Careers in ASL Interpreting with Holly Gaydurgis

In today’s episode, Marisela interviews Holly Gaydurgis, ASL Interpreter Assistant Professor at College of DuPage. Together, they discuss the two main career paths in ASL interpreting—educational and freelance—highlighting the skills developed in the program, such as ASL and English proficiency, ethical decision-making, and cultural mediation. She emphasizes the importance of immersion in the deaf community, learning from deaf influencers, and gaining hands-on experience through practicum and service learning projects. Tune in to learn more about American Sign Language Interpreting Program and explore the details of studying this dynamic program at the College of DuPage.

View the College of DuPage American Sign Language Interpreting program
Contact Holly Gaydurgis by emailing parsonsh@cod.edu or contact the ASL Interpreting program

Full episode transcript can be found on the episode page. Below is a general timestamp summary.

00:00:00 - 00:01:24
Introduction, Host: Maricela Morales & Guest: Holly Gaydurgis, ASL Interpreter Assistant Professor at College of DuPage.

00:01:24 - 00:03:02 
Overview of ASL Interpreting Field

00:03:02 - 00:10:00
Skills Developed in ASL Interpreting Program

00:10:00 - 00:14:00
Experiences and Opportunities for Growth

00:14:00 - 00:19:00
Preparation for Careers in ASL Interpreting

00:19:00 - 00:24:00
Advice for Aspiring ASL Interpreters

00:24:00 - 00:29:00
Resources and Contact Information

00:29:00 - 00:30:13
Conclusion

Listeners in the College of DuPage community can visit our website. All other listeners are encouraged to view the resources of their local community college, WIOA training programs, or other local support centers.

Send us YOUR Listener Questions at careerpodcast@cod.edu

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Transcript

Welcome to the Career Ready podcast. Learn about resumes, cover letters, LinkedIn, interviewing, and all the things you need to be career, ready with the Career Ready Center, at College of DuPage.

00:00:13:25 - 00:00:16:25

I'm Maricela Morales, your host for today's episode. In addition to learning about resources
 and the job search process, an important part of being career ready is understanding career pathways. To help us explore the field of American Sign Language interpreting. I have Holly Gaydurgis, and American Sign Language

00:00:32:03 - 00:00:35:03

Interpreter assistant professor at College of DuPage. Welcome, Holly. Hello. Before we get started, can you share a short introduction or, as we like to call it, your elevator pitch?

00:00:43:26 - 00:00:44:22

Sure. I have been in the interpreting field for about 22 years. I started off in deaf education
 and found my way to sign language interpreting, which I've been doing that whole time. I started at College of DuPage as an adjunct

00:01:02:14 - 00:01:06:24

faculty member, and I had been doing that for about seven years. Adam was lucky. The program coordinator who manages both the ASL interpreting program and the ASL language program. Reached out to me to see if I'd be interested in doing full time.

00:01:20:26 - 00:01:24:27

I just started full time last year with the program, which is really exciting because it gives me more time to focus on the program and develop the program in a way that supports our students. So the interpreting program at Cod is to is there to teach students

00:01:39:24 - 00:01:42:24

how to use the ASL proficiency that they have gained from the ASL program and apply that knowledge to the field of interpreting? Excellent. And can you provide an overview of the American Sign Language

00:01:56:11 - 00:02:00:17

interpreting field and the various career pathways that it offers? Sure. So the field of interpreting kind of goes down two paths. The one path is the educational path. A lot of students graduate from our program

00:02:14:08 - 00:02:19:18

and go into educational settings to interpret for students K through 12 and that pathway has a little bit more stability because you're going to the same place every day. You have the same deaf student every day. And some people find that stability more interesting to them.

00:02:34:27 - 00:02:39:22

On the other hand, we have another path that is toward freelance interpreting, which is great because, that pathway, you can be your own boss. You work with a multitude of agencies and you also, get to interpret in a variety of different jobs. So, for example, you might be interpreting

00:02:59:15 - 00:03:02:16

at a medical setting or a legal setting. There's video relay interpreting video relay service,
 which is more remote. So you would be online. There's also theatrical interpreting.

