I finally got my temporary interpreter's tag for volunteering. Yay!! It's very exciting, but also so intimidating at the same time. I have so much more to improve on before I actually get certified. Hopefully if I get a lot of studying done, I'll be ready to take the NIC (National Interpreting Certification) written exam and the EIPA (Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment) next year.
God's grace is truly amazing, and it is so humbling because not only am I undeserving of His grace, God lavishes me with it even when I have little faith. Today was a great reminder of His grace to me as I went to the Museum of Man to meet up with fellow students from the ITP (Interpreter's Training Program) to practice and prepare for the exhibits we will interpret later on in the upcoming months. Though I started in the same cohort with these students, they are 2 semesters ahead of me because I stopped taking classes in the program during the latter half of my senior year of undergrad at UCSD due various reasons mentioned in a previous post titled "Glorifying God Through ASL." I have always lacked confidence in my interpreting skills (and still do), so I was afraid to apply to be a volunteer interpreter at the museum fearing that I lack the skills to interpret the exhibits or of being turned away by the interpreting instructor because I haven't taken as much classes as the others. But to my surprise, the instructor didn't say anything negative but encouraged me and the other student interpreters the entire time and helped us work through the difficult material and gave us many interpreting tips along the way. The tours will begin in a couple of weeks, and it is nerve wracking for me to learn all the material, but I'm also very excited because I'll get a glimpse of what it will be like to really interpreting for Deaf people.
The second huge encourage of the day or rather night was when I went to Deaf Coffee Night. There is a Deaf interview assignment that I must complete by the end of this month and I wanted to see if I can find someone to interview tonight. I went to the event by myself and was quite a loner for a while until I finally mustered up some encourage to ask a group if I could join them, even though they were all hearing people. By the time it was 7:30 pm, I was quite discouraged from staying because I really wanted to be part of Friday Night bible study at LBC and felt like I was trying to exploit Deaf people because I had a motive to be there tonight. As more people started coming and I engaged in more conversation with the people that I have met, I decided to stay longer and not worry about doing the interview tonight. But towards the end of the night, a wonderful Deaf gentlemen, who I met earlier on in the evening, was more than willing to help me and be my interview subject. I learned new signs and got to know some people better and was truly encouraged every time I told Deaf people that I was studying to become an interpreter.
In the midst of my struggles of learning how to become an interpreter, the Lord has time and time again shown me tremendous grace and encouragement especially when I have a lot of worries and doubts of my skills and future. I seriously do not actively seek these opportunities, whether it's jobs, volunteer interpreting opportunities, or signing resources; they are all brought to me by God on a silver platter. It is absolute clear to me that God wants me to continue down this path or else He would not be blessing me with so many opportunities time and time again. If not for all the wonderful encouragements that the Lord gives me, I would have given up on pursuing this profession a long time ago. Praise the Lord for His grace and faithfulness!
As I continue learning more about the profession of ASL interpreting, the more I am challenged by the complexities of faithfully delivering a message from one language to another while adapting the message to it relevant to the two different cultures between the two communicating parties. Not only is the task of interpreting a message complex in itself, the mental, emotional and psychological aspects of interpreting can be overwhelming as well.
Taking a professional ethics class in the interpreting program this semester has revealed a whole different world to interpreting for me. It is overwhelming the amount of ethical decisions that an interpreters must make throughout their profession. With many rules and regulations, it is truly an internal battle between the mind and heart-- there's always a book answer to handle a situation, but in reality, the heart tells me to do otherwise.
What has been the most challenging for me thus far in the program, is not so much the class material, but how to be a light in the program and profession. As an interpreter, I will be exposed to many different settings and people and I will have no control over what they say and do. Some challenging scenarios that I was thinking about for the past couple weeks are:
1) What if my client is cursing? How will I handle that situation? My job as a professional is to faithfully deliver the message as accurate as possible with the same impact in the message. But I will be torn internally to have to say such vile things. We almost had to do an exercise one time in class where each person had to say "F--- you!" (with conviction). I almost had a heart attack when the instructor proposed it. Luckily, we didn't have to do the exercise, but from other classes that I will take, I will placed in much more uncomfortable situations and it will be my duty to interpret the message.
