Grab the Lapels

Sunday Lowdown #246

THIS WEEK IN REFLECTION

Ha, okay, today’s excuse is I thought I wrote and published my Sunday Lowdown, but really I wrote most of it and never published it. My bad! Honestly, most of this week is a blur, though I did interpret chapel again on Monday. For those wondering, I was responsible for “Goodness Of God” and “Yes and Amen”. Anyway, I’m feeling more comfortable with less practice time — this go around I had about 24 hours to translate and interpret the songs — compared to my first chapel interpretation. It all depends on when the band leaders send the info to our department.

In class we are next moving on to voice interpreting, meaning someone is signing in ASL and we have to voice for them. Oddly, all students tend to say a word for whatever sign they see instead of making sentences that sound like English, so I’m excited to start working on this. Up until now, we’ve been working from a person speaking English into signing ASL. I’m not sure which is harder yet. I would assume English-to-ASL because I have to come up with signs and sentence structures in my second language, but I’ve been told it’s actually harder to go from ASL-to-English.

Lastly, I signed up for Winter and Spring classes. I’m doing a quick, one-month Sociology of Religion course in December to get that out of the way. I need any SOC elective, and this one is offered when tuition is discounted and I have no other classes I need to focus on. Then, in January I’ll start Interpreting II, American Sign Language VI, and Advanced Deaf Studies.

I’m trying to figure out how to fit in a gym class and a wellness class that I’m required to have to graduate. If I sign up for 7 to 11 credit hours, I pay $1,035 per credit hour. If you have 12 to 17 credit hours, it’s $16,370 — a flat rate. My class schedule for spring is 10 credit hours. If I take gym (1 credit) and wellness (1 credit), I would jump from $10,350 to $16,370. And guess who is not paying $6,000 for a gym/wellness class. This lady. The problem is you can’t take them separately. They are co-requisites.

I’ve talked to Nick about just going full-time one semester and packing it full to get the most bang for the buck, but then the conversation shifted to our ages. I’m 38; he’s 41. Neither one of us can fathom taking 15 credit hours anymore. It’s just too much, man. I used to take 21 credit hours and work 30 hours on a midnight shift and still get by. I see no sense in fighting what my brain and body can do as I get older, but I sure will bulldoze the admin on a gym class if that’s what it takes to graduate. As it is right now, I work out on campus more than students are required to for the gym class.

IT DIDN’T MAKE IT TO GRAB THE LAPELS

N/A

THIS WEEK’S BLOG POST

So far, only one person who has read my review of Maeve Fly by CJ Leede is someone I would recommended it to. However, I knew this would be a fringe book. Just how much, I didn’t know when I started, but once I hit the end of the novel, I thought, “Yep, this is not for most of my sweet blog friends.” However, if you’re interested in a graphic mashup of homicide and Disney princesses, then, yay — here’s the perfect book for you.

NEXT WEEK’S BLOG POST

If you’re going to experience a bad breakup, you may as well write about it. Jennifer Weiner is at the forefront of fiction about fat women (she calls them plus-sized), and in her collection of essays about her life, Hungry Heart, she discusses her difficult family, college, motherhood, divorce, and getting a novel published that is made into a movie.

BOOKS I BOUGHT

Books I paid for (that are not textbooks) since January 2023: totaling $43.28

BOOKS ADDED TO THE TBR PILE

Looking ahead for titles for my horror book club pick in December!

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Published by Grab the Lapels

I'm a graduate of the MFA fiction writing program at the University of Notre Dame, which inspired me to follow along with trends in teaching, publishing, and reviewing. I also have an MA and BS from Central Michigan University. I used to teach composition, creative writing, and literature in higher education, then did a brief stint at a civic theater, followed by two years at a references desk at a public library. I'm now working toward my ASL Interpreter license.

24 comments

  2. I can imagine students translating words not sentences because translating sentences must be a real challenge. You have to get a sense of what is being signed and formulate a sentence in your head while keeping an eye on the next lot of signs for the next sentence. I’m impressed because I’m sure you can do it.

