| Show i Interpreting Minds Minds- Not Just Words R e ANA jh t 2 r I lI l- l I f ff f- f Photo By Jake Glenys Symons interprets for students at by using more than mere words By Jake Managing Editor f As a child Glenys Symons learned to gather the elements of language to tell a story Today f she uses similar gathering techniques to paint a at t picture for her clients at Symons uses American Sign Language at and d drama to give her clients a taste of the speakers speaker's character Interpreting is more than just telling the client what words are being spoken Symons said You have to show them what the speaker is like Jike Sometimes that means portraying characteristics characteristics characteristics charac charac- foreign to you Symons has shown the serious side of a doctor as well as the tough image of a truck driver You cant can't afford an ego when you do this job Symons said You have to be unafraid of doing and saying things you normally would not Symons' Symons dramatic abilities were instilled in her at an early age Every Sunday her family came together to perform for each other The older children would play musical instruments while the younger children were enco encouraged ged to memorize and recite literature Her interest in poetry was influenced by Henry Lawson and Banjo Patterson Her Heri i appetite for literature grew as her knowledge expanded It became delicious Symons said She won her first literature contest at the age of nine rune The Australian native said I I came from nom a avery avery avery very lyrical family My mother said a a family of Irish Although Australian her refined boarding school accent sounds like she is royally royalty royalty roy roy- alty ally of some sort B But t her sweet accent doesn't stop her from nom being as Irish as Patti's Pigs She attributes her Irish heritage for the necessary necessary necessary sary skills to properly spin a tale When Symons was very young her mother sent her to buy some bread After buying the freshly baked bread she threw the change away On the long walk home she began to eat the soft bread excavating it like a gold mine Before long her tiny arm ann was up to its it's elbow in bread Fearing what her mother would say she began to fabricate a story about what had happened to the bread To get home it was necessary for Symons to cross a bridge Beneath the bridge lived several large bull frogs By the time she arrived home the bull buH frogs had eaten all the bread Symons was praised for her story but punished anyway Symons has worked as a nurse a school schoolteacher schoolteacher schoolteacher teacher and has interpreted for many famous deaf actors and directors but there is one thing she has always been a a people collector She said The one constant in my life has been my writing She was published in a collection of women's poetry in 1976 and ha has been published many times since You might even catch her doing a reading around town from nom time to time A good portion of her poetry comes from observing others but a lot Jot comes from nom personal experience I myself through 27 years of marriage Symons said Throughout her life her writing has b been en her therapy and demands much of her time Writing needs discipline she said People think the muse just pops in and sometimes it does but other times it is a just a memory to share Many of her lyrical ideas have been scribbled scribbled scribbled scrib scrib- bled on grocery store receipts or restaurant nap nap- kins Her most recent works have been an attempt to show hearing people what it is like to interpret interpret inter inter- pret Wet for deaf people Interpreting is what she most enjoys doing these days Symons said interpreting is a fulfilling calling calling calling call call- ing and she learns something every time she does it She said I feel what I do is important |
