[Johana Colon]

The alveoli are tiny air sacs in the lungs, and even though they’re incredibly small, they’re one of the most important parts of the respiratory system. Their main job is to help us exchange gases specifically, to bring oxygen into our blood and get rid of carbon dioxide.

When we breathe in, air travels through our nose or mouth, down the windpipe, and into the lungs. From there, the air goes into smaller and smaller tubes, eventually ending in clusters of alveoli. Think of them like bunches of grapes, with each little sac playing a role in helping us breathe properly.

Each alveolus (that’s the singular form) is surrounded by tiny blood vessels called capillaries. The walls of the alveoli are super thin, which makes it easy for oxygen to pass through and enter the bloodstream. At the same time, carbon dioxide something our body needs to get rid of moves from the blood into the alveoli so we can exhale it.

This gas exchange is absolutely essential. Without oxygen, our cells wouldn’t be able to function, and without removing carbon dioxide, our blood would become toxic. The alveoli make sure our body gets what it needs and removes what it doesn’t.

When alveoli are damaged like from smoking, pollution, or lung diseases such as emphysema or pneumonia breathing becomes harder, and the body doesn’t get enough oxygen. That’s why keeping our lungs healthy is so important.

In short, alveoli might be tiny, but they’re key to keeping us alive and well every single day.

[Johana Colon]

The skin is our body’s largest organ, and it does a lot more than just cover us up. It’s made up of three main layers: the epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis (also called the subcutaneous layer). Each one has its own important job.

The epidermis is the outermost layer—the part you can see and touch. It acts like a shield, protecting us from bacteria, dirt, and harmful UV rays from the sun. It also keeps moisture in so we don’t dry out. The epidermis is constantly making new skin cells and shedding old ones. It also contains melanin, the pigment that gives our skin its color and helps protect against sun damage.

Right underneath is the dermis, which is much thicker. This layer is where you’ll find things like blood vessels, hair follicles, sweat glands, oil glands, and nerve endings. The dermis helps regulate temperature by producing sweat and increasing or decreasing blood flow. It also gives the skin strength and flexibility, thanks to proteins like collagen and elastin. Plus, it’s what allows us to feel touch, pain, and temperature.

Finally, the hypodermis is the deepest layer. It’s mostly made of fat and connective tissue. This layer cushions our muscles and bones, helps keep us warm, and stores energy. It also anchors the skin to the structures underneath.

Together, these three layers do an incredible job of protecting our bodies, keeping us comfortable, and helping us interact with the world around us.

[Johana Colon]

The male and female reproductive systems are very different because they each have unique roles in making reproduction possible. The male system is mainly focused on producing and delivering sperm, while the female system is built to create eggs, support fertilization, and carry a baby during pregnancy.

In males, the main organs are the testes, which produce both sperm and testosterone, the hormone responsible for male traits like a deeper voice and facial hair. Once sperm is made, it travels through the vas deferens and is released through the penis during ejaculation. Men start producing sperm at puberty and can usually keep doing so for most of their lives.

Females, on the other hand, are born with all the eggs they’ll ever have—usually about a million, although only a few hundred will actually mature over a woman’s lifetime. Each month, during the menstrual cycle, one egg is released from the ovaries. If sperm is present, fertilization usually happens in the fallopian tubes. The fertilized egg can then implant in the uterus, where it grows during pregnancy. If no fertilization happens, the uterine lining is shed during a woman’s period.

Hormones also play different roles in each system. While testosterone drives the male system, females rely more on estrogen and progesterone, along with a few others, to regulate their cycle and prepare for pregnancy.

In short, while both systems are designed for reproduction, they do very different jobs and are built in completely different ways to support human life.

[Johana Colon]

A nerve cell, or neuron, is a special kind of cell that helps your body send and receive messages. Neurons are what allow you to think, move, feel, and react to the world around you. Each part of a neuron has a unique job, and all of them work together to make sure the nervous system runs smoothly.

The cell body, also called the soma, is like the control center of the neuron. It holds the nucleus, which contains the cell’s DNA, and it keeps the neuron alive and working. It also helps process signals that come from other cells.

