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Hello! I graduated back in 2015 with bachelors in business administration emphasis in Risk management and insurance. I realize that insurance is not for me so I'm now working on changing my career to sign language interpreter. I am currently taking the first four classes through UGA's continuing education program. Unfortunately, now that I have graduated I must work full time so my only choice to get a degree in ASL interpreting is through an online program.
There's not that many programs and right now the one that fits is Troy University's interpreting program. I wanted to know if anyone received their bachelors in ASL interpretation through an online program? Did you fill prepared for work after graduation? How long were you out of school before you ready to test for certification?
I spoke with a woman from a school in Colorado who went through an online program and she said it was a great experience. I also think she already had a background in ASL so that might have helped.
Online is my only option so I just want to hear from other people who chose online because of work, family, etc. or if you went through Troy's online program.
Being an ASL interpreter is a very competitive field that is narrowing every year. The tests to become certified are difficult and limited in number. Being online will exclude quality in person ASL time with the deaf community in an on-going basis and it will be even more difficult. You can certainly complete your classes online and even visit online using ASL but you will miss out on a lot of "caught" communication. I've known people that had to wait ten years before they were finally certified. It's not uncommon to have to wait several years before passing certification. And that is for those who were totally immersed in the Deaf community. Have you looked into the number of certified working interpreters in your state? And then look into how many graduates of ASL there are each year. What percentage of those graduated students are certified? Sorry if I sound like a downer but after having been in and around the Deaf community for more than 30 years this is what I have seen time and again.
I couldn't quite tell if you were persuading me to not do classes online or persuading me to reconsider becoming an interpreter all together.
I'm very aware that learning it online is not the best way at all. There is a another school (university of northern Colorado) that is online + on campus so it's another school I'm considering which would give me that face to face interaction which is important with this language. You did give me something to think about but I've definitely committed to making this career change so I will continue on this path.
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