Some, but not much.

This is what I know. Right now, tonight, I am physically and mentally exhausted from two long days working at Applebee's. This is my day for blogging and yet I can't think much about interpreting or ASL.
Here is what I know:
- I want to be immersed in Deaf culture and spend quality time with native signers. Not only is it beneficial to my skill levels, but I am interested.
- Not that I am prepared, but I getting excited about practicums.
- I have no desire to be in church, but I found myself intrigued by April's challenge of "if you can interpret church stuff then you can interpret anything". (And then I worry that it will interfere with my already tenuous work schedule.)
- I can easily get myself excited about taking the written NIC this summer. That seems the obviously easy part.
- I am confused and frustrated and scared about the real-world part. The experience which will lead me to the NIC Interview/Performance. How to get that experience, where to go, can I really do it before next summer when the laws change, am I going to have to leave Bud, will I have to return to school for a bachelor's degree whether it be a Board of Regents or another school providing the four-year program.
- Finding balance between life and studying and learning and living. All of which are vastly different.

Break, Over and Out!

Didn't we have an interesting time!? I am so grateful for the way I approach things, even if I over-think words and freeze on meaning - those can be learned and tweaked. It is my positive outlook which will get me through this. Goodness, what it must be like to walk through life with a chip or a blackened veil clouding one's vision.

During TERPExpo I got up on stage once in front of Wink's session and signed my part. I made it fun. Once I sat down I assessed what I did and realized that because of nerves I rushed it somewhat but I did it and did it fairly well. Next?

I didn't get to use my time to go over my notes from the NIC workshops and still need to do that. So far I have ordered one book of the several she suggested. Thank goodness some of the books are our class books and another I already had because it looked interesting. Now I need to go through both workshops and pull out what I learned and add to my vocabulary notebook.

That five women shared a suite as easily as we did is a blessing and a testament to our personalities - both strong and pliable.

Well, Spring Break is over, but we are definitely not out. Thank goodness.

Break?

Here we are, Spring Break. The half-way mark of the semester. I don't think that fact has yet settled with me. These first eight weeks have been pretty fast and so much has been learned. To be honest, I am looking forward to more learning during these next eight weeks. One complains about the things we haven't learned and how can we be accountable for those things, I see every day as a learning opportunity and try to keep my ego in check and my mind open. My strength is concepts. When discussing things during the signing portion in class and April posed a question about what a phrase indicates I understood from the lead-in that a list could be begun in signing even though we don't know how many items will be listed - the wonder of lists!! :-) Concepts in discussion is a great asset, it is remembering these very same things while listening to a message. I'd like to think I am hearing and learning the messages. Some things with me are just a little delayed.

I will keep practicing at home, I promise. I enjoy listening to conversations and mentally paraphrasing portions of them. It is the task of listening and paraphrasing the ENTIRE message which is such a challenge.

When Ruby joined our class on Monday and Wednesday I was so happy to see how she benefited our lesson. Even though I did so many awkward things in my production, she only picked out a few things for me to correct and encouraged me to be more confident. I know that every class can't be that but I am willing to take what we can get.

Seeing Robyn is excellent for me. I haven't talked to her about it, but I would like to continue tutoring even after school is over. And why not? Interpreting is a life-long learning process.

This weekend's workshop was so informative. During my next two days off I need to sit down with my notes and organize them lest I lose some of the information. It was overwhelming and encouraging. I believe it should be a requirement for each ITP class.

Recently I was asked if I was excited about interpreting. I hesitated before answering. I said that I am excited about it, even though right now I am still scared about the learning and absorbing of the information.

All in due time.

Almost break

I’m really not sure what to say this week. I am glad that Spring Break is up and coming because with our three days in Pittsburgh and then four days in Columbus I feel beat just thinking about it. I don’t mind the short spring break, just the frenzy surrounding it.

Robyn is a great help and I enjoy our tutoring sessions already. I have been watching many different signers on-line and sometimes the variations in signing has been helpful and sometimes more confusing. I am assuming regional differences in what I see. Without that direct interaction with a person and the ability to ask for clarification I make the most of it and keep on going.

The voicing and signing in the classes has been interesting. The immediate feedback as well as watching others’ interpretations of how to say or sign a segment is enlightening.

Is it repetitive but not redundant to say that there is still so much to learn, or just both? Some days I feel numb with being overwhelmed and other days I feel “normal” again. These up-and-downs are hard for me because I am an even-keeled type of person. Who knew that the interpreting program is quite like boot camp? At least here I don’t think my self-esteem is intentionally questioned, it just happens because I care so much about the product and the process and everything in between. Interpreting is not for the faint of heart.

As we saw in the movie “See What I’m Saying”. While Robert was talking about his situation with his mother we all felt his pain at her ignorance of his need for her to sign. After the movie I thought about being the interpreter he hired for the hospital visit. How would it feel to be that person, to witness someone’s suffering and inability to be heard and understood and to just walk away from it? Self-care will be so vital in this profession.

There are so many aspects to interpreting, that we are core to other’s interactions can’t be forgotten.