The Start of New Classes

This week I started my new classes. I have several classes, I am dropping my minor by Wednesday, and I should be graduated by May. I am submitting my graduation application after I've dropped my minor.

I am excited by my new classes and teachers. I feel like this semester will be good, I just need to make sure to stay on top of everything. With that in mind, I would like everyone to keep me in prayer. 

The New Year

I don't usually make new year resolutions. They are one of the things that very few people can keep up with. Am I going to make them this year? Yeah. I feel like they are important, it's just something I've always been cynical about.

Here are my new year resolutions:

1. Make friends with more Deaf people
2. Finish my last semester strong
3. Move to Texas to be with my family.
4. Learn new recipes
5. Visit my Canadian friends
6. Learn to be more feminine.
-I feel like I need to expound more on this. I would like to be more feminine. Not because anyone has told me to, but because I think I should. I have always been a little rough and since living in NY I have gotten a little rougher. I would at least like my appearance to be more feminine even if my personality is more rough and tumble.
7. Read my bible more and pray.
-This past year I have been very lax with keeping up with this. I have not been and it's been detrimental to my spiritual health.

Being home

Since I have been home, I've met more people than I thought I could. My dad is an elder at this church, and I have met some of the church members. Some of them I knew, but most of them I didn't. I have been home for about four days and have been massively overwhelmed.

However, I met a Deaf woman at church and it has been a pleasure to communicate with her. She came right up to me and started signing, it is well known in this church that I've been learning. She was happy that I could sign and I was happy to have a Deaf friend here.

I have started sending out emails to different interpreting agencies to see what their screening processes are like. I am going to try and take the certification anyway, but in the meantime I am going to make sure to practice often. I also plan on being with the Deaf community until then.

I still would like to work with elderly people. I feel like I could at least volunteer at nursing homes and other places that cater directly to the elderly.

I am also still applying at non-profits in Texas. I am hoping that I can find work here in some sphere with Deaf people specifically. 

Going home

For Christmas this year I am going home. Where is home for me? Texas. It feels funny for me to call Texas home again, but life gets weird sometimes. My family moved during the first couple months of the semester. So, now Texas is my home yet again.

My parents and siblings went as far as to say I didn't need to buy them anything. That all they wanted was for me to come home. Am I buying presents anyway? Of course. In my opinion, my presence may be nice, but I still love bringing gifts.

I'm ready to see my family and friends down south. I am also ready to meet new friends and try to become re-acquainted with the church I knew.

However, packing has been interesting. I made myself a list and I am almost finished packing. I have some stuff in my car that I need to get out before I go home tomorrow. Friday morning I fly out freakishly early, so I'm going to my current hometown to get a ride from a church member there.

I am afraid of flying. For Christmas I am flying alone to Texas. I have never done that before and am terrified. I trust that God will get me there safe, but I have a tendency towards worry. Which is a vice I need to get over. My father said he would call me when I landed at a large airport so he could talk me through it.

My adventure in interpreting is almost over, but I am keeping this blog. My adventures with the Deaf, Deaf people, and Deaf culture is never going to run out. I'm simply switching gears until I can get a handle on where I am supposed to be. 

End of semester scramble

At the end of the semester, life starts to get a little crazy. I managed to finish all my ASL work before 12 today and I now only have two finals left. Both are written assignments and are due next week. I am going home today where I don't have internet, so I was making sure all the stuff due this week was turned in.

I am also transferring to a different college within my university, so I will be graduating in the spring. Between that and all my finals, life has gotten a little crazy. I also have a gastroenterology appointment on Friday and then next week I leave for Texas to visit my family for Christmas break.

I am still coughing from my previous illness, so I could use some prayers. My cough is mostly due to my lungs recovering at this point. I have asthma and my lung recovery tends to take a little longer than most people.

Illness

For the past week I've had pneumonia. Ironically, this was the first illness where every professor had pity because of the coughing. All of them understand my asthma problems combined with pneumonia causes a gross and possibly deadly mix.

I went to the doctor because my father told me to. I was talking to him on the phone and he said, "Sam, you need to go to the doctor TODAY." So, I did as I was told. It was a good thing I did because I had a breathing treatment and a steroid shot. They also gave me a fever reducer to try and help, as I had an 102 fever.

I finished my steroid and I believe it is just the antibiotic I am finishing up. I still have the awful cough, but it is finally starting to go away. It is worst at night and first thing in the morning. But we're getting there.

I have also officially decided to switch majors. I am switching to a different school, it will be a general Bachelors of Science degree. I will also finish in the Spring of 2020.

I am hoping to work with the older Deaf community and be an advocate for their wellness and care. I am hoping that I can impact that community and cause their care to become superior. 

What I've learned about Interpreting.

When I first started this major, I did not have a full understanding of what it meant to be an interpreter. I had seen spoken language interpreters from the time I was young and I had seen sign language interpreters on and off throughout my life. I thought I knew what they did, but I was wrong.

When I started taking my American Sign Language (ASL) classes, I thought interpreting would be easy. It was simply doing word for word from English to sign and sign to English, right? No. Then I attended my first Deaf event. I was a level 1 ASL student which is the equivalent to level 0. I had very basic understanding. When I arrived, I was lost. I found the table, but I had no idea what was going on.

It seemed very loud, but when I looked around it was quiet in the restaurant. The visual noise sounded like auditory noise to me. The ASL 4 student that saw me there was impressed because I came. Almost nobody from my level would come to the Deaf events. I had a very basic understanding of sign. That day I learned so many new signs and my receptive skills were tested. I loved it. But it wasn't interpreting.

When I got to ASL 3+4 (combo class) I was considered talented in my receptive. I could understand at a level 6 level but could only produce at a level 4 level. It appears that my ability with oral languages has translated into my signed languages. An ability to understand and retain, but an inability to produce.

When I finally got to the college I am at now, I did pass all my ASL classes and still have. But when I started my first real interpreting class, I started to drown. The process of interpreting is very difficult and is not for the weak of heart or mind. You need an exceptional grasp of the vocabulary and vocal range.

Interpreting isn't just language mediation. It is also cultural mediation, expressing emotions accurately, conveying jokes that might not translate, and making human connections. If you aren't good at one of those things, it can skew the entire message.

Interpreting is hard, exhausting, but rewarding. Everyone should have the opportunity to take interpreting classes, even if they never become interpreters.