2) Previously, I wanted to interpret for churches. What a wonderful way to glorify and worship God with the passion that He has given me for this language and this community. But as I thought about it more and more, it would be dangerous for me to accept interpreting assignments through agencies, what if the preacher is preaching a false gospel? I would not be able to get myself to interpret it. That is one of my worries of accepting jobs through an agency (Lord willing that I actually do become certified and can find work). So I realized that for the time being, even if I gain enough skills to interpret a sermon, I would only do it if I am in full support of the church's teaching/doctrine (preferably the local church I attend) and not get hired by just any church.
The grey area scenarios are endless in this profession, please pray that I will not let the rules I must follow for this profession ever trump my identity in Christ. I also found out that after this semester, I only have 4 more classes to take and I'll be done with the program. I didn't realize that I have so few classes left to take. I feel utterly unprepared to take the expensive exams to get certified, so please pray that I will be able to greatly improve my interpreting skills from now until the end of the program.
Wow, it has been a very long time since I've blogged. I was going to try to update a little bit over the summer break, but got too lazy. =.=
I can't believe that four years have passed by and UCSD is over! Well, for the most part anyways...I'm making up a GE class at Mesa to transfer back to UCSD because I was stupid and looked at the wrong class code and took the wrong class. But I'm grateful that I still got to walk in the commencement ceremony and that the ASL interpreting program at Mesa doesn't require me to have a bachelors degree to continue in the program.
Working at the UCSD Cancer Center in Deaf Community Outreach this past year has been an awesome experience. I had a great boss who was very encouraging and a team of Deaf colleagues who taught me new signs and corrected me when I was signing wrong. I loved working there and cherish all the relationships that I've established there. I going to miss working there, but hopefully I'll get to go back and work with them again some time in the future.
During this summer, I also worked as an ASL tutor for the UCSD Trio Summer Residential Program. It was only 5 weeks. But it's so much fun to inspire others to learn ASL and about Deaf culture. It's always exciting to see others with the same passion. God has been so gracious to provide these two jobs for me to gain experience in signing and financial support. I wasn't very eager in looking for jobs and did not prepare for the interviews well. But God provided so many different opportunities for me to learn more ASL and to network with people in the Deaf community all at the same time.
I guess that's all for now, more updates to come...before I forget them. =)
I had so much fun tonight hanging out with the gals and guys of the LBC senior class. I was so encouraged by the brothers tonight! The food was delicious (too bad I was still quite full from the wedding reception), and I loved the encouragement song and picture frame. Every encouragement note on the picture frame brought a smile to my face =). I'm so blessed to be able to serve and fellowship with all the brothers, in one way or another. Though we might not have many opportunities to gather together as a class, it's great to see that we all love and care to encourage one another.
I love our class gals too. We may be a ridiculous bunch, but definitely good times! =D
Hmm...it's been a while since I last posted, so here's an attempted summary:
1. I can't believe that it's my last quarter at UCSD, the time just flew by so quickly. It's been such a privilege to hear all the wonderful news of those around me getting accepted into grad schools. It makes me so happy to be able to share in their joys of receiving the news of their acceptance. Haha, I literally jumped and squealed with joy when some of my friends told me they got accepted into their school of choice. =D
2. I am finally fully enrolled into all my classes as of this past Friday. I was worried that I won't be able to make it up the waitlist, and will have to, by default, graduate later. But by God's grace, I got into every single class, so now I even have the option of dropping one of my backup classes, if need be. Another surprising thing, is that I have thoroughly enjoyed the start of the quarter and all my classes. (And no, I'm not a nerd.)
One of my personal favorites is Gospel Choir. I love the professor-- his personality, his amazing vocal range, and his teaching style. This past week, during one of the songs, it just gave me chills just thinking about what it would be like to be forever singing praises to the Lord in heaven someday with a multitude of other followers of Christ.
