Final Thoughts!

KEEP CALM & CARRY ON! K

This is it! Practicum

Wow, it does not seem possible, practicum is here & finals week is next week. 2 years have passed. It has been a crazy wild ride.
I went to Huntington and met Tracy Bryant, she is an interpreter that was granfathered in. She is one of the best interpreters I have ever met. She has been doing this on her own for 20 years. Her goal is to be NIC certified and there is no doubt in my mind that she will accomplish her goal. Her skills, intentions, compassion and knowledge were gained through her personal effort. I observed Tracy while she was teaching an ASL class at the local community college. It was a great experience, I got to review and watch the students. It is funny ASL students are the same everywhere a nervous wreck & they try so very hard. The dedication is something that I have not seen in any other discipline. Tracy made them have voice off, which was met w a moan, but she pointed out that I had a Deaf instructor from day one. Tracy is calm, it is more than her personality she is very confident in her ability. It was a 3 hour drive to Huntington and with the cost of gas & hotel it was cost prohibitive for me. We discussed this and decided to correspond via skype. She has given me assigments, videos I am to dissect for register, vocab, CL and expansions. I am sending her video's of my interpretations which she is going to critique. So I can view her interpreting, she is going to do a video for me. There is going to be a final as well. She has worked my butt off. This may not be the ideal practicum situation, but for me it has worked really well. I feel that I got behind during my bout of pneumonia. I did not go home & practice every day like I did last year. I couldn't. This way I get practice, encouragment and some time to hone my skills and get a little confidence back, I was ready to quit. All video's Tracy will have I have a folder w my homework in it. Like I told Tracy if I do nothing I cheat myself. After the past two years there is no way I would do that. I have kept track of the hours that I have done homework to count as practicum hours. Trying to get this mountain of homework done as well. My goal is to finish on a good note. That was my goal w my song, I wanted to do it and feel like I did the best job I could. It isn't about April, or Ruby or my classmates. It is about me wanting to finish something that I worked so hard for, struggled with, but I made it. This has to be on of the hardest things I have ever accomplished.
May 17, I get on an airplane and spend a month on vacation. I think when I get back I will have things in perspective and be ready to move on with my life and my career.
Thank you April & Ruby & Robyn you have been great instructors, role models and sometimes you frustrated the h*** out of us. This is not an easy subject to learn & I know it can't be easy to teach.
Good luck to you.
Karla K. Hickey

Wow going to practicum. Long drive to Huntington, but think it will be worthwhile. Checking into the note taking program WVU. That really interests me. Homework is piled up & I seem to keep moving it from one side of the room to the other...

It does not seem possible.
K

12

12 days of class left. Does not seem possible that 2 years have went by. A lot has happened in a short amount of time.
Curious to see what Tracy has to offer, it will be interesting to see what she has done. She is very involved in her community and the Deaf community. She is considering getting certified and goes out of her way to go to everyworkshop she can. It will be nice to have some real world experience.
I buy my ticket to Singapore tomorrow morning. This trip is going to put everything into perspective for me, I hope. After I have some fun, relax and decompress I think I will have a definite direction. Is interpreting in my future? Maybe, but definitely in the future. I love working with Robin, she answered some questions for me last night that helped things become so much more clear. I have a love for the language and the culture that I do know. I will definitely become more fluent. Interpreting and I are not on a first name basis. I will let you know what I decide when I get back if you care to find out.
A few mai-tai's and fantastic food, sunshine & the most beautiful sunsets over the ocean......even if I dont' make a decison, I won't really care.
K

4,3,2,1

Wow time passes so fast when you are having fun or a nervous breakdown. This year has been a really wild ride. My life has been constant transition. Last week was one of those weeks when you really wonder if you need an exorcism or someone has put a curse on you. I could not complete the simplest task. When you are at the point that you feel like you are banging your head against a brick wall it is time to give it break. There is a point when you realize that stressing really doesn't help in fact it makes things much worse. It isn't good for you. Things come together in time & if it takes you a little longer than someone else it is no big deal. Don't measure yourself against someone else. Measure your progress & plan to improve, that is all you can do. I think going to work w Tracy will be interesting & allow me to learn w/o the stress of grades or a video camera. Considering that I have had pneumonia, been going through a divorce, knowing that my kid is going to Iraq, struggling w finances etc. etc. I think I came through it all pretty well. Much better than the last divorce, I ended up w Frankenstein tattooed on my ass, but that is another story for another day. This is the first time in my life I don't have parents, a husband or a son to dictate my decisions. My goals have changed & to be honest I don't know where the hell I am going. For those who seem to think that I need to have a certain destination in mind, what the hell do you care? It is my life. So for once I am going to throw away the plans & see what happens. I will be leaving for Singapore after school is out. I will be staying for 3 weeks. If things work out that may be where I am going. Hopefully, all the pieces of the puzzle will fit together or if not, you keep on searching. this I know, nothing I have learned or gained has ever been wasted. It seems to always be there when I need it. Countdown! K