Coming out of the cell body are dendrites—these look like little branches. Their job is to receive messages from other neurons and bring those messages to the cell body. You can think of dendrites like ears—they’re always listening for incoming signals.

Then there’s the axon, which is a long, thin extension that carries messages away from the cell body and sends them to other neurons, muscles, or glands. Some axons are very short, while others (like the ones going from your spine to your toes) can be really long!

To help those messages travel faster, the axon is covered in something called a myelin sheath—a protective, fatty layer that works like insulation on a wire. Along the axon are little gaps in this covering, called the nodes of Ranvier, which help speed up how fast the message moves down the axon.

Finally, at the end of the axon are the axon terminals. These are the parts that send the message to the next cell. They do this by releasing special chemicals called neurotransmitters into a small gap between cells called the synapse.

All these parts work together to help your brain and body communicate. Without neurons and their parts working properly, you wouldn’t be able to move, feel, or even think clearly. They’re small, but they do some of the most important work in your entire body.

[Johana Colon]

Arteries and veins are both important parts of the circulatory system, but they have different jobs and structures. Arteries carry blood away from the heart, usually filled with oxygen that the body needs. Because the heart pumps blood into arteries with a lot of force, their walls are thick and muscular. This helps them handle the pressure and keep the blood moving quickly and efficiently to different parts of the body.

Veins, on the other hand, carry blood back to the heart. By the time blood reaches the veins, it has already delivered its oxygen to the body’s tissues and picked up waste like carbon dioxide. This blood is lower in pressure, so veins don’t need thick walls like arteries do. Instead, they have special valves inside them that keep the blood from flowing backward. This is especially helpful in the legs and other lower parts of the body, where blood has to travel upward against gravity to return to the heart.

The heart itself is divided into four chambers that work together to keep blood moving properly. The top two chambers are called atria, and the bottom two are called ventricles. Blood enters the right atrium from the body, moves to the right ventricle, and is then pumped to the lungs to get oxygen. From the lungs, the oxygen rich blood flows into the left atrium, then into the left ventricle, which pumps it out to the rest of the body.

This four chamber system is really important because it keeps oxygen rich and oxygen poor blood separate, which helps the body get the oxygen it needs to work properly. Without this system, our organs and tissues wouldn’t get the oxygen they need to survive.

[Johana Colon]

Techniques for Better Mental Retention:
1. Space it out – Review over time, not all at once.
2. Test yourself – Recall info without looking (flashcards, quizzes).
3. Understand it – Don’t just memorize; know why it matters.
4. Use visuals – Diagrams, drawings, and mind maps help a lot.
5. Chunk info – Break big things into smaller, meaningful parts.
6. Mix topics – Study different subjects in one session.
7. Use memory tricks – Acronyms, rhymes, weird associations.
8. Teach it – Explain it like you’re teaching someone else.
9. Sleep well – Memory needs rest to stick.
10. Exercise & eat right – Your brain works better when your body does.
11. Stay focused – Ditch multitasking and distractions.

[Johana Colon]

There are a bunch of things that can really mess with how well we remember stuff. One of the biggest is not getting enough sleep. When we’re asleep, especially in the deeper stages, our brains are actually working to process and store memories. So if you’re staying up late all the time or not sleeping well, your memory is going to take a hit not just short term, but long term too.

Stress is another big one. When you’re constantly stressed, your brain is in this fight or flight mode, and it doesn’t really care about remembering things it just wants to survive. High stress levels release a hormone called cortisol, and too much of it can damage the parts of your brain that help with memory.

Then there’s diet. It might not seem obvious, but what you eat affects how your brain works. If you’re living on junk food, skipping meals, or not drinking enough water, your brain won’t be at its best. Healthy fats, vitamins, and staying hydrated really do make a difference.

Distractions are another killer when it comes to memory. Trying to learn or remember something while also checking your phone, watching TV, or multitasking just doesn’t work. Your brain can only focus on one thing well at a time.

