Megan Kupec (she/her) is in her 3rd year in the University of Northern Colorado’s American Sign Language-English Interpreting (ASLEI) program. She is grateful for the opportunity to be an online student in the program and continue her education while living in Seattle, Washington. Because UNC’s ASLEI program partners with the Preparing School Interpreters (PSI) Project, funded through the Office of Special Education Program (OSEP), Kupec was eligible to apply and was chosen to join the project as an OSEP scholar. She is thrilled to have this opportunity that will better prepare her for her future in educational interpreting. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, sharing new adventures with her husband, and spoiling her cat, Goose.
​Image ID: Megan Kupec, a white cis woman in her mid-twenties, smiles for a professional headshot. Her dark brown hair is shoulder-length and curly. She stands in front of the corner of a gray wall wearing a rust-colored long-sleeved shirt.
This page introduces me through a snapshot of my academic experiences, why I want to become a K-12 interpreter, my ties to the community, and how my Myers-Briggs personality results will impact my approach to the work.
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About Me
Click here to jump to a section: academics, school interpreting journey, community ties, and Myers Briggs Personality Test Results.
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Academics
I am a future graduate of the University of Northern Colorado. My academic experiences include:​
Major & Minors
UNC:​
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ASL - English Interpretation (major)
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ASL- (minor)
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School Interpreting Series (concentration)​​
Northern Virginia Community College:
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Career Studies Certificate in American Sign Language received 2022
INTR 430
Taken Fall 2024
Introduction to School Interpreting
​In this course, I learned about the educational system in which K-12 interpreters work and are part of the educational team. It laid the foundation for the rest of the SIS courses by covering topics such as the roles and responsibilities of a K-12 interpreter, what systems and laws impact a student's education, child development, goals of lesson plans and curriculum, as well as an overview of the history of public schools, special education, and deaf education.​
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INTR 431
Taken Spring 2025
Systems and Structures for School Interpreting
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In this course, I will dig deeper into the school systems and structures at the federal, state, and district levels. We have discussed student intersectionality, the multitude of factors that impact a student's learning, and the various approaches teachers can take for their instruction. These concepts build on topics introduced in INTR 430 and have allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of the system that I will be working in.
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School Interpreting Journey
When I started learning ASL and for first year of UNC's American Sign Language-English Interpreting program, I was adamant that I did not want to become a school interpreter. I saw myself in community settings, but deep down I felt a little disconnected to that goal. However, during the first summer semester of the program when I moved to Colorado and attended in-person classes for a month, I found myself in a class taught by two faculty members who had extensive experience and knowledge of the K-12 setting. In that class, I also had a classmate who would share her experiences as a working school interpreter. By the end of the 4 week session, I found myself asking more questions about educational interpreting of my teachers and classmate and I was in awe of the wide range of demands the K-12 classroom had to offer.
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The next fall semester, observations of working interpreters were required. I decided to challenge myself by observing in an environment that I still didn't think I wanted to work in. I was connected with a member of the interpreting team at TOPS K-8 school in Seattle and by the end of that day of observing, I felt renewed vigor the role of an interpreter and began to consider consentrating on K-12 interpreting. I was drawn to the pace of interpreting in that space, the collaboration between not only the student and the interpreter, but also the teachers and interpreters. TOPS K-8 had a definite sense of community that valued accessible communication and education. I decided then that I wanted to shift my focus so that I could be part of that community or, if necessary in the future, play a part in creating that community in other schools. I was fortunate enough to recieve the OSEP grant that will allow me to have access to the SIS classes and build my skills to be prepared to go into the school interpreting field. I am looking forward to growing as much as I can in my last years of the program and I can't wait to see what challenges and adventures a career in school interpreting will have for me.
Community Ties
Throughout my time in Seattle, I have had the opportunity to get involved with the local Deaf community. Through going to events and volunteering, I have created connections that I am excited to nurture.
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Observing at TOPS K-8 has provided me with great connections to working school interpreters who I know are cheering me on as I finish my degree. Their support and willingness to allow me to observe their work is something I will always be grateful for. I look forward to creating more connections like these as I continue to observe in the school setting.
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As a daughter of a teacher, I have always liked school. Knowing that I didn't have the aptitude to become a classroom teacher, I thought that my time in the K-12 system ended upon my high school graduation. Now that I have started down the path to becomming a K-12 interpreter, I am thrilled to be part of the school community in a role I never expected I would be in.
Myers-Briggs Personality Results
After taking the 16 Personalities Myers-Briggs Personality Test from NERIS Analytics Unlimited, I learned that my personality type is INFJ-T, or the Advocate (2025). My results show me that I am
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Introverted- "You likely prefer fewer, yet deep and meaningful, social interactions and feel drawn to calmer environments."