00:03:13:14 - 00:03:15:22

And then for those that are multilingual, we do have a need for trilingual sign language interpreters. And the trilingual, interpreters could be any language. Spanish, of course, is the most, requested, but it is something that anyone with any second language wants to add.

00:03:32:19 - 00:03:36:08

A third could definitely go down that path. Both are really great jobs, and even if you work in education, you can still do some of those other jobs as long as you have the appropriate license. So it's really nice that you can do either kind.

00:03:51:20 - 00:03:56:22

And it really depends on your personality and what you feel works best for you. There are other paths as well. So, you could be interpreting for an individual that is deaf and uses ASL, but we also have clients that are hard of hearing and may want to receive that sign language
 in a different way.

00:04:12:15 - 00:04:17:18

And then we also have the deaf blind community who utilizes pro tactile and tactile interpreting, which is something that you would do, learning after you would graduate from our program. But there's workshops that are always available for students that have are either in the program

00:04:32:08 - 00:04:35:08

or have graduated the program and want to learn more. This is a practice profession, which means we're always learning. We're always practicing, always trying to improve. So you really have to be someone that's excited about learning, that's excited about language,
 and you have to constantly,

00:04:51:19 - 00:04:55:01

keep up with access rights as inclusion becomes more and more important. Absolutely. And you had kind of touched on, the, certainly being multilingual

00:05:06:04 - 00:05:08:23

in ESL and I actually this was ages ago, but I took an ESL class and I was really surprised that there were different languages in ESL. That that's something that is, is sort of

00:05:21:27 - 00:05:24:27

something that some people may not know that there are just as you said, there's Spanish
 Sign Language and there's Americans. And I just it's one of those things that you sort of take for granted. And I just think that's amazing. But you had also kind of touched on theatrical sign language.

00:05:38:08 - 00:05:40:28

Can you tell me a little bit about that? What is that? So theater school sign language is more just interpreting plays or musicals or concert interpreting. And when you learn the skill of interpreting, you can apply that information to interpreting

00:05:58:05 - 00:06:02:19

for theater or plays or anything of that nature. So while we don't specifically teach students
 how to do theatrical interpreting, they can use the skills that they glean from just being in our program and apply it to a setting, like that.

00:06:17:04 - 00:06:17:24

Absolutely. I mean, I, I mean, especially from some of some of our younger audience members, probably, I mean, I think of, whenever I go to music festivals, we you always see individuals at the very front

00:06:31:10 - 00:06:35:15

end of the stage, you know, interpreting the music. And I, I had no idea that that was a specific specialization, but it totally makes sense. That's amazing. Yeah. You're sharing that.

00:06:43:27 - 00:06:45:25

That's that's fantastic. And so for our next question, what key skills or strengths do students develop while completing the ASL interpreting program? Or even after graduating the program? So they enter the ASL program where they are

00:07:03:21 - 00:07:07:08

trying to increase their fluency and ASL and most students, not all. We do have some second language learners, English. But we just try to develop those skills throughout our interpreting program.

00:07:22:07 - 00:07:27:16

So we work on ASL and English proficiency as they're in our program. One thing that I think many people don't know about is the type of ethical decision making that's required when working as a sign language interpreter. Deaf people, hard of hearing people, deaf, blind people

00:07:42:10 - 00:07:45:22

are allowing us into the spaces that. Especially if you think about legal settings or medical settings, they're putting a lot of trust in us. And so the ethical decision decision making part of it is really important.

00:07:58:29 - 00:08:01:18

Our ID, which is our, nationwide, organization that does certification and supports
 interpreters across the country, has a code of professional conduct that has been established for many years. When students come into my introduction to interpreting an ethics course.

