My career path was not something I had always dreamed of, nor was it something that ran in the family. I didn’t have any deaf friends or family growing up. I didn’t even know Interpreting was a real thing!
I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Development Communication from the Adventist University of the Philippines in March of 2011. A month after graduating I came to the United States to be with the rest of my family. Graduating with a foreign degree didn’t do well for me in terms of finding a job. I applied for various positions, among such were a truck driver’s secretary and a gas station cashier. I received no call backs and no interviews.
After two months of a seemingly hopeless future, my grandmother suggested that I take sign language classes to pass the time. Her house was only 15 minutes away from the Southwest Collegiate Institute for the Deaf located in Big Spring, Texas. She said she was even willing to pay for the classes. I decided to take up her offer. I was always interested in learning different languages, so I thought this was an opportunity not to be wasted.
I survived two months of the crash course in American Sign Language 1 and 2, which were classes condensed into a single summer program. It was fascinating and terrifying at the same time! My teacher was fully deaf, and so my first encounter with deaf people was a complete immersion.
I continued applying for random jobs in Big Spring all throughout the summer. The plan was to land a job and continue with sign language classes. Unfortunately I never got hired, and I ended up moving to Los Angeles, California with my parents in September.
We stayed in LA for almost a year. I didn’t get a job there either, so my life was filled with watching anime and the Game Show Network. My mom decided to “hire” me as her driver to and from work, since she worked night shifts and got too sleepy to drive. In exchange for driving, she would buy me things like clothes and accessories when I asked for it.
Fast forward to August of 2012, we moved to Tucson, Arizona after my dad found a pastoring job. On our first day at the new church, I noticed a deaf couple in the pews. I didn’t see any interpreters around. After the service I approached them and said a shy hello. I had forgotten what I learned a year ago, and all I could remember was fingerspelling, so I pretty much spelled the entire conversation. Both of them seemed ecstatic to talk to me! After a few more sabbaths of getting to know them, they told me that I should become a professional interpreter and they would help me with whatever I needed! All they wanted was someone to interpret the church services for them.
We found out that the local community college was offering sign language classes and my dad suggested that I continue learning while looking for a job. I decided to enroll and give it a shot. Since we only had one car, I ended up taking evening classes so my parents could have a car during the day.
Even though I barely knew enough ASL vocabulary, each sabbath I would sit in front of the deaf couple and fingerspell away. The couple would teach me signs with each new spelled word, and eventually I was able to give them a paragraph or so of the sermon. It took about two hours just to get them two paragraphs. It was rough, but the couple was grateful for the effort.
I finally finished the Interpreter Training Program in May of 2015. The entire time I would interpret at church for the deaf couple. They invited some friends who became permanent church members, and all of them taught me and supported me and helped me grow throughout the years. We currently have five deaf church members! We get more deaf visitors too on occasion.
I started working professionally in August of 2016 and finally got my certification in April of 2018. I absolutely love my job and working doesn’t even feel like working. I actually get excited to go to work everyday. It was worth the wait, the heartbreak, and going to college for eight years.
All I wanted was a job that paid me for talking. I was thinking radio host, tv host, or maybe even a voice actress for cartoons. But, God put me in the course of becoming an interpreter. He knew best where to place me in this world. When I think about it, I did end up getting my dream job. I DO get paid for talking – with my hands. And my voice too. Praise God for leading me here!
I think... 