opinion that it is this practice of offering hospitals charges that are below market rate that is the single greatest evidence that the agencies in question care only about profits and not the lives of the interpreters. No one compelled these agencies to offer interpretation at $20 or less an hour, especially when the hospitals in question were paying $50 or more per hour for that work a decade ago. 
5. Not paying a higher rate for highly educated and higher skilled interpreters. An interpreter who barely knows English and speaks with a thick accent will start out earning $20 an hour (will also never see an increase), which is the same as an interpreter with advanced degrees will earn. 
6. Equally distributing work. You may ask yourself how an equal distribution of work is unfair. Imagine that you are a French interpreter and you joined up with a certain agency. At first you were getting 6 assignments a day and making decent money. After about a year the agency hired another French interpreter. Now you get 3 assignments a day, half of what you used to receive. Then the agency hires another French interpreter. Now you get 1 or 2 assignments a day. This equal distribution of work is meant to maximize agency profits at the cost of the livelihood of the senior interpreters. 
7. Compelling interpreters to sign a highly restrictive "non-competition" and"non-solicitation" agreement. These contracts prohibit the interpreter from even just applying for a job as an interpreter at a hospital and prohibit the interpreter from entering into their own agreements with hundreds of clients in Columbus. No interpreter agency in Columbus, Ohio, has a need to restrict your ability to work and make a living. Agencies that bind their interpreters this way do this to ensure that you will either work for them at their low rates or not work at all. If the agency can restrict your ability to work, the agency will have no need of ever raising interpreter pay.
8. Fining interpreters for non-compliance with company rules. This is perhaps the most vile of recent (last few years) developments. The culprits will even help themselves to the money in your pay check as a "punitive measure". One interpreter was told that the interpreter did not show up to an assignment. The interpreter claimed never to have accepted that job. The company reprimanded the interpreter over the phone and told the interpreter that $40 would be removed from the upcoming paycheck. Then the interpreter was told to come to the office for a face-to-face excoriation. The interpreter, having more than one job and several small children, and having already gotten the message, refused to come out of severe inconvenience. The agency helped itself to $100 of the interpreter's check as punishment for not accepting to be scolded in person after having been scolded over the phone. 
9. Withholding pay to compel the interpreters to come for additional unpaid training. Sometimes a company may believe that interpreters need to be retrained. The interpreters, facing 6 hours or more of unpaid training, often refuse to come. That agency will then withhold the interpreter's paycheck in order to compel the interpreter to be rehabilitated.
10. Threatening to withhold daytime employment unless the interpreter agrees to work during the night for the daytime rate. Most employers have shift differential or a higher late-night rate. The vile practice of paying the daytime rate for late-night work is a way to avoid paying the interpreters a shift differential. The process works like this: The agency will call the interpreter in for a face-to-face reprimand and threaten to withhold daytime work unless the interpreter agrees to work at night, but for the daytime rate.

The result of all of this bad history and vile practices is that medical interpretation in Columbus, Ohio, has become a dead end full of abuses. The pay is low, and with rare exceptions, does not increase. The promise of $20 an hour is disingenuous: If you have to drive for 1 hour then work for 1 hour to earn $20, you actually made $10 per hour. And when you factor in gas, wear and tear on your vehicle, and the taxes you have to pay for your earnings, you have have earned $6 or $7 per hour. Exploitation is commonplace in the field of medical interpretation in Columbus, Ohio, and businesses seek for ways to maximize interpreter output without ever passing any of the greater wealth on to those who do the work.

There are a couple of bright spots in the long, dark night of interpretation in Columbus, Ohio. One agency, Deaf Services Center (DSC), which, as the name indicates, specializes in Sign Language for the deaf, now offers services for Spanish, Somali and Nepali. This agency pays above the current market rates offering $27 an hour for regular rate and $29 for emergency rate. DSC also values experience, which other agencies only pay lip service to. DSC is not guilty of all the vile practices named above either. For example, DSC will pay you for every hour they bill, and DSC pays a real emergency rate (not a cheap gratuity deceptively called a "rate"). DSC will not require you to sign a "non-competition" and "non-solicitation" agreement. Keep your eyes on DSC.

Another bright spot is Asian American Community Services (AACS) which pays $25 an hour for medical assignments and $35 an hour for legal assignments. As with DSC, AACS does not bind interpreters to a "non-competition" and "non-solicitation" agreement. AACS specializes in Asian languages, but includes Arabic. AACS does not get much work, but one hopes that their fortunes will increase.

What about the legal (court) field? There are two ways to get work as a legal interpreter. One route is to accept legal work through medical agencies, and the other is to gain your Ohio Supreme Court certification.

Before we proceed, a word of caution: With two exceptions (DSC and AASC), in the city of Columbus, you would be advised never to accept any legal assignments from medical agencies. Medical agencies will either offer lower rates to the courts in order to (pardon my bluntness) prostitute legal interpretation they way the same agencies prostituted medical interpretation or the agencies will charge higher rates but pay the interpreter the lower, medical rates. If you are a medical interpreter and you are going to the courts to interpret, you are probably being exploited. Again, there are two exceptions: Deaf Services Center and Asian American Community Services. DSC will send Spanish, Somali or Nepali interpreters to the courts and pay $27 an hour regular rate, $29 an hour emergency rate, and experience is valued. AASC will pay Asian languages including Arabic $35 an hour for legal assignments.

Now, before I proceed, I need to explain what certification is. I will be frank.

Certification is an affirmation of your skills that is made by a branch of the government, period. No exceptions. Here is how you can tell if the "certification" you are being offered is legitimate:

1. The website for the organization offering certification ends in .gov, because the organization is the government itself.
2. The testing process is difficult, relatively few interpreters pass. Last year in Ohio about 15% of the candidates, 2 to be specific, received their Ohio Supreme Court certification for Spanish. If you factor in how many interpreters succeeded from start to finish in 2015, the pass rate was close to 2%.
3. When you get your certification, your pay skyrockets to $50 an hour, sometimes more (if you go to the right sources).

There is perhaps only one exception to rule that certification comes from the government, and that is the Registry for Interpreters of the Deaf (RID). The RID is not part of our government, but the testing they administer is excruciatingly difficult, relatively few interpreters pass, and (so far) state Supreme Courts have decided not to create their own Sign Language Certification tests but to accept the RID's Specialist Certification: Legal. 

The so-called "certification" that some organizations offer for medical interpreters is not from the government, is not difficult (most interpreters pass, upwards of 95% by one estimate), is not going to get you paid even $0.01 more, is extremely expensive, and, in my opinion, is worthless.

If you want to become a professional interpreter, Ohio Supreme Court certification is your course of action. Visit their website at http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/JCS/interpreterSvcs/ (notice that their website is .gov), click on the Contact Information: e-mail, and get connected. So far Ohio Supreme Court training is free, the testing costs are not cheap but reasonable for bona fide interpretation, and the payout for Spanish or Somali is absolutely worthwhile.

When you do get your certification turn to Columbus Bar Interpreting Services (CBIS). They will pay you $50 per hour. Now, CBIS honors seniority, which means that as a Spanish interpreter you will get relatively little work at first, because you will be at the end of the line. But over about 6 months your work load increases and you may be able to bid adieu to wretched medical interpretation (low pay, exploitative practices, abuses). If you are a Somali interpreter, since there are no Ohio Supreme Court certified interpreters in Ohio yet (as of 31 July 2016), you would stand to make good money in a relatively short period of time.

Well, I have shared a lot of information here. Suffice it to say that I care about interpretation, and I want my colleagues or prospective colleagues to enter this field with knowledge and an awareness of the dangers and the advantages. Wish you the best!