That sucks. Isn't there some kind of a test you can take to skip having to go through the program? When I took the court interpreter entrance exam we just had to show that we had collegiate-level skills in both languages. Don't they have something similar for ASL?
I had a similar experience as you when I learned Japanese. I had a bunch of friends from Japan, so I got one of those do-it-yourself language courses. I got the basics from that, and they got me to a conversational level. Too bad I haven't spoken it in 15 years.
If you lived in California, why would you move to St. Louis? Isn't it in the middle of nowhere?