And finally, not reviewing information makes it easy to forget. If you don’t use it, you lose it that’s how memory works. Going over things a few times or applying what you’ve learned helps it stick.

[Johana Colon]

As a medical interpreter, understanding prefixes and suffixes in medical terminology is super helpful and honestly makes the job a lot easier. Medical terms can sound really complicated, but when you break them down into parts, they start to make more sense. A lot of these words are built from smaller pieces prefixes at the beginning, suffixes at the end, and a root word in the middle. If you know what those parts mean, you can figure out what the whole word is trying to say, even if it’s a word you’ve never heard before.

For example, if a doctor says “hypoglycemia,” and you know that “hypo-” means low, “glyc-” refers to sugar, and “-emia” means blood, then you can understand they’re talking about low blood sugar. That kind of knowledge can help you translate more accurately and quickly, which is so important when someone’s health is on the line.

It also helps in situations where there’s a lot of medical jargon being thrown around. If you understand the basic building blocks of these words, you won’t get lost, and you can keep up with the conversation better. It makes you more confident, and it helps the patients feel like they’re being heard and understood, even if they don’t speak the same language as the doctor.

Overall, knowing medical prefixes and suffixes isn’t just helpful it’s part of what makes you a skilled and trustworthy interpreter in the medical field.

[Johana Colon]

Present day legislation in the United States has made progress over the years, especially when it comes to civil rights and access to public services. However, many people feel that the laws we currently have are not always enough to meet the needs of today’s diverse population. One important example is Executive Order 13166, which was signed in 2000. This order requires federal agencies and organizations that receive federal funding to provide meaningful access to people who have Limited English Proficiency (LEP). In simple terms, this means that people who don’t speak English well should still be able to understand and access important services like healthcare, education, and legal help.

Whether or not this executive order is followed depends a lot on where you live. In some states, especially those with large immigrant communities, there are systems in place to help non-English speakers. For example, hospitals may have interpreters available, and government offices might provide forms and information in different languages. In those places, you can clearly see Executive Order 13166 being used to help people. But in other states, especially ones with smaller LEP populations or less funding, the order might not be followed as carefully. Some agencies may not have interpreters, or they may not translate important materials, which can make it hard for people to get the help they need.

In my opinion, the law is a good start, but it’s not enough on its own. Just having the rule isn’t the same as making sure it’s followed everywhere. There needs to be better enforcement, more funding, and more effort to make sure all people no matter what language they speak can access the services they need.

[Johana Colon]

Medical interpreters do a lot more than just repeat words in another language. Their job is to make sure patients and healthcare providers truly understand each other not just the words, but the meaning behind them. There are four main roles interpreters take on message converter, clarifier, cultural broker, and advocate.

The first role, and the one used most often, is the message converter. This is the core of interpreting just faithfully repeating everything said, word for word, in the other language. For example, if a doctor says, “You need to take this medication every morning before breakfast,” the interpreter repeats that exactly to the patient, without changing or explaining anything.

Then there’s the clarifier role. Sometimes a patient might not understand a medical term, or the provider might use complex language. If that happens, the interpreter can briefly step out of the “word for word” role and explain. Let’s say the provider says “You have hypertension,” and the patient looks confused. The interpreter might clarify by saying, “That means high blood pressure,” to help the patient understand better.

Next is the cultural broker. This comes into play when cultural differences affect communication. For instance, in some cultures, people avoid eye contact with authority figures out of respect. If a provider sees this as rude or evasive, the interpreter might explain, “In this culture, avoiding eye contact is a sign of respect,” helping both sides avoid misunderstandings.

Lastly, there’s the advocate role. This one is used carefully and only when needed for example, if the patient clearly doesn’t understand something important and might be at risk. If a nurse gives rushed instructions and walks away, the interpreter might say, “I believe the patient didn’t fully understand. Could we go over that again?” It’s not about giving medical advice just making sure the patient’s voice is heard and they’re safe.

Each of these roles has a purpose, and a good interpreter knows when to stick to the script and when to step in for clarity or cultural understanding. It’s all about helping people connect in meaningful, respectful ways.