    I had to laugh at your and Nick‘s comments on what you can’t do now you’re getting old. Wait until you are really old like Bill and me. You won’t be doing anything by then if you think 38/41 is old! Seriously, I completely understand and it’s good not to push yourself unnecessarily. We only have one life. Enjoy it!

    as for the gym wellness class good luck that just sounds so unreasonable to pay that sort of money. I just don’t have that sort of thing. Australian universities at least as far as I know. Health and wellness is good but seriously.

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    • If you translate one word at a time, you just get word salad, especially since some of the signing refers back. So, today I did an assignment in which she signed BOY and then was yanking on something. Then she points where the something would be and spells out “wagon.” Then, she signs HAVE FOUR WOOD and then she makes discreet stacks, which I translate as slats of wood. So you need all of it to say, “The boy was pulling a wagon carrying four slates of wood.”

      Nick and I are not yet creaky, but we understand that staying up after midnight every night is not reasonable because predictable sleep is more precious. It’s ABSOLUTELY ASLEEP BY 11 and then wake up at 6:30 with no naps if you can help it, but if you do nap, set a timer so you don’t fall off the edge of the Earth.

      My first bachelor’s degree had no fitness requirement, but I get it. When I was teaching freshman, they would get homesick (often for the dog). Then they would eat all the dorm food, which includes ice cream available at every mean, which led to weight gain, which meant they’re clothes didn’t fit, and perhaps this was the first time they had contended with a body that was “unfamiliar” to them. Poor nutrition, stress, bad sleep, etc. It all leads to poor academics, so if the school can keep students physically active the first year and maybe see the benefit, they can probably retain students longer.

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      • Great reply, thanks Melanie. Your interpreting description makes absolute sense. All interpreters, really, have to understand the sentence rather than just translating word by word don’t they but h can see with signing it’s not even exactly done in sentences but in ideas, it seems, that make sentences.

        You are right about naps. They can be awfully discombobulating.

        And yes fitness is good but it’s interesting how in the USA college seems more like an extension of school than it is here.

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        • As per schools, I think the problem can be retention. School is really expensive here, and we have the Higher Education Commission, which regulates whether schools are accredited. I can’t remember the specific number, but if I school continues to fail at graduating a certain percentage of students within 5 years, it can lose its accreditation. So much is done to keep students in the seats, coming to class, retuning the next semester. Even as a professor this was a goal that i had to help meet. For instance, if a student stops showing up, I have to report it so higher ups can go find the student and find out what’s happening. Around my area the religious colleges also make students stay in the dorms for three years so they can keep tabs on them, and I can’t fathom an Aussie agreeing to that.

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  3. Completely understand about dialling things down and not being able to do what one could do as a late teen/ early 20s person! when I did my library Master’s I did a full-time course which was Monday Morning, Tuesday, Wednesday full days, Thursday morning, and I worked about 36 hours Friday through Sunday in a call centre, did all my college work on Monday and Thursday afternoons (and at work as they were kind and put me on the inbound calls that came in after adverts had aired!). I just missed getting a distinction and when Mr Liz did his Master’s when we moved here (so he was 30 sg) he was in one day a week but had to study a lot and I ran the house to remove all distractions from him for that year and we got him his own distinction!

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  4. So interesting about the ASL-English interpretation. It will be interesting to hear your experience and whether you find it more of less difficult than the other way around.

    Oh lady, I hear you on the 21 credit hours and the job thing, I did that back in the day too and now just thinking about it makes me tired. Good luck with trying to get a pass on the gym/wellness thing. Maybe they will let you “test out” somehow.

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  5. You have to do a gym class and a wellness class to graduate. Wow – if colleges here in the UK tried that they’d be met with very loud protests that this isn’t why they came to college etc etc

    It’s pretty bad that there is such a hefty price tag, especially when you say you are already working out. Sounds a bit like the college is just ticking boxes? Can you get an instructor at the gym or wherever you work out, to sign a paper to say you completed x amount of time???

