Bethel University Sign Language Interpreting Department

10/19/2026

Now that the weather is finally starting to feel like fall, it's time to introduce this year's group of seniors! Every week we will post a video highlighting one of our seniors in the class of 2027 so you can get to know more about them. First up is Melody Seager!

Translation: Hello! My name is Melody Seager, and this is my sign name. I’m from Ohio, but my family recently moved to Virginia! I was around 11 or 12 years old when I started learning ASL. I just dabbled in it at first, but then I really started loving it. At that point, though, I didn’t think I wanted to be an interpreter. But when I was a junior and senior in high school, I started really asking God where He wanted me for my career and what college I should go to. I felt very clearly that He led me to Bethel University to major in ASL interpreting and minor in Business! Apart from academics, I enjoy running on the cross country and track teams here at Bethel. I also LOVE reading! My favorite genre is historical fiction. My other hobby is art. My favorite is making cards to give to people!

I have two favorite experiences from my time at Bethel. The first is going to Singapore! A group of us went to put on an interpreter training conference. It was a marvelous experience! The second is interpreting for the play Little Women! It was an amazing and fun experience. My advice for new students would be… hmm… get ready to dive in and challenge yourself! Go to lots of Deaf events. Ponder and experiment with new ways to interpret things. And if you get the opportunity to go on an interpreting trip, sn**ch it!

Internship is coming up soon, and I have two options I’m aiming for! The first one is in the DC area, and the second one is in Nashville, TN. It’s the same one that Breyana did. So we’ll see which one I end up with!

Thank you for watching!

09/10/2026

We have another event coming up in the next few weeks. We will be hosting a Deaf Night at Bethel's Women's Volleyball (a team that historically has included many ASL and interpreting students) game on Wednesday, September 23rd. We hope you are able to join us to support the women's volleyball team and socialize with one another. Additional information can be found in the flyer below. We are excited to see you there!

09/10/2026

With the fall semester in full swing, we are pleased to announce an exciting opportunity coming up next week! If you know a high school student, or are one yourself, this event is for you! Bethel University's 2nd Annual ASL Day will be taking place next Friday, September 18th. The event will provide high schoolers with a day of fun, food, and socializing with voices off and hands up. If you are interested in attending, please click the link below to register, and see the flyer for additional details. We hope to see you there!

https://connect.betheluniversity.edu/register/?id=c69d3424-2bb7-4055-b04c-a8014c5e631c

04/17/2026

Every year, the department awards a student who is chosen by the faculty and staff with the Service Award, while students vote for which of their peers fit the titles of ASL Student of the Year and Interpreting Student of the Year. Join us in congratulating the 2025-2026 winners, Alexis Lucero and Melody Seager, for their hard work and dedication to this department. Great job ladies!

04/16/2026

Thank you to all who joined us last Saturday for our first annual Spring Carnival! We had so much fun and hope you all did as well. Here are some pictures to remember the day, as well as a fun video documenting the grand prize, pieing our department chair, Edwin!

04/09/2026

Who's ready for the Spring Carnival this Saturday? We are so excited to see you all! In the meantime, we wanted to take a moment and give you a sneak peek of all the fun you can expect! Our event will be outdoors (weather permitting, although the forecast predicts a sunny day so far! Please dress accordingly to the weather as well) There is a map attached showing where we will be set up in front of the Academic Center. There will be some typical carnival snack foods (popcorn, pretzel) but not a full meal provided. We will have scheduled bigger group games, but if that is not your style, we have other games set up that can be enjoyed in smaller groups also throughout the event. Last but not least, there will be prizes to be won throughout the entirety of the event, so you'll want to stick around! The best part, is all of these games and events are free! However, feel free to bring cash if you would like to donate to our department or buy a 30 year anniversary shirt, which will be for sale during the event! We look forward to seeing you all this weekend!

04/06/2026

We hope everyone enjoyed their Easter weekend! This Monday, we want to continue our streak of celebrating successes by giving a shoutout to Mondesi Kirkland, one of our staff interpreters! She was chosen by Bethel University as their featured staff spotlight earlier this semester. Congratulations on this achievement and thank you for the work you do for our department!

Mondesi (Walters) Kirkland ’18 graduated from Bethel University with a degree in sign language interpreting and came back one year later to serve as a staff interpreter.

03/31/2026

While we are celebrating achievements in our department, we want to congratulate one of our students, Melody Seager, for being a NCCAA Scholar Athlete! Way to go, Melody!

03/31/2026

WAVE HANDS!

We want to give a shoutout to our interpreters for their dedication and all the hard work they put into interpreting Little Women the Musical last Friday! They were ASTONISHING! Good job ladies!

03/27/2026

Today is the day! The ASL interpreted performance of Little Woman The Musical is tonight at 7 pm! Here’s a little sneak peek at the hard work the students have been pouring into the show. Click the link below to secure your tickets for this evening. We hope to see you all there!

https://www.onthestage.tickets/show/bethel-university/6882c9f31d60c810324600e8/tickets #/productions-view