00:08:21:25 - 00:08:26:17

Obviously our main focus is on that ethical portion. So, that's really important. And we do emphasize that throughout the program. And once they get into practicum, which is a a capstone course, they get to see that in real life and analyze that

00:08:41:12 - 00:08:45:23

and think about what they would do if they were in that situation. So developing those skills of, problem solving when they're in a situation is really important. We do spend a lot of time on processing and cognitive ability. When you're simultaneously interpreting meaning

00:09:01:28 - 00:09:04:29

someone is talking and you're signing at the same time. You have to make really quick decisions, about how you're going to sign something. Which grammatical feature best fits what you're either hearing or what you're seeing from a deaf person?

00:09:17:17 - 00:09:21:14

So we do one of our classes that is actually called cognitive processing because it's such a big part of how people interpret. We also spend a lot of time talking about deaf culture and how it varies. 

00:09:36:13 - 00:09:37:24

So the role of the interpreter is not just to provide access to information, but it's also to cultural mediate between a hearing person and a deaf person. Oftentimes hearing people have never met a deaf person in real life, so they don't have all the information needed in more for

00:09:55:16 - 00:10:00:20

in order for the communication to be, you know, most successful. So as an interpreter, you have to be aware of those differences and make sure that you're mediating between the two. Obviously we do practical skills. If a deaf person is signing, we have to be able to understand what they're signing

00:10:15:13 - 00:10:20:00

and then transfer it, transfer it over into English, and then vice versa. Some people I think, they don't think about the fact that I have to interpret what the deaf person is saying as well. So it's not just a one way, type of communication. You have to be able to go between both, English and ASL.

00:10:35:27 - 00:10:39:04

We also do a lot of critical thinking practice, and we learn how to be professionals and to navigate the field of interpreting. So those are just a few of the things there's really so much, that we do and, and that we teach.

00:10:53:22 - 00:10:56:03

Meaning is probably the number one thing. Being able to understand what someone means is so important to be able to interpret. So we spend a lot of time on analyzing language, analyzing intent, analyzing just how a person is saying and what they're saying,

00:11:11:29 - 00:11:17:00

and then what their goal is for that moment of communication. Absolutely. And thank you so much. You kind of touched on a topic that sort of can lead into the next couple of question. One of them.

00:11:29:11 - 00:11:32:29

What, or are there specific experiences or opportunities that you recommend for professionals looking to grow into this field? And then how does our program at code prepare students for careers in ASL interpreting? So I'll, I'll start off with, with the the first question that I asked,

00:11:49:27 - 00:11:53:05

are there specific experiences because you mentioned the practicum, but are there other experiences that you would recommend people seek out either independently or through the program that you recommend that they seek out so that they can continue to grow in the field?

00:12:06:05 - 00:12:07:02

Absolutely. The number one thing that our program and the ASL program encourage is to go out into the deaf community. The best way to learn a language is through immersion. So yes, you can come to class and I can teach you this vocabulary,

00:12:26:10 - 00:12:30:01

or I can teach you, these grammatical structures. But the best way to learn a language is to actually be with people that are using the language natively. So that would be number one. Number two would be, and this may sound odd,

00:12:44:20 - 00:12:50:11

but social media is full of influencers. Teachers that are deaf. Many people think that just because someone knows sign language that they are qualified to teach it, and that's not necessarily true. We want to make sure that we are learning from

00:13:04:07 - 00:13:08:00

deaf people, and that we're supporting deaf people in the field. Because they don't have the same privileges that hearing people have. And so being able to elevate those people is really important. Obviously, you have to be careful on social media

00:13:22:01 - 00:13:25:18

because what you see is not always what is true. But if you know a little bit, if you're looking for, some suggestions, there is a long list of actual deaf influencers that are great and, are teaching the right things and really want to be able to support people that are learning ASL.

