Jase Rivera,

Interpreter, Department of Access Services, NTID

Since January of 2019, so almost seven years!

I have the honor of being an American Sign Language and English interpreter in classrooms all over campus from all of the colleges here, as well as events and meetings on campus. You have likely seen me or my colleagues (both interpreters and captionists) all over the place doing our thing. We also can be found on field trips, study abroad trips, and in remote meetings. When I’m not interpreting, I can be found in my office looking over preparation materials for what I will be interpreting later that day/week, in meetings with my colleagues, answering emails, or doing professional development that keeps me well rounded and supports my interpreting skills!

Since I moved here almost seven years ago, I have been amazed by the work I get to do on a daily basis. I feel so lucky to have gotten the chance to meet and work with some of the best and most amazing people.

The support I have had here is so wonderful and it’s so unique to the work that we do- I feel like I have the inside scoop on one of the best places to work. We have more interpreters here at this university than the state I am from likely has in total! My colleagues in Access Services (including management, and coordinators), as well as the Deaf community (whom we wouldn’t be here without) and the RIT community as a whole have all been amazing to be around, work with, and learn from!

When I was in grade school, I wanted to learn ASL but my school district didn’t offer it as another language. When I was in 5th grade, my class took a field trip to the local Deaf and Blind school and I was enamored and aching to communicate with everyone there and learn all about them. It took a long time, and I may have veered off course a little my first year in college (I started in Culinary Arts… let’s just say, I loved the kitchen and the food, I didn’t so much love working in restaurants), but I eventually took my first ASL class in college and before class even started I was “hooked.”  Seeing the interpreters have a conversation with my soon-to-be professor, then seeing them do their work throughout the first class, I just knew that was what I wanted to do!

I completed most of my post- secondary education in a local community college in Colorado called Pikes Peak State College. When I completed my degree in Sign Language and English Interpretation (the program was called The Interpreter Preparation Program), I immediately jumped into the world that is freelance/independent-contracting in my local community. It was a lot, very overwhelming at the time to start my own business, to have to discern for myself which interpreting assignments were both safe for me to do while also being challenging enough to improve my skill- set and also work on stage as a Shadow Interpreter for a community theater group.

Over the next three months I worked and I practiced (practiced about three times as much as I actually worked). I then applied to work for a Video Relay Service company. I was hired to be an interpreter for phone calls at a call- center and loved that job and still do as I work at a similar company to this day! My second job ever, when I was around 16, was at a company that captioned phone calls for the Deaf and hard of hearing so it felt a little bit like a home away from home. It was after three months of working there that I was accepted into the Interpreter Apprentice Program here at RIT/NTID! I was an apprentice here working as an interpreter for a year before I had the privilege of applying for a full-time position and the rest is history!

You are in one of the best places to learn America Sign Language. You hear all the time that the best way to learn a language is to immerse yourself, and all you need to do for that experience is hang out near the dorms at Ellie’s Place! Also, try to remember that Deaf people are just like you, they are people- they just happen to communicate a little differently. Try to let go of fears that say, “I won’t sign that right so I just shouldn’t” or “I don’t want to bother them by being there at all.” Look, you will sign things wrong (even I do from time to time still!) and there might be some folks who are a little busier than they would need to be to give full attention to you, but that has nothing to do with your ability to take part in the beauty that is “Deaf Culture and Sign Language.” No Voice Zone is an amazing place where you can put those fears aside and truly experience a space of learning sign language in the best way! Don’t shy away from signing to yourself in the mirror, either. I still catch myself doing that from time to time

