Career
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The Myth of Writer’s Block
I stared at my laptop for ten minutes before realizing there wasn’t one word typed on the screen. Instead, my mind had drifted off to my mental checklist of things to do before the weekend. Refocusing on the blank screen, I shook my head, chastising myself, “Get something down, girl–anything.” Why was this so hard? During other writing sessions, I can have a rough draft of a blog post or a book chapter tapped out in thirty minutes. Today, and–realistically–over the past several days, I have lacked even a morsel of creative inspiration or focus. I was obviously in the throes of a full-blown case of writer’s block. No, that’s…
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A Day in the Life of a Sign Language Interpreter: Social Distancing
Never had to know how to use Zoom or Google Hangouts before? Virtual conferencing and video meetings with multiple participants a new thing for you? Well, you have two days to figure it out! Welcome to “Quarantine Interpreting” in the midst of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. I’m Regina and I’ll be your presenter for this session. (Go learn what that meaneth…) Our team of sign language interpreters met yesterday morning via Google Hangouts (a video conferencing program through G Suite) to practice using the platform. After a series of “So-and-so, could you please mute yourself? The kids hollering in the background is distracting” and “Why can’t I see myself? Where…
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Halloween at the Middle School
This Thursday is Halloween. And that always makes things interesting in middle school. The students where I work will show up decked out in an interesting assortment of Halloween costumes—some delightfully creative (like the girl who designed her “shadow” that followed her around all day) while others are…well, disturbing. It always makes me grin to see a kid who is too cool to handle the dead butterfly in science or mess up his hair in Phys Ed transform himself into a cube-shaped Enderman from Minecraft which, according to the general consensus here at school, is no longer “cool” to play. A few of the students announced today that they’ll be…
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Not All Dreams Come True… (and that’s OK)
“All of our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” (Walt Disney) I disagree with this quote. Several years back, I decided that I wanted to tap into my more artistic side. I bought a set of high-end drawing pencils and some inspiring-looking watercolor paints on a whim. A sketchbook and artist brushes were thrown in to make it more official. I should point out that I can’t even draw stick figures without someone mistaking them for a poor rendition of hieroglyphics. Who was I kidding? In the end, I had filled up half of my sketchbook. I had managed to sketch a few interesting…
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A Day in the Life…Educational Sign Language Interpreter
“Are you pregnant?” There was a brief moment of silence before the music teacher slowly turned to face me. I could see the familiar look in her eyes reflecting several layers of shock. She was new at the school and did not even know me. Flash cards of adjectives she thought about me at that moment shuffled through my mind. Grinning, I casually lifted my hand to point at the Deaf student standing in line. It wasn’t registering. I leaned in to whisper, “This student was asking the question, not me.” It took another second before her eyes left mine and gazed over to where I pointed. I could see…