00:13:45:21 - 00:13:48:21

Otherwise, there's workshops that you can attend. There's volunteering that you can do in the deaf community. In our practicum, we do have a service learning project. That's one of the requirements. And the students, by the time they get to practicum

00:14:01:23 - 00:14:06:17

are already very familiar with what's happening in the deaf community. And they have a lot of connections that we build for them throughout the program. They go and volunteer. I have some students right now that went to a deaf club to support an event that they were having there.

00:14:22:28 - 00:14:27:25

And took some of the responsibility so that the deaf community could enjoy the event instead of having to run the event. I also have a couple of trilingual students that are working on creating a workshop for trilingual interpreters, and that will be happening this summer, and that's really exciting.

00:14:45:03 - 00:14:48:17

I've had students, go to the Learning technology, department at Cod and volunteer to do some captioning. Captioning is very lacking, especially in social media. And so I want my students to understand how important that is.

00:15:02:10 - 00:15:05:10

So I have one student working on that. But really it all comes back to get out there, meet some deaf people, start with that. Look for deaf instructors not hearing instructors. We want to elevate those people that are native to the language.

00:15:21:03 - 00:15:24:07

So those are just a couple of the ones that I would recommend. I love that I think that you raise a very good point, that it's not just about inviting them to the table, but recognizing that they essentially they they are the table, they are the community. And, I think that it is incredibly important to recognize that.

00:15:42:10 - 00:15:44:29

So thank you for pointing that out. Thank you. in terms of how Cod prepares students for their careers, can you tell us a little bit more about that? Absolutely. Throughout the program, we do require

00:15:56:25 - 00:16:00:15

observations or shadowing opportunities. So the students will go and observe an interpreter in the field. We provide a list of things that they should be looking for as far as vocabulary or grammatical skills. But we also want them to look at logistics.

00:16:18:22 - 00:16:20:18

Where is the interpreter sitting? Was a, a good seat so that the deaf person could see them, but also how they manage presentations versus small group discussions. So logistics, as far as where they sit and sight lines

00:16:39:07 - 00:16:42:15

also they need to be able to see how the interpreter interacts with a hearing person, maybe a hearing person that's never had a deaf person come to whatever event they're hosting. That would be that cultural mediation piece. So students do that regularly throughout the program.

00:16:59:00 - 00:17:03:05

We also require them to go to deaf club events. And then also workshops. Our governing body, the registry of Interpreters for the deaf, regularly sponsors different workshops. There are so many available.

00:17:18:05 - 00:17:19:23

We have this. We send the students as many as we can find, and then they get to choose which one is most interesting to them. And then of course, practicum is literally in the field with real deaf people in real situations with a mentor,

00:17:35:26 - 00:17:38:26

and they get to have that experience. So when they graduate, they know first of all how to do it. Second of all, they know which field is most interesting to them because yes, we're interpreters. But like I said before, maybe you're more interested in medical,

00:17:52:07 - 00:17:55:07

maybe you're more interested in secondary education, maybe you're more interested in K through 12. So our practicum allows students to see all those experiences, and then make a decision about what they feel is a best match for them.

00:18:09:10 - 00:18:13:16

We have multiple partnerships with school districts in the area, and not even just in Cod's district, because there are so few interpreting programs in the state of Illinois that we have students coming in from McHenry County, from Kane County.

00:18:29:09 - 00:18:32:12

DuPage, of course, and then a couple of others. And so we try to partner with different groups across areas. That students are living so that we can make sure that they have access to, opportunities in their area.

00:18:48:07 - 00:18:51:28

And then, we also work with leaders in our community, in the deaf community. So interpreters, we recruit for mentoring. And then with the deaf community, we try to stay connected as possible. We bring in presenters, to talk to students

00:19:08:16 - 00:19:13:23

about their lived experiences so that when students leave our program, they have a firm grasp as to what their role is and that they not only need to be an ally, but they need to be an accomplice. And I think that is something yeah, that's really important, especially for an underrepresented community.

