Featured photo: Blue Ridge Community College student Delores Covington smiles for the camera. Photo courtesy of Delores Covington.
By Emily Gill, Marketing & Communications Dept.
From a young age, Delores Covington was bilingual. As a Child of Deaf Adults (CODA), she learned sign language from her Deaf parents and English at school. Growing up, Covington realized that her parents and the wider Deaf community needed interpreters. Since interpreters were widely unavailable, Covington accompanied her parents and their friends to appointments, serving as their interpreter.
For many years, Covington wanted to earn a degree in American Sign Language, but there were many hurdles to overcome. Covington works as the dedicated head custodian at Robeson County Elementary School and is a loving pastor’s wife, mother, and grandmother to 11 grandchildren. Pressed for time, Covington found a way to achieve her dream through online classes at Blue Ridge.
“To be able to take the classes online and not have to stop my work or personal life, that was amazing,” Covington said. “My advisor and instructors have been amazing too; they have really worked with me.”
Covington credits her instructors, especially Rey Castillo and Rose Fichera-Lening, for pushing her over the finish line.
“Mrs. Rose is the stickler,” Covington teased. “She kept pushing me, and I appreciated that because this past semester I wanted to stop and take a semester off. I’ve been in this program since 2022 as a part-time student. She encouraged me to finish this last semester and reach my goal.”
As with any journey, Covington encountered some unexpected difficulties, namely the differences between types of sign language around the world. Covington’s parents, who were born in 1936, taught her what they called English or Pidgin Signed English (PSE), which differs from American Sign Language (ASL). Sign languages around the world vary so widely, in fact, that French Sign Language has more in common with ASL than British Sign Language (BSL).
“I struggled with ASL because I had to retrain my brain from what my mom and dad taught me in PSE sign language,” Covington said. “I kept at it though because I knew this was something I wanted to do all my life to honor my mom and dad and the Deaf community. There was a big need for interpreters when I was growing up, and there’s still a big need today.”
Covington plans to continue her path in higher education with the goal of becoming a one-on-one interpreter for children in the classroom. She wants to give back to them as much as her community has given to her in this process.
“I am so grateful to everyone in my life that has helped me along the way: my husband, my daughter Mya, my pastor, his wife, my friends, my family, my principals, my coworkers at school, the interpreter and ASL department,” Covington said. “The teachers at the elementary school where I work who helped me with my math. I just wanted to make sure everyone knows how much I really appreciate it, because I wouldn’t have made it this far without them and their encouragement and support.”
For Covington, graduation will serve as a celebration and a remembrance of her parents and son.
“My oldest child passed away before I started classes. He was a big supporter for me, a big inspiration,” she said. “He always said, ‘Mama, you need to do it.’”
Following years of hard work, determination, and support, Covington has achieved her dream: earning an associate degree in Interpreter Education.
“I’m ready to get from behind the mop and get into a classroom with Deaf and hard of hearing children,” she said.
Learn more about the Interpreter Education program at www.blueridge.edu/interpreter.
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