3. I have had wonderful opportunities to babysit for some families in the past couple of weeks. It has been such a blessing being able to get to know the families at LBC better and be able to see how much work parenting is. Mad props to all the amazing moms; their patience, love, and care for their family takes such hard work and so much time, and yet many still make such a great effort to disciple the younger ladies.
Being able to observe family life, especially those with younger children, reminds me of everything my parents (especially my mom) have done to raise me and my sister up. I had forgotten all about the good old elementary and middle school days when my mom use to stay up to help me with homework, or when my dad would come home from work and help me with projects that require construction. Everything back then had seem so automatic and normal, but now looking back, it requires so much patience on my parents' part (I'm not the smartest cookie in the jar). Hahaha, it's so tempting to just give a quick correct answer to simple homework assignments, rather than to slowly walk through everything and help guide the child to the correct answer.
4. I am yet again reminded of how much I fail at keeping in touch with people. But this past week, I was pleasantly surprised that one of my friends chatted with me via facebook. I had randomly left my facebook signed in, but had such a great time catching up with my friend. It was so crazy to hear that he has joined the military and is in training right now, and will be getting shipped off soon. He had talked about how life-changing everything is; going from studying the bible everyday (he was preparing to go into full-time ministry) to soon going into combat everyday. I was really encouraged by his God-glorifying attitude and his complete dependence on the Lord for strength for this job. He trusts God's plans for him, even though they may not be what he had expected.
The bond of Christ is so amazing. I haven't talked or seen this friend in 2-3 years, and yet, as believers in Jesus Christ, we can share how God has been growing us and not worry about not having anything to talk about because the grace and mercy which the Lord bestows on us are endless. I will challenge myself to consistently be in prayer for this brother (and others), as well as keep in touch and encourage him regularly.
5. Okay, last and shortest one...I will turn in my application for an ASL tutoring job with the UCSD TriO Outreach Program for the summer tomorrow. More updates to come later.
Yay!! Section: (Clap, clap ,clap)
- Small groups tomorrow...the long awaited time has finally come. Can't wait to see my girls!
- My roomie is decided to go to SDSU and she got an assistantship!
- One of my aptmates is staying in SD for pharm school!
- My lil sis did really well on one of her songs in the CM testing!
- 2 kiddos at church learned my name. I love how kids show their affections. =)
- R and S's wedding this Saturday!
- Senior Gals Appreciation night with the brothers this Sat. too!
- C learning the ASL alphabet =) What a great encouragement.
As some of you may know, I plan on pursuing American Sign Language (ASL) interpreting as a career and I had been taking classes at Mesa college with their interpreting program for the past year. But since this spring semester, I have taken a hiatus from the program after long prayerful consideration. This was a very hard decision for me to make, but I believe that this was the most glorifying one to God.
So now a little background, I've been a biology major since freshmen year and I started out taking ASL classes just for fun and to fulfill my Revelle GE's. But slowly I became very passionate about the language and with Deaf culture. It wasn't until my junior year of college, when I was visiting home in LA one weekend that I realized what I can do with ASL. During the Sunday sermon, there was a hard-of-hearing college student that had come back to visit since starting college. Luckily, there was a teacher of Deaf adults that was a member of the congregation, and so he interpreted the whole service for her. It was then that it dawned on me that I could also do the same-- glorify Christ using ASL.
Soon after this realization, I began looking into interpreting as a career--first to interpret for churches, then whatever else as a side job. Though I started off with good intentions, I quickly began to lose sight of glorifying Christ and started to rely on myself to accomplish all things. I got really burnt out trying to juggle my schedule of school work from two schools, working and serving at church because I relied only upon my own strength to things rather than go to God for help and rest. Even in my sinfulness of taking what I had intended to glorify Christ to boast myself up, God has continued to be faithful and blessed me along the way.
