Nice to meet other ASL signers! And Chase, nice to meet you! I was active here for a brief stint in 2007, then left to focus on my Ph.D. degree, and finally came back here end of last year- I missed it!
I grew up using ASL (but I'm not Deaf, I am hearing). I started signing when I was five years old, and my Deaf friends taught me ASL growing up. My parents knew no signs themselves, but allowed me to socialize with my Deaf friends as much as I wanted.
I even remember buying my first TTY- it was so expensive! I think I was about 14 or so, and my parents paid for half of it and I paid for half. It was so cool to finally be able to "talk" with my friends from home over the phone line.
And yes, that was soooo long ago- before the internet and texting.
On interpreting, I sort of ended up thrown into it, but it ended up being a good thing. I already had to interpret a lot of short things as they came up casually, but I remember the first time I was "asked" to formally interpret- I was about 13 years old, and the interpreter at our church was pregnant and had to go on bed rest. They asked me to sit and do it. In front of a sanctuary filled with 1,500 people. Or something like that- it seemed like 10,000 to me. It was terrifying! But the ASL signers were all my friends, so I did my best and we worked it out. Poor them- my friends as I froze trying to keep up with the preacher
there just wasn't the certification standards out there as much back then, and while I was great at ASL, interpreting is a whole other skill than just having a conversation (as the terps here know).
Anyway, I enjoyed growing up around the Deaf community. And later I earned interpreter certification, and after lots of education, became an interpreter trainer.
Then, I started teaching ASL at both high school and university settings, and I also earned my doctorate in linguistics (studying mostly ASL).
Now I have fun teaching, writing, and spending time with my family (husband and 3 kids). And, too much time here on AW. It is a great place!
Thanks for bringing in all the ASL smileys Chase and the Mods