12/31/2025
Picture this: 26 interpreters of color walking into testing sites with their heads high, shoulders back, palms steadyโnot because the test suddenly got easier, but because they are no longer walking in alone. Picture Zoom rooms full of practice, feedback, and affirmation. Picture mentors who see your potential before you see it yourself. Picture group messages saying, โI PASSED,โ and a community that screams, dances, and praises with you like they passed too.This is what the 2026 Campaign is about.It is about disrupting the quiet lie that says, โMaybe certification isnโt for people like you.โ
It is about breaking the myth that interpreters of color must always be grateful to be in the room, but never expect to lead it.
It is about replacing imposter syndrome with informed confidence: โI am prepared. I am qualified. I am needed.โIn 2026, we are moving from:Hoping to planning.Wishing to scheduling.Studying alone to preparing in community.Feeling behind to owning our timeline.Certification is not just a credential. It is a key.
A key to pay equity.
A key to leadership tables.
A key to influence, visibility, and representation that ripples into classrooms, churches, hospitals, courts, stages, and screens. When a Black, Brown, or marginalized interpreter walks into a space Certified and Confident, Deaf people of color see possibility. They see that the profession does not only interpret their voicesโit reflects their faces. That matters. It changes how young Deaf kids dream. It changes what new interpreters believe is possible. So here is the call:If you are an interpreter of color who has talked about โone dayโ getting your BEI or NICโ let 2026 be the year โone dayโ gets a date.
If you have failed before and quietly put your dream on the shelfโtake it back down. Bring the disappointment, bring the fear, bring the doubt. We are not asking you to pretend it never happened. We are inviting you to let it fuel your comeback.
If you have already passed your examโ
this campaign needs you too. Your experience, your lessons, your encouragement might be the difference between someone giving up and someone trying again.
Terp Pocket Incโs 2026 Campaign is a promise:
We will not leave interpreters of color to figure this out alone. We are building structureโstudy plans, accountability, skill-building, test prep, and emotional supportโbecause talent without strategy is underused power, and this community is too powerful to live below its potential. Going into the New Year, carry these truths:You are not behind. You are on assignment.Your voice, your signing style, your cultural lens are not โextrasโโthey are essential.Certification is not about proving your worth; it is about positioning your worth where it can fully operate.You are allowed to take up space, to be excellent, and to be seen. So here is the vision for December 31, 2026:Twenty-six interpreters of color, certified.
Twenty-six stories of persistence.
Twenty-six testimonies of late nights, early mornings, and โI almost quitโbut I didnโt.โ
Twenty-six new seats at tables that once felt out of reach. And beyond the 26?
An entire field that can never again say, โWe couldnโt find qualified interpreters of color,โ because we will have receipts, names, credentials, and impact. As we step over the threshold into the New Year, letโs agree on this: We are done shrinking.
We are done apologizing for our presence.
We are done waiting for permission.
2026 is the year we build.
2026 is the year we certify.
2026 is the year we multiply representationโon purpose.
To every interpreter of color hearing this:
You are Seen.
You are Called.
You are Capable.
And you will not walk this journey alone. Letโs go write the story that the next generation will thank us for.
Dr. E
ASL Mentor/Coach