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  6. The Christmas Horror Story book looks awesome!

    I’m surprised a college program has gym and wellness as prerequisites, but I suppose that’s a good thing, as long as it’s appropriately priced? Jeez you think using their gym regularly would be enough, it would be great if they could throw in some personal training sessions b/c then you are literally learning skills that can help you once you graduate. I did quite a bit of personal training when I was younger which helped with my form when lifting weights, so I’m less likely to injure myself now that I’m 38 (yay!).

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    • Co-requisites (you have to take them at the same time), but yes, I can see how it is designed to keep students’ mental and physical health strong, but how much should a school require people to take care of themselves? At my current college, students are required to do gym, wellness, and attend chapel 2x per week, plus small group religious study 1x per week. However, when I mention that I think students should be required to volunteer their time 30 minutes per week, I get big pushback. I mean, what if you watched someone’s kid for free (lots of students here have children because they get married around 20), or you help a professor make copies, or you serve in the cafeteria, or whatever.

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        • They have one service day every semester during which all classes are cancelled and students can sign up to work on a team and volunteer for four hours. I checked out the list, and it was almost entirely landscaping for area churches. Which….I suppose I do not consider that a valuable use of service. The Bible emphasizes serving the poor, sick, vulnerable, orphan, and widow. In reference to whom we should serve, I agree.

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  7. I’m curious to hear how you find the ASL to English translation. I can see how it would be tricky since you will need to formulate a sentence from the signs while trying to be faithful to the original meaning.

    I hope you’re able to figure out your courses. I can see how for some students a flat tuition rate would be a benefit but it seems like there should also be a way around it. I’m also one of those people who took on a full time course and a job and was involved in clubs/volunteering and now I’m amazed at the energy I had at the age of 20!

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    • Well, it seems like I’m responding to the signs more than interpreting, so I have some work to do.

      I think I have my classes all solved, so I’ll write about that this coming Sunday! The flat tuition rate is a great deal if you do more than 12 credits. Most students do 15, but you could go up to 17, all for the same cost. Dare I ask what college costs in Canada?

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      • I think in general tuition in Canada is cheaper but there’s also a big price difference between what we call college and university. I always took a full course load, partially because then my tuition then covered insurance and transit and gym pass etc. I also went to a smaller, public school which was cheaper than a lot of other schools. And it was cheaper to stay in province. I paid a lot less than the numbers you’re talking about but this was also 15+ years ago so I’m sure it’s increased too.

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  8. Paying for gym class has me cringing for you. What a waste of money! They should just accept it if you show proof of membership to say, Planet Fitness. Super cheap and you would probably do more anyway. And to make it a requirement, is just a dick move. This isn’t high school.

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    • I know from experience teaching that retention is a big deal, which you would think would be a big deal for the administration, but it trickles down to professors. How do you keep students? What happens is a lot of freshman were high school athletes, but they get to college, eat that dorm food, get fat, become depressed because their body changed and their clothes don’t fit, they get homesick, they fall behind in school, etc. It’s all a trickle down of negativity that largely stems from the inability to regulate their health on their first foray into independence. So, they gym class shows them what they can do for the next four years. It’s a good idea to help with retention, if the reason is explained to students. For the most part, it seems like they don’t understand.

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  9. I can’t believe you have to take a gym elective -I can’t imagine how furious our students would be if we tried that! I mean, in my 1:1s with them, I do ask my students whether they have any hobbies and encourage them to try out different clubs and societies, which often includes encouraging them to join a sports club – but there’s no expectation at all that they have to. I hope you were able to get something sorted out to make it possible!

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    • It’s funny how my non-American readers seem the most up-in-arms about this situation. In the past I was never required to take a fitness class, but I know Nick was. In fact, he somehow managed to take bowling three times in college.

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