Signing Event

In my Interpreting class this semester my teacher found an interpreting opportunity for us. She volunteered us to interpret at the Mayoral Debate. This was not met with the enthusiastic response that she was hoping for but more of a panicked “WHAT!” After several weeks of preparation and the details getting scarier and scarier the night of the big event came. It was not nearly as scary as we all thought and all of us survived! It was a really neat experience to see just how far my signing skills have come. I did sign some things wrong and even misunderstood a feed from my teacher. I heard the speaker state that he had “four non-profits” and very clearly signed that statement. My teacher signed me the feed for FORMED and I quickly signed that he had FORMED FOUR NON-PROFITS. Again I was so pleased with myself but she signed the feed for FORMED again and I repeated my statement. Afterwards we discussed this segment and I realized that I had heard the speaker wrong. He didn’t say “four non-profits” but “formed non-profits”. I had to laugh because I was so proud that I had caught that number and that my signing was clear, that I hadn’t a moment to realize that I had totally signed it wrong. Oops! It was a really good night and I felt really proud of my abilities after that. It was really nice to see just how far we had come from the beginning of the semester and to have a reality check on how far we still have to go. I am so grateful that my teacher made us go that night and was able to help us contain our panic attacks. She said that we were worse than her kids and I believe it! It was also really nice to have Marc come support me in this event and he enjoyed the political aspect of it. As we were driving home he was asking me what I thought of each candidate. I realized that though I had signed for the speakers that I had no idea what either of them had really said. It had gone in my ears and out of my hands.