Musings

HI!

I realized that I haven’t introduced myself.  Hello, My name is Kyla. I am an educational interpreter by day, and a performance interpreter when the opportunity strikes. I have been working for a little over 10 years.

Although I was always interested in ASL and signing, interpreting was not my first career. I was a voice performer when I was 11. I sang on commercials and things. That was so much fun and fueled my love of the performance.  At 20 I went into the medical field and at 21 I became both a CNA and a mom! I continued in the medical field to become a LVN passing the licencing test at the same time Rodney king and the LA riots happened. I grew up in San Diego and continued  to work and raise my daughter there.

After a healthy career in nursing I was hurt on the job. Faced with trying to find a new profession, i started taking classes at the local junior college. While finishing some GE classes, I stumbled upon ASL classes. The rest, as they say, was history. I spent 3 years learning how to sign and how to interpret. I was lucky to have some of the very best teachers, mentors, and classmates. I networked, I volunteered, I cried, and I rejoiced and…. I made it.

10+ years later here I am. I am now in a position to help and support new interpreters in their journey. I remember how important that support was for me. That is why Heartsong offers various intern and mentee opportunities. We offer a 6 week intensive that ends in a festival assignment, and a spring musical opportunity. The Interpreters I work all have a heart for teaching and have amazing skills to share.

Have questions? Please message me. Let’s chat.

See you at the festival!

In my muggle job I am an educational interpreter. I work in a high school and  have a typical hs schedule. I have 6 classes, 6 deaf consumers and even extra curricular responsibilities. I even have a Deaf principle.

Sometimes I stop and think. There was a time when Deaf children were forced to be oral.  Deaf was (and is still) seen as a disability, something that needed to be cured. They were punished for signing. They were forced to wear uncomfortable and cumbersome body aids. We were not doing them any justice but rather punishing them for something they didn’t do!

Education has made such strides with the Deaf community. I am honored to be part of that process. All of “my” students learn differently with different levels of academic proficiency. I came into Education by accident. I always thought I wouldn’t like it. Now, honestly, I love it. I adapt my interpretations to match the needs of each of the students I serve. I am their bridge for access and communication.

Adapting the presentation of materials for the learning style of our students (hearing and Deaf) is the only way that our future will ever progress. We are not cookie cutters. We are a world of individuals. We can do better. Lets do better.

Often, I am asked by my mentees “What advice do you have for new interpreters?”  It always sends me back to the days when I was still a baby ‘terp still in school and scrambling for work, volunteer hours and really ANY opportunity to get my hands up. That brings me to #7

7. Get the hands up opportunities you need, WITHOUT sacrificing your ethics. As a new interpreter we often take whatever job is tossed our direction. That is the danger zone for many interpreters. Remember that although you need to gain experience, you need to NOT work outside your scope of ability. Only take the jobs you know you can do with causing harm to the client, consumer, or other interpreters.

6. Honesty. Running along the same lines as number 7, be willing to say that you don’t know nor have the skill for an assignment. There will come a time(s) when you are offered and accept a job and receive the description. Yikes, The description is something you don’t know about or feel competent to provide good service. There is no shame in saying “I am not right for this assignment”. In fact an interpreter who is self aware enough to know their limitations will go far.

5. Once you find that part of the profession that you do not feel “ready” to accept for an assignment, find someone who has that skill and try to find a way to get some mentor/mentee time.  Being a mentee is by far the very best way to gain both important connections and great wealths of information and skill sets. NEVER STOP LEARNING!

4. Present yourself in a professional and appropriate manor. You are on the job to provide a service.  You are highly educated, and skilled in your field of work. Dress to match the environment. In HS, we studied the art of the interview. My favorite teacher taught me to dress like the manager of whatever job you want. I tend to use that philosophy when I am on assignment. In education, i dress like the teacher, in business I dress in business casual, like a manager.  Performance interpreting is the exception, and we will tackle that issue another day.

3. Flexibility! Not like a qymnist, no splits or jaw dropping floor routines. Flexibility in your work. Often when on assignment I find I need to adjust my work to fit into the situation. My Deaf consumer is ALWAYS the reason for the work and I am wiling to do whatever I can to ensure understanding and access. Sometimes that means moving to a different space, changing the mode of communication, and often, working with and educating the Hearing clients.

2. SHARE THE WEALTH. As interpreters, I find often there are cliques. These cliques tend “own” the genre of interpreting they do. Its hard to break into different areas of interpreting without going through the groups that are there already. We need to foster an environment of cross education and inclusion. I have found that in working with new interpreters I learn new things all the time. Their fresh eyes help me to see things differently. Their hunger reminds me of the joy and invigorating job I have. In sharing my lessons i learned the hard way, I can save them from a struggle and hold them up to achieve great things.

1. HONESTY AND INTEGRITY. Your reputation is yours to loose. It is the single most important tool in your work. Your reputation will allow you to accomplish more than almost anything. Nurture it. Stay honest. If you don’t know, admit it and then find out the answer. Being willing to go the distance for your clients will be noticed, and shared. Word of mouth travels as fast as fire. Unfortunately the bad travels faster than the good. Stay humble, honest, and hungry.

** BONUS  CONFIDENTIALITY  I cannot stress this enough. We work in profession where we deal with very sensitive and personal information. We literally hold our consumers life in our hands sometimes. We need to be able to keep their information private, and protected. RESPECT the information as though it was your. Mums the word!

Interpreting takes…. Let me back up. In becoming an Interpreter, one must be proficient in both the Target language and the Source language. For ASL interpreting, that generally means having a fluid understanding of both English and ASL. That is why we as interpreters work in teams of 2 and switch off every 20 minutes. We are working in 2 languages at the same time and our brains get tired!

When I begin preparing for a concert or play, I then need to become fluent in ASL, English, and Music. For every interpreter the process is different. Each of us are talented and work hard for clarity, character, rhythm, and subtext. My process is as follows: I will spend many hours listening to the music from the artist. I listen in the car, during lunch breaks, before bed, and during any down time I have until I can sing along  to the songs with limited mistakes.  While listening I scour the internet for interviews, articles, fan posts, and lyric dictionaries looking for the meaning behind the lyrics. At the same time I’m listening and researching, I print out the lyrics to the top 20 (or more) songs from each artist.  Often we are not provided with set lists for the shows we are interpreting.  When we do, we throw a party! After I have gotten the lyrics printed, the research to the songs and artists, and begun memorizing the English and rhythm of the songs, I begin to find the equivalent meaning in ASL.

This is generally called Prep work. It can take 100’s of hours.  Each artist generally performs a 90 min set. The set tends to consist of 20 – 25 songs. The process is the same for each song. Personally, with music festivals, I can have upwards of 4 performers. The more time and information we have before the concert date then the more thorough and equivalent of a visual product we can provide.

I love my job. I love that I GET to do this kind of work. It is not something I do for the money. I believe that equal access is not only a hashtag, but rather a reality we need to make happen. #equalaccess #Terplife #realtalk

Talk soon!