Passion and Commitment: Success in Interpretation

ere is what I tell my students on the first day, you are here because you want to be an interpreter. Being an interpret is hard, requires a lot of work, self direction and passion. If you find yourself in this class not having the time to go to observations, that to me translates to you not having the passion. We make time for the things we love. Use this class to guide you. Do you love it, or do you still need to find your passion? You can still work with the Deaf community, but you might not succeed as an interpreter.

I can say yes, I graduated (will graduate) college with a debt more costly than a brand new BMW x3, however am I working in my field? Am I making a good living in my chosen profession? The answer is yes. So what makes me different form the hundreds, if not thousands of other students who enter this, and any other field?

This is what I wanted to do with my life.

From the age of seven, I knew I was going to spend my life being an interpreter for the Deaf. My grandfather died, and I remember being at his funeral just watching. I was too young to really understand the emotions and they family dramas, but old enough to know my grandfather was gone and it was sad. I distinctly remember the priest walking in. My sister, father and myself were not sitting with my mother. She was sitting alone in the front and we were off to the side. I had a good view of the whole room. The priest began to talk, and what I noticed was the people stopped crying. They all started to watch, some even smiled remembering the man they were there to honor. One person fell deeper in sadness and grief, and that person was my mother. I knew in that moment that the words being said were elevating the peoples sadness and she needed to know them. So I stood next to him, at seven and tried my hardest to intperreht these religious concepts I had no real comprehension of. It worked though, and it set the pace for my

future.

It was never a matter of what, just when I would do it. When I finally did, I was all in. I sacrificed, I failed and I tried harder. Was it easier for me because my parents were Deaf, no, the pressure to succeed was greater, and the demands harder. But I was determined and focused. My peers on the other hand, where there because they thought it was cool, because they always wanted to learn, because they did not want to work 9-5, for so many reasons, but not because it was what they wanted to do. One student in my class was there because it was what their parents wanted them to do, and now they are a nutritionist. Another because their deaf spouse and religious community encourage, they … I do not know, not interpreting.
I on the other hand, am teaching the program we all went through together. I hit goals in my career faster and harder than I planned making up I suppose for lost time.

My point is, no matter the filed, the work, the cost, it is all about the drive and the motivation. Students need to be there on their own accord and they need to be ready to succeed. That drive, that passion is the difference in the three precent that make it. If there are no jobs, they will make them. I made them. I was not getting hired, so I called local theaters and invited my self to their stage. I created workshops and opportunities for myself. All of which, came from my determination to do what I know I was meant to do.You can lower the standards and invite more people to the party, you can even charge more, but in the ends, only the ones that really want to be there, will succeed.