00:19:32:11 - 00:19:37:10

We are technically making money off of their language. And because of that, we need to be not only giving back, but acting with them. And when they say we need this, we say, yes. How do we get this? How do we do this for you?

00:19:50:25 - 00:19:53:15

How do we support you doing this? So that's really important. I, I love that that is an amazing message to carry to an important community that we so frequently

00:20:09:28 - 00:20:13:28

don't give the voice that they deserve. So thank you for doing that. And with regard to any advice that you may have for students or young professionals that are preparing, for, for entering this field, what, what can you, what can you give them?

00:20:29:04 - 00:20:32:04

What advice do you have for for those individuals? First and foremost, as I said before, immerse yourself in the deaf community. You can't use someone's language if you don't understand where it comes from. So and you're not just learning that you're learning about deaf culture

00:20:46:25 - 00:20:47:23

as well. If you don't understand that, then this isn't the field for you. You have to really love language. And I'm not just talking about ASL, but English as well, because you're going between both and you have to be able to understand

00:21:03:14 - 00:21:07:03

both to be able to glean meaning from both in order to, interpret them one way or the other. A lot of students are surprised by the amount of feedback that is given. Again, this is practical skills,

00:21:22:10 - 00:21:27:22

and the instructors will look at your work and give feedback based on that. I believe that our faculty and staff are incredibly gracious, and the type of feedback they give in that it's not always the good nice. You did a great job, but it's constructive in that these are the areas we feel you need to improve on.

00:21:44:19 - 00:21:47:29

So if you come to the program, you have to be open to that and willing to listen to experts give you, you know, advice as to what kind of things you need to improve on. Build a network of peers in the deaf community. Reach out to the interpreting community.

00:22:04:07 - 00:22:09:09

You know, try to find some mentors or people that you look up to. Create relationships with them. I'm trying to think if there was anything else. I will say that it is not an easy, breezy program.

00:22:25:03 - 00:22:27:22

It takes seven years. This has been documented statistically. It takes seven years to learn a language to the point where you're completely fluent. Our program is very sped up.

00:22:39:02 - 00:22:44:14

And so you have to be willing to really put the work in in order to get out of it. What you want. I tell my students that those that are most successful are the ones that are putting in the most work. They do extra practice.

00:22:54:14 - 00:22:56:01

They go to the tutoring center, they go to deaf events even when I'm not requiring it. They go to workshops just because they're curious, because they want to learn more. It is definitely something that you have to really put effort into.

00:23:10:15 - 00:23:14:09

As faculty, we put in maximum effort. And if we get that in return, that's when you're going to be the most successful. So take advantage of all the opportunities that we provide. Take advantage of the tutoring center. They're great.

00:23:27:26 - 00:23:31:00

All the students, all the, tutoring. I guess the people who work there. So the actual tutors are former students of ours. Oh, all taken our classes. They're all proficient in ASL.

00:23:41:07 - 00:23:45:00

About half of them are licensed in the state of Illinois to be interpreting, and it's a great resource. We love them. And they've all take my classes before so they know exactly what I'm looking for and what I expect from them.

00:23:57:14 - 00:24:00:03

So that's a really great resource that we have. But really, you have to be open minded and accept the fact that we have privilege that the deaf community doesn't have. And, we're here to we are working for them and that we are here to support them.

00:24:16:02 - 00:24:20:15

We need to listen to the deaf community, understand what their needs are, and then make sure that we're doing our best to support that. I think overall, that's the best thing that you could do if you were in our program. That is amazing.

00:24:31:03 - 00:24:34:23

And I did not even know that we had, so I would interpret as part of the student tutoring program. That is amazing. So, where can interested listeners learn more about the ASL interpreting program at Corey.

00:24:48:13 - 00:24:51:15

Well, they can always go to the Cod website. If you go to the search bar and type in ASL interpreting program, it'll direct you to our page. Our department page. Once you get there, you should be able to find myself or Adam was Lucy Adams.

