Testing.....

I have a testing date!!! I will be taking the National Interpreter Certification exam on Thursday, Sept. 23, at 5:30pm. I didn't get the memo to sign up as soon as everyone else did, so I'm actually the last one taking it. We are testing Sunday-Thursday. I would prefer to get it out of the way but maybe I'll continue to develop my skill over the extra four days. It will take anywhere from two weeks to six months to get the results but I hear it's averaging around a month currently.

This week hasn't been as busy as last but nonetheless my days have been full. It has still been a week of ups and downs but more ups! :) I had another mentor meeting on Wednesday with a class mentor who was very encouraging about my work. He pointed out some good things to work on but overall felt I was incorporating appropriate ASL features and was creating an equivalent message. I had good appointments with my deaf language mentors too.

Yesterday I had an assignment from 8-5. I wasn't looking forward to it as the topic sounded rather boring and I was scheduled with the same mentor I had two weeks ago that didn't turn out so well. I went into it with a good attitude and with my "reptile skin" on. Turns out I didn't even need my thick skin, much less the reptilian one! :) The day went relatively quickly -- I think partly because there were different presenters all day. It was very challenging, complex material yet we (another intern worked with me) interpreted well! There were times we had to interpret ASL to English too as our mentor (who is deaf) had questions. That tends to be more difficult as it happens less frequently than English to ASL, so it was great experience. Surprisingly it didn't bother me to speak up in the middle of a presentation. I think it's because I was representing someone who had something to say or ask and it wasn't me. She gave us some great feedback on things to consider, sign production, and sign choice and she said that overall we did a good job. She commented that she saw a drastic improvement in our work over what she saw two weeks ago. So that's GREAT news! :)

Brad got settled in yesterday and Amanda heads back tomorrow. So Mark & Clay will be on their own for the next five weeks. Thanks for remembering to pray for my family! As hard as some of the days are out here with all the work, constructive criticism, etc, nothing is as difficult as knowing my family is managing without me. I'm looking forward to being back home with them soon! Only five weeks left.....I'm 2/3 through! Not that I'm wishing it away.....I could stay in this learning environment for a long time!....just missing home and all that entails.

There's not too much homework for this weekend, so I'm hoping that I have time to practice extra things, get some rest and maybe sightsee. Hope you have a great weekend!