Oh, my goodness! We often use the analogy “be like a duck” because at a pond, we see ducks gracefully gliding across the water but underneath the water, their feet are furiously paddling them and propelling them forward and it looks a little insane. When you see an interpreter doing their work-(whether they are interpreting into ASL at the front of a stage or a classroom or using their voice to interpret a Deaf or Hard of Hearing person’s comment or speech- know that in their head, wheels are turning at a rate that is truly baffling, just like ducks at a pond. When I am interpreting, I am acutely aware of the energy in the room and it influences what I interpret. I notice when someone tries to make a joke and it doesn’t land, or when someone doesn’t try to make a joke and it lands too well. I notice when someone is ramping up to a punchline or a grand statement and have to hold myself back from interpreting it too early or too late so as to meet the mark as poignantly as the speaker does. I notice things like what the speakers are communicating about their relationships all while discussing a group project. And I am always doing my best to manage the space in a way that supports everyone in the room getting an equal experience in terms of what is said (and sometimes not said- but felt) in the room.

There are so many people I admire that are Latino and/or Hispanic. The first person that comes to mind is Frida Kahlo who was a phenomenal artist and person. Her life story has always meant a lot to me and I love what she was able to do and be in her life despite adversity in many ways. Similarly, a musical artist named Selena, who made the most incredible music, died tragically in 1995 before she was able to bring her music to wider audiences. I still listen to all of her music with admiration and love and imagine how the world would be different if she were still with us.

My dad is from El Salvador. He immigrated here in his teenage years and I have recently gotten the opportunity to learn even more about how he grew up and what “home” meant to him during his upbringing. He faced challenges I could never dream of and experienced pride of his homeland more than I have ever felt. His life experience is surely enough to earn him two doctorates at the least (not that I have any authority to say so), and his approach to life is one that many people could learn a great deal from. He holds so much beauty within him and has with him so many stories and tools, some of which I have learned and inherited, others he holds as pinnacles of who he is. I am better because of him and I am so lucky to be here as a result of him and his story.

I worked at a local pizzeria in high school with my two older brothers.

Vegas! I got to go to Vegas twice this summer, once with my partner and once with my family. I have been going to Vegas since I turned 21 and always have a great time. I am a firm believer that it’s one of the best places to go on vacation. There is so much to do (even other than gambling and drinking) that’s free and fun! We saw a flower conservatory, museum exhibitions, fountain shows, walked no less than 10 miles a day, and yes, we played some fun games (and lost some money) too!

When I was a kid, I was terrified of the second half of the original Lilo and Stitch soundtrack because we were listening to it one day in the car, and when my mom ran into the post office to mail something and left me alone, the songs went to the just-music part and the first song was really scary and I thought it was preparing me for something awful happening to me.

In this current age of political and social unrest, the daily news is pretty shudder inducing. I fear that we may live in a world where empathy is vilified and not aspirational. However, in my day-to-day, I see a lot of hope and I see a lot of potential to rewrite the future to be full of empathy and safety for all. Also, I am afraid of bridges and tunnels…

Honestly seeing another country/continent would be so good for everyone! I would love to take us to Sydney, Australia, somewhere in Europe, Kenya, Japan, or so many other places- choosing would be the entire battle! Just to experience the world in a way that we don’t experience now and where we are from. Going on a safari, visiting a new city, taking the public transit, eating the local food, and seeing the local art and culture.

No, I wish, but my partner and I live a life that doesn’t suit a pet right now. I treat my plants as though they were members of the house though, I sing to them and talk to them as I tend to them.

I don’t really partake in much sports but I love the Greyhounds from the show Ted Lasso!

Honestly, I am a fiend for breakfast food so I like to go to Brick City Café during breakfast time! But also, The Cantina is pretty delicious! And Nathans! And Ben and Jerry’s… I mean, there are so many good options!

To be quite honest with you, my life is so special and I cherish so much about it that I don’t have a checklist that I feel I need to get through before I leave this earth. I can’t wait to see where life takes me, but I love where it’s taken me so far that I don’t want to add pressure onto it! (But I would love to see London one day…)

I am a pretty decent frisbee golf player! I have played since I was around 16 with my brothers in Colorado and have kept the hobby up since then. There are *SO MANY* amazing courses here in Rochester!

rit.edu/aes

2 Lomb Memorial Drive Rochester, NY 14623  

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