00:25:06:19 - 00:25:07:05

Adam was. Lucy is the program coordinator. If you're looking to get into ASL classes without ever having taken any so classes, you can start in ASL one if you feel you already have some level of proficiency.

00:25:22:15 - 00:25:24:25

Adam will meet with you one on one to make sure that you're placed in the correct class. There is an exam and an ASL proficiency exam. Sounds scary. It's really not that

00:25:35:17 - 00:25:39:14

intense that will allow you to get into the interpreting program. So if you've taken ASL somewhere else, let us know. We'll figure out what the best fit is for you. We do accept transfers. So if you took your ASL classes at Harper and you want to wear the A.

00:25:56:20 - 00:26:01:13

We're one of two interpreting programs in Illinois above the central line. So there's one other school, but it's far away. So we'd love to take all those students that are utilizing assault courses from other colleges.

00:26:15:26 - 00:26:17:21

They're more than welcome to come to us. But check out our website. Right now, we're in the process of changing up our online, presence. We're going to try to make some things a little more accessible to people

00:26:32:19 - 00:26:37:03

that may not be already a student at College of DuPage. So look out for that. We also have an ASL club at school. Even if you are a beginner, it doesn't matter tonight, actually.

00:26:52:03 - 00:26:54:19

The ASL club is hosting a game night, and all of our ASL events club events are in sign language, so there's no talking allowed. Even if you don't know that much sign language, it's okay. You can still come.

00:27:07:22 - 00:27:11:13

Everyone is really nice and completely willing to work with you to make sure that, you can participate. It's another way that we can show students what it must be like for a deaf person to go into a space where no one knows sign language. It's a little uncomfortable,

00:27:26:11 - 00:27:29:12

and we kind of want to give students that experience as well. And it pushes them to learn, helps them learn. So that's another thing that we offer. how frequently do you host these types of events? The ASL club hosts events at least three

00:27:42:00 - 00:27:45:02

times, semester and, when we did a workshop, we brought in a deaf person from our community who did a workshop about, using your whole body to communicate as opposed to just signs and using your face. That was great.

00:28:03:01 - 00:28:06:04

We, we have the game night that we're doing tonight. And then at the end of the year, the ASL club hosts an event for students graduating practicum. They get we're going to get together, and they're all going to perform a song that they have been working on.

00:28:20:04 - 00:28:22:10

They are interpreting. So we're inviting people from the deaf community and, their friends and family, all the ASL club members, the alumni in interpreter, mentors that have been supporting our practicum students.

00:28:37:22 - 00:28:41:12

So we're doing all of that, right before graduation. So at least three times in a semester. But again, the community itself out there have events regularly. You could probably find one event a week that you could go to. So there's a lot to do that's amazing.

00:28:57:20 - 00:29:01:06

And it's so individuals that that would like to learn specifically about about this can look up the ASL club and see what they can also do there. Independent research for special events that are being hosted by the deaf community, in the surrounding areas. Because as you said, it's community is incredibly important.

00:29:18:25 - 00:29:22:22

Becoming immersing themselves in the community is incredibly important. And so I just want to truly thank you for joining us today. I really do appreciate this valuable insight that you have provided us. And please, if you ever wish

00:29:37:01 - 00:29:41:06

to join us again, and giving us any additional, any updates on this growing, and amazing pathway, please let us know. But once again, thank you so much for joining us today. 

Sure. Great. I'm happy to come. Thank you for inviting me.

00:29:53:26 - 00:29:56:12

With today's episode, there are no listener questions. However, if you have a question, you get admitted to our podcast at Cod Edu or on social media at Cod Career Center and you may hear the answer in a future episode. Thanks to all our listeners, and special thanks to oligarchies

00:30:10:24 - 00:30:13:01

for joining the Career Ready podcast. We hope you have a better understanding of the field of American Sign Language interpreting.