The CEU Café

Samantha began her love for Sign Language at a camp she attended around 1980. There among the many available classes was Signed Music. She signed her first song, and was immediately hooked. From there, apparently a career was born, and it all started at an elementary school camp in the Big Bear Mountains of California. After sign language and drama classes throughout her High School years, she was blessed to attend Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA, and there pursue a degree in Art/Theatre. With an ongoing passion for signing she simultaneously enrolled in a formal Interpreting degree program from Palomar College in San Marcos, CA. Samantha became a ranked Theatrical Lighting Designer, and that love spurred her integration of Performance and Interpreting. Samantha officially began interpreting in 1989, but what changed her life was her first concert interpreting assignment in 1990. It only took one concert to be permanently hooked on the integration of sign and music. Samantha has now been interpreting for over 30 years. In the midst of her career, she moved to Nashville to continue her Performance Interpreting pursuits and in 1999, she, along with several local Deaf consumers, began Gate Communications, with the collective goal of advancing Deaf accessibility, interpreting education, Deaf Community interactions, and ministerial outreach. Samantha has interpreted concerts from coast to coast, and provided services alongside Presidents, Country/Christian/Pop Artists, and internationally known speakers. She has taught private ASL/Interpreting classes for over 25 years and spent 10 years as a collegiate instructor in an ITP/IPP. Samantha has authored one interpreting book, "Get REAL, A REAL Look at Interpreting" which is used in multiple ITP programs in the U.S. Samantha has a deep love for foreign sign languages. She has experience signing in 5 foreign sign languages and interpreting in 2. She regularly interacts with foreign Deaf consumers living and traveling within the U.S. and outside our borders. Samantha has been working with the Mexican Deaf Community for 20 years. Samantha is the primary ASL/Interpreting instructor in Gate's ITP, and guides Gate's education department as she travels the country presenting at workshops. She has taught workshops in 26 states, and interpreters from 5 countries have attended her workshops. Her primary position is to serve as the Executive Director of Gate Communications, located in the Nashville area... Music City U.S.A. Samantha is pro-people and anti-ego. Gate's motto is "Changing the world, one person at a time" and Samantha hopes to do just that. Her hope is that these workshops won't just be educational, but will be inspiring, challenging, and creative.