1. For instance, when I finished taking all the ASL classes at UCSD and was beginning to worry about losing ASL through language attrition. God blessed me with the opportunity to work at the UCSD Moores Cancer Center in the Deaf Community Outreach department, where I can interact with Deaf people and have a chance to sign with them. Only by God's grace was I able to obtain this position because my ASL skills and qualifications are horrible!
2. If not for God's sovereignty, it would be impossible for me to be able to sign up for classes at UCSD and at Mesa since both of the enrollment schedules are months apart.
3. By His grace, I was able to get through a crazy quarter/semester of non-stop school and work schedule almost every day from 8am to 10pm. I'm amazed that I didn't fail my classes when I seriously barely even studied for my exams. I didn't pass my classes because smart (I'm quite stupid actually), it is purely by God's abundant grace that I'm not failing out of college.
And the list continues, but let me get back to why I decided to stop the interpreting program at the moment. This year, I have the humbling opportunity to serve on College Life as student staff. During Fall quarter I was still taking my interpreting class, but as it came time for me to enroll for spring semester, God gave me a wake-up call and revealed to me that I was not truly glorifying Him. The interpreting class required that I spend time in the Deaf community to hone my ASL skills as well as learn how to serve the Deaf in the community. There was a 20 hour minimum for this assignment with 2 community reports that added up to 10 hours each. The first report, I was able to complete but the second report, I was not able to finish and was only able to do 2 hours and 45 minutes. The reason was because the only time that I get to spend in the Deaf community is through Deaf coffee night, an event held every Friday night from 7 pm to 11pm at a Coffee Bean in Mission Valley (exactly the same time as College Life). During the earlier half of Fall quarter, I had always tried to sprint my way out of College Life and drive quickly to Coffee Bean to squeeze in at least 1.5 hours of community hours. Around this time, I had also been convicted to be a better small group leader. My previous small group leaders had placed so much time and effort in helping me grow spiritually, I also wanted to follow in their footsteps and invest in my small group as well. I didn't want to always look at the clock and be antsy to leave College Life to go to Deaf coffee. I want to give my small group my undivided attention and to truly serve them to the best of my ability.
Then one Friday night, as I was driving to Coffee Bean, I got in a car accident. I was quite shaken up, a minor backache from the impact and a smushed car door, but thankfully I was okay. Eventually, everything worked out with insurance (another interesting story to tell). But from this, I finally realized, that it was God's way of telling me to stop. I was so caught up in doing everything that I forgot the reason why I wanted to start interpreting in the first place. I had forgotten to trust in God-- if I truly believe that God has called me to glorify Him through interpreting, He will provide a way for me to obtain the proper training. It was foolish of me not to trust in God's timing, and so in my leap of faith, I decided to truly trust God, and let go of my own agenda of pursuing interpreting. It was quite scary for me to make this decision because I didn't know if I was allowed to just suddenly drop out of the program and knowing that with the lack of practice, my ASL skills will be drastically affected.
Surprisingly, at the end of the semester, I got an A in the interpreting class when felt I did so horribly on the midterm and final. Not to mention, my midterm did not get recorded during the exam. But everything worked out because the professor allowed me to use my presentation video as my midterm and as for the community report hours that I wasn't able to finish, I joined the SDCRID, the local chapter for the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf which, by God's sovereignty, was the perfect amount of extra credit that covered my loss of points for the assignment. Crazy right?
From time to time, I still get bummed out that I can physically see my ASL skills deteriorating before my eyes, but God is faithful and encourages me not to lose faith in Him by providing ways for me to maintain my skills. God's latest encouragement to me.... oicmovies.com. It's a site where current news are signed in ASL as well as various other genres, like entertainment, comedy, etc. God is so good!
I've also been thinking about this a couple of months ago, after taking my first core interpreting class, I've realized that this career requires all the skills that I lack: a good short-term memory, mastery of ASL and English, good public speaking skills, and an analytical mind, just to name a few. Praise God, for through Him I can accomplish all things. =)
