Lydia Harmon

I was born in central Florida and grew up on the Gulf Coast, just south of Tampa Bay. In the Fall of 2000, I moved to East Tennessee and entered Maryville College as a freshman, fully intending on declaring Sign Language Interpreting as my major, with the possibility of minoring in Music. While I was a member of MC’s Concert Choir for 2 years and Community Choir for 2 years, instead of minoring in Music, I instead double majored in Interpreting and ASL/Deaf Studies. I graduated in the Spring of 2004 and already had a job lined up to interpret for a Deaf student at Maryville College the following Fall.

I interpreted at MC for Deaf students and Deaf Faculty in a part-time capacity for 18 years, while also working for a local agency as a Community Interpreter. In the summer of 2022, MC created a new position for a full-time staff interpreter in the Behavioral Sciences Division; I was thrilled to apply for the opportunity. 

I sat for, and passed, the nationally recognized certified interpreters exam from Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf in 2008. The following year I married my MC sweetheart and we have lived in Blount County ever since. We are blessed to be raising our two children in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, along with 2 cats, 4 chickens and 1 (fancy) bearded dragon named Nancy.