Intuitive- "You’re likely very imaginative and open-minded, focusing on hidden meanings and distant possibilities."
Feeling- "You likely value emotional expression and sensitivity, prioritizing empathy, social harmony, and cooperation."
Judging- "You’re likely organized, decisive, and thorough, valuing structure and planning over spontaneity."
Turbulent- "You’re likely self-conscious, sensitive to stress, success-driven, perfectionistic, and eager to improve" (NERIS, 2025).
These results did not come as a surprise to me. I've spent a lot of time in the last few years reflecting on my personality and the way I approach situations. I am highly aware of the emotions of others, making me empathic and compassionate. When it comes to myself, I am introspective and self-aware. I often check in with myself to assess my emotions and my actions to see if they are supporting the growth that I am aiming to achieve. I am strong in my values and morals and search for things that bring me meaning and purpose in life. I am driven by a desire to make positive change and foster deep connections with others. However, I am more susceptible to intense self-criticism and perfectionistic tendencies. I can become avoidant of conflicts and have a difficult time letting go. I can prioritize others over myself and overcommit myself, ultimately showing difficulty with setting boundaries. I can also get carried away with the way that I envision things should be and feel disappointment when reality proves to be different.
Professionally, the traits that influence me the most are perfectionism, ambition, motivation, and a little bit of a desire to lead. As a future school interpreter, there are many parts of me that will be beneficial to my work. Being in tune with other's emotions will make me more aware of the dynamics that play into effective communication.
Additionally, my desire to support others and strive for growth will keep me motivated during difficult times on the job. I have an open mind that will allow me to be a better team member as part of the educational team. My compassion will lend itself to the approaches I take when I am working with students and other members of the education team. I will be able to see the ways that I can support others and will be motivated to do my best to promote growth for myself and those around me. I will be able to use my creativity to approach challenges that arise.
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My biggest downfall that will present a challenge as I take on the role of a school interpreter would be my perfectionism. I have been struggling with perfectionism my whole life. There are times when my perfectionism is so prohibitive that I am almost unable to move past it. I have done a lot of work in therapy to address this default setting that I have. I've seen progress in myself within the past few years and as I continue to confront this part of me, I am hopeful that I will build more coping skills. As a school interpreter, there will be times I make mistakes. I'll probably make a mistake or two every day. Managing the perfectionism so that it doesn't completely derail me will be key to being an effective practitioner. Related to perfectionism, it can be difficult for me to face conflict or criticism. In the field, I will need to be perceptive to feedback so that I am providing the best access possible. I will also need to be proactive about handling conflict so that those affected can work together to move past it and work effectively as the education team.
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My traits come together to make me an advocate or, (as it is described by Cherry in 2024) the helper. While there are aspects of these roles that will be beneficial to my work in the school, such as my care for others, I will need to monitor this part of myself. If I throw myself too far into the parts of me that want to be the helper, it can be detrimental to the development of the students I am working with. I will need to be sure that I am supporting students' autonomy and independence while setting healthy boundaries for myself so that I don't overextend myself trying to provide help that isn't needed. I have been challenging my automatic responses when it comes to my desire to be the helper to make sure that I am in a situation where it would be an appropriate role. This has been good practice to stop me from immediately stepping into the helper role and to take a step back to assess the situation and whether or not my help is appropriate or needed.
Lastly, I tend to have introverted tendencies. As a school interpreter, it is imperative to collaborate effectively with the education support team. My introverted side can sometimes have a difficult time getting to feel comfortable with people, so I will need to challenge myself to step outside of my comfort zone. I have been getting good practice with this when doing my observations and connecting with community members in my area. Being aware of this tendency will allow me to continue monitoring how I am showing up at team or IEP meetings so that I can be sure to be an active member of the team.
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Having the opportunity to get a refresher on what my personality traits and tendencies are is helpful at this stage in my development as a practitioner. While the information I received was not new by any means, this provided a good opportunity for me to assess how I am addressing my weaknesses and remind myself of my strengths. I look forward to continuing this ongoing process to forge a better understanding of all that I am bringing to the role of a school interpreter.
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Spring of 2025
SIS Competency 8
Explore one’s own positionality and intersectionality as an individual, Related Service Provider, and educational team member within the educational system and with diverse colleagues, the student body, and the families of deaf and hard of hearing students. (Attitude)
References
Cherry, K. (2024, May 20). INFJ: Introverted, intuitive, feeling, judging. Verywell Mind.
NERIS Analytics Limited. (2025). Your profile. https://www.16personalities.com/profile​​
This is a great page for getting to know Megan as a person. I love that you are aware of your strengths and how your weaknesses will effect your work. I challenge you to change from future tense (will need to...) to active present tense (I address these challenges by....). This change shows employers that you are not waiting for your challenges to become problems, but rather, you are addressing these challenges now to make them be a strength to the team.