26.10.10

Interpreters

I have faced many interpreters in my college lifetime now. Prior to RIT, I only probably had at least 10 interpreters. Now I had numerous. Challenges from interpreters have opened up my eyes and I realize that many people don't realize what us deaf folks go thru with interpreters.

At RIT, most classes would have a team of 2 interpreters who takes turn to interpret every other 15 or 20 minutes. First, its challenging to get used to the interpreters when we settle in our new routines. Everyone assumes that interpreters are all same and that every single deaf person understands every interpreters.

Wrong! There has been bad batch of interpreters I faced. What makes them bad? They miss out too much words which makes me miss out information in the classroom. Or their signing styles. Unprofessional. The list goes on.

I had interpreters that would text or chat with the other interpreter which I really hated. That was distracting when I had interpreters that would chat to each other during class as well making me miss out information.

Distractions from interpreters also are included. What kind distractions there possibly be?

1) I have had many male interpreters lately, and it is a huge distraction when they wear tight pants. C'mon. You can paint that picture.

2) Same as above related to female interpreters. Tight shirts, low cut shirts, tight pants/skirt, too short skirts, etc.

3) I once had a tiny petite female interpreter with HUGE breasts. She never wore low cut or fitting shirts but it still was distracting.

4) Interpreters with really bad eye sights that their glasses have double lens. It is distracting when we, deaf folks have to look at the eye while reading their signs.

5) I once had interpreter that looked more like a con man. He had that light blue shirt with pants which made it look like prison uniform. His hairdo matched the look of a con man as well.

6) Attitude. I had diva interpreters, I had tough interpreters, I had feminine interpreters, etc.

7) Many male interpreters are likely to be gay (NOT ALL) and I have come across some feminine type of gay interpreters who would sign in a feminine way. It is very distracting because it doesn't match with them being dudes.

8) Tattoos. I had interpreter with covered arms. Who the heck hired her? Piercings as well, I experienced one interpreter with multiple piercings on her ears - she had this bed spring style earring that went in all holes. Stretched ears are also distracting.

9) I had an interpreter who freely shared with me that she had a lot domestic violence situations at her home which resulted in her having a lot scars and bruises. No bother to cover them up with make up or something.

10) Hair coloring/hair do/etc. My interpreter showed up to class with pink streaks in her hair. She also was wearing it in pigtails style. It looked like she came from a performance where she had to dress up her hair like that straight to a Prosecution class.

People don't realize what we go through with interpreters. It may seem simple to read their signing and get on with life. That's just one huge challenging part of being deaf.

22.10.10

Sgt. Anthony Wallace

Hello folks, I know I have been gone from this blog for a while. I apologize for that. I have obviously got busy with my studies. My senior year is really overwhelming. I came back to the school year with strong goals to go to law school, only to realize I had short time of preparation for that. I decided to hold it off because I lost the motivation since I felt like I was being rushed. I also wasn't 100% sure if the courts system is really the area I want to pursue, as I have many other areas of criminal justice that I am passionate about. Exciting news, RIT had a club called Criminal Justice Student Association which kinda shut down over past few years due to lack of interest - CJSA just came back this year. I am the Vice President of Programming. I am thrilled about that position, as it will bring me wonderful experiences.

Speaking of criminal justice, The RIT community lost an amazing person by the name of Anthony Wallace back in August due to being shot while on duty as a police officer. He was a police officer in Hoonah, Alaska. He is hard of hearing. He graduated from RIT, and then worked as a Public Safety Officer at RIT til 2007, when he went to Alaska. I came to RIT with no belief that I would be able to pursue my dreams due to the limitations with my deafness. It wasn't until my interpreter in my law enforcement class (Corruption in Law Enforcement) told me about Anthony Wallace. That was the day a lot things changed for me.

Anthony Wallace. That name is a tattoo in my head. I couldn't believe there was actually a hard of hearing police officer. I was floored by that fact and I was amazed by his accomplishments. That name forever changed my mind frame and my future life goals by giving me so much more motivation.

I could not tell you how DEVASTATING it was to open up my RIT e-mail to find a message about Tony's passing in the past August. I cried all night. I was visiting my boyfriend in Connecticut so he comforted me for the longest time. I kept thinking how it could happen to Tony. Yesterday, RIT held a memorial service for Tony which I attended. It was beautiful service, and it definitely showed who Tony was. The kind guy that everyone loved. He really lived his life to the fullest, and went after his dreams regardless of the challenges he faced. He is a huge inspiration in my life that I will never forget. He will be my constant reminder to pursue my dreams to do what I really love.

Rest in peace, Sgt. Tony Wallace - forever my inspiration, forever alive in my heart.