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June 8, 2009 - Distinguished Alumni Award recipient sets standard for sign language interpreters
Mission’s Marna Arnell was drawn to sign language interpretation by empathy and curiosity. Now a driving force in the field, the Douglas College Distinguished Alumni Award recipient is committed to making a difference in the interpreting community.
“Watching young Deaf people sign and interact was the most amazing unanswered puzzle I had ever seen,” says Arnell, whose curiosity was first sparked as a volunteer in an elementary school. Initially, she came to the Program of Sign Language Interpretation as a means to learn more about Deaf communication. Intrigued by the challenge of matching visual and spoken languages, she was hooked.
Arnell graduated from Douglas in 1991. Since then, she has been active with the provincial and national professional associations for sign language interpreters, including the Westcoast Association of Visual Language Interpreters and the Association of Visual Language Interpreters of Canada (AVLIC). At AVLIC, she has put numerous hours into revising the interpreter certification process. She also played an integral role in establishing pre-testing workshops to help interpreters improve their skills.
Today, Arnell works as a community interpreter, mainly in post secondary schools and via video relay, a service that allows Deaf people and those with hearing or speech impairments to communicate over the phone with hearing people in real-time. Last year, she was granted the Celebration of Excellence Award by the Disability Resource Network of BC.
Arnell continues to support her alma mater as a regular guest speaker in Sign Language Interpretation classes. “Her desire to see continued improvements in the field is infectious and she promotes high standards of professionalism to students. She has also mentored numerous alumni in their positions,” notes Cheryl Palmer, coordinator of the Sign Language Interpretation Department at Douglas.
After 18 years in the field, Arnell’s passion for the job remains intense. “Every day is new and the work energizes me. As a new field, interpreting requires each of us to be a researcher, a teacher and a student on the job. There are absolutely no limits to what we can achieve.”
Despite her accomplishments, Arnell is humble about receiving the award at the commencement ceremony on June 3.
“If anyone had told me when I graduated that I would one day receive this wonderful award, I would have had a good laugh at the thought. But I did have a dream and I was in the right place at the right time. I got to play a part in establishing interpreting services in the post secondary system in BC. Does this make me a Distinguished Alumna? I am not sure, but I treasure my years at Douglas College and I am deeply honoured to be this year’s recipient.”
The Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes the quality of Douglas College graduates and their contributions to the community. Past recipients include Vince Tomassetti of Assistive Technology BC, poet Liz Bachinsky and Olympic Gold Medal wrestler Daniel Igali.
“Watching young Deaf people sign and interact was the most amazing unanswered puzzle I had ever seen,” says Arnell, whose curiosity was first sparked as a volunteer in an elementary school. Initially, she came to the Program of Sign Language Interpretation as a means to learn more about Deaf communication. Intrigued by the challenge of matching visual and spoken languages, she was hooked.
Arnell graduated from Douglas in 1991. Since then, she has been active with the provincial and national professional associations for sign language interpreters, including the Westcoast Association of Visual Language Interpreters and the Association of Visual Language Interpreters of Canada (AVLIC). At AVLIC, she has put numerous hours into revising the interpreter certification process. She also played an integral role in establishing pre-testing workshops to help interpreters improve their skills.
Today, Arnell works as a community interpreter, mainly in post secondary schools and via video relay, a service that allows Deaf people and those with hearing or speech impairments to communicate over the phone with hearing people in real-time. Last year, she was granted the Celebration of Excellence Award by the Disability Resource Network of BC.
Arnell continues to support her alma mater as a regular guest speaker in Sign Language Interpretation classes. “Her desire to see continued improvements in the field is infectious and she promotes high standards of professionalism to students. She has also mentored numerous alumni in their positions,” notes Cheryl Palmer, coordinator of the Sign Language Interpretation Department at Douglas.
After 18 years in the field, Arnell’s passion for the job remains intense. “Every day is new and the work energizes me. As a new field, interpreting requires each of us to be a researcher, a teacher and a student on the job. There are absolutely no limits to what we can achieve.”
Despite her accomplishments, Arnell is humble about receiving the award at the commencement ceremony on June 3.
“If anyone had told me when I graduated that I would one day receive this wonderful award, I would have had a good laugh at the thought. But I did have a dream and I was in the right place at the right time. I got to play a part in establishing interpreting services in the post secondary system in BC. Does this make me a Distinguished Alumna? I am not sure, but I treasure my years at Douglas College and I am deeply honoured to be this year’s recipient.”
The Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes the quality of Douglas College graduates and their contributions to the community. Past recipients include Vince Tomassetti of Assistive Technology BC, poet Liz Bachinsky and Olympic Gold Medal wrestler Daniel Igali.