Hoorah!

I was skyping with my brother this weekend. We were discussing my upcoming trip to Singapore & some of the experiences that I have had going through this program, he started laughing. I didn't find it funny. He said that I sounded like a recruit going through boot camp. He said that it sounded like a similar emotional experience! I am glad somebody gets it. He also said that if we have instructors who make us feel that motivated & determined it was a good thing. It is the internal pressure that you put on yourself that gets you. It isn't anything, anyone can make you feel or do, it is you. Learning that you will fail, but you get up & you keep going, you figure it out, you get help, but you don't quit. Somedays you wonder why, but you go to class anyway. There have been days that I think I would have preferred to have been shot at. Its over faster, you know you lived so you are relieved. No one is going to film the near miss & say, you could have ran for cover, why did you stand there & look like a deer in headlights, do you want to be a target? You are not going to have to critique the skills of the person who missed you, did they have the right caliber gun & a heavy enough bullet? Did they aim high or low? No, I am not the best interpreting student in the history of the program, but I gave it what I had. I learned a lot. Skills can always be improved, you will gain so much with experience. But, if you do not have what it takes inside of you, it isn't going to matter. I still hate it that I got so sick, its over, don't make excuses, you have to double-time it, try to learn what we are doing & go back & practice some of what I missed. I tried to do that this weekend. The most important lesson, keep moving forward. I think that may be the most important lesson that we have all learned. No matter what happens, how bad you blow a test, or a performance piece keep going. Take away something from the experience & move forward. Let it go its done, you survived. Maybe tomorrow will be your day. K

Register 4 fall classes? REALLY!

Wow, what happened to spring? It is supposed to snow this weekend. I saw that we can begin to register for fall classes & my first thought was, what, wait, I am not ready yet! Time is going by so fast I cannot keep up. Major life desicions are here knocking on my door demanding my attention. We have 5 weeks of this program to go. It seems impossible. As much as I will miss everyone, I will not miss the pressure. This program is demanding. There has been a great side benefit, you learn a lot about yourself & how you perform under pressure. This morning we had one of April's killer tests. But, we learned in Pittsburgh that those tests are going to be of great benefit to us. Not only do me know the material we have developed study strategies. Everything that we have learned in the past two years will benefit us all in many facets of life. For example if someone holds a gun to my head I know not to panic & that I need to think. Hey, standing in front of the class like a deer in headlights may save your life. As someone said to me do something, anything even if it is wrong. It has been great to stop coughing & start feeling better & not have the brain fog & fatigue. It would have been better if I had not stood on the scales & realized I gained 10+ pounds. Everything goes better & your attitude is better when you feel healthy. We found out today that one of us got accepted to a program in Italy! Congrats! It will be fun to see who goes where & who does what. I expect great things because we are a room full of motivated, intelligent & or course pretty individuals. What is it Aprils telephone says? Hello gorgeous? What you do or take away from any program is up to you. No matter what the outcome, you will use these skills in your professional & personal life. I know that my skills need work but I am really proud that I made it through this program. Your grades are not handed to you, you work really hard for them. There is no way to really cheat, your performance is out there for everyone to see. As these weeks count down take a good look @ the people you have spent 5 days a week with for 2 years & 2 crazy workshops, 5 women in one room hello! Take a good look @ Ruby & April. When you walk out that door on May 13 it may be the last time you actually see some of these people. You will occasionally chat on Facebook or run into each other at a workshop, but the common goal is gone & we will move on w our lives. It has been a pleasure to be in class & get to know each on of you. You are a special group of people. I would not trade this experience, but there have been days........ K