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!
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Stepping into the World of Interpreting
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.
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.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
In a Nutshell
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 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. =)
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