[Johana Colon]

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Doing a pre session with yourself, the provider, and the patient can really set the tone for a successful interpreting encounter. As an interpreter, having even a brief moment to collect your thoughts before going into a session helps you focus, mentally prepare for the topic, and ensure you’re ready to interpret accurately. It’s also a good chance to check in with the provider understanding the purpose of the session and any special considerations, like dialect or sensitive topics, can make a big difference.

When all three parties are involved, it helps build trust. Patients may not always know what to expect from an interpreter, so explaining your role that you’re there to interpret everything accurately and stay neutral can help them feel more comfortable. It also gives providers a chance to be reminded of best practices, like pausing often and avoiding jargon.

Skipping the pre session can lead to avoidable problems. For instance, if the provider talks too fast or uses complicated medical terms, the interpretation might not be accurate. Or worse, the patient might ask the interpreter for advice or help making a decision, not understanding that the interpreter can’t do that. These kinds of situations can be avoided by just spending a few minutes up front aligning expectations.

Is it always necessary? Not every single time. In emergency settings or when you work regularly with the same team, it might not be practical. But when possible especially in complex or sensitive appointments it’s always worth doing.

[Johana Colon]

Thank you so much for sharing your story — it’s incredibly inspiring. It’s clear that you’ve poured a lot of heart and dedication into your work, and I really admire how you embraced change and followed your passion for communication, even when it meant stepping away from a stable career. That takes a lot of courage.

Your journey into the medical interpreting world sounds both challenging and rewarding, and I appreciate the honesty about the early struggles. It’s encouraging to hear how far you’ve come — it gives me hope that with time, effort, and patience, I can grow the same way. I’ll definitely take your advice to heart and try to be kind to myself during this learning process.

Thanks again for the encouragement — it means a lot coming from someone who’s been in the field for so long.

[Johana Colon]

A lot of people think interpreters and translators do the same thing, but they’re actually very different. The biggest difference is that interpreters work with spoken language, while translators work with written language. So, if someone is speaking another language and you need help understanding them in real time, you’d need an interpreter. But if you have a document in another language that needs to be translated into English, that’s a job for a translator.

Each role comes with its own challenges. Interpreters have to think and speak quickly. They’re listening, processing, and repeating information almost at the same time, and there’s no room to pause or go back. That can be stressful—especially in medical settings where the information is sensitive or urgent. Interpreters also have to deal with different accents, emotions, and even cultural differences, all while staying accurate.

Translators, on the other hand, have more time to do their work. They can use dictionaries or double-check meanings, but that doesn’t mean it’s easier. They have to be super precise and make sure the tone and message of the original text comes through clearly in the translation. It’s not just about changing words—it’s about understanding the whole meaning.

It’s really important to know the difference between the two. Hiring the wrong person for a situation can lead to miscommunication, especially in serious areas like healthcare or legal settings. Understanding the unique skills of interpreters and translators helps everyone communicate more effectively and respectfully.

[Johana Colon]

My name is Johana, and I currently live in Providence, Rhode Island with my husband and our two children, ages 15 and 9. Being a mother is my greatest joy, and my family is the center of my world. My husband and I have been together for 20 years and recently celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. As a family, we love spending time together, especially traveling and exploring different countries and cultures.

For the past five years, I’ve worked at Rhode Island Hospital as a Patient Representative. In my role, I primarily assist Spanish-speaking patients with checking in, booking follow-up appointments, and making sure they feel welcomed and comfortable throughout the process. I take great pride in helping bridge the communication gap between patients and providers, and I’ve developed a strong passion for supporting the Latino community through my work.

My goal is to become a certified medical interpreter. I want to advocate for patients who face language barriers and help ensure they receive the care and respect they deserve. I believe that everyone should be able to communicate clearly and confidently when it comes to their health. Becoming a medical interpreter feels like the right next step for me—one that aligns with both my experience and my values.

I’m passionate about helping others and proud of the work I do. I’m excited to continue growing professionally while making a meaningful impact in my community.

[Author]

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