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.