Looking Back on Fall of 2010

Christmas is over, New Year's is approaching, fall semester 2010 is totally done and grades have been back for almost a week.

I learned so much this semester. I walked into class the first day nervous that I had forgotten a lot of my language skills over the summer, slightly scared to be in classes that were taught in ASL (rather than classes in which ASL was taught, even if the teacher only used ASL to teach). I didn't know how I would measure up, wasn't sure if I was actually good enough to be in the ITP, and very aware that B- was failing in all of my ASL classes.

Many of the 8 other girls who were in that first ITP class in August were already my acquaintances; a few I hadn't met. By the end of this semester we were family. Friendships were forged, pain shared, interpretations critiqued. Sometimes we fought, sometimes we cried, but whatever we did, we did it together.

I feel that I have grown, as a signer, from someone able to carry on a basic conversation to someone able to understand a broader range of topics and more comfortable in any situation. I'm certainly not fluent, but I have made a leap in that direction. My interpretation skills have gone from very little to some. I understand the processes behind interpreting more and have the head knowledge, if not really the skills, which will enable me to become an interpreter.

I feel I proved myself too. As the youngest student in this ITP cohort and one of the most inexperienced signers, I often felt I had catch up work to do. Maybe I wasn't good enough to be there, maybe I should have waited to join the program until next year. At the end, however, looking at my grades and critiques, I know I belong. I'm not the best, though I have strengths (and weaknesses) in unique areas, but I'm certainly not behind my classmates.

I've learned jargon words and processing skills in CPDA (1220). Learned what it takes to actually interpret. I've been handed the skills to do what I love. Been allowed to try my hand at interpreting, and found it's a whole lot harder than I thought it would be! I can analyze a discourse now, a skill I'm not sure I actually wanted to learn! My prediction skills in particular are a strength.

I learned head knowledge in Intro (1200). Learned Deaf history and became so familiar with registers I can talk about them in my sleep. I also learned how to think about myself; something that's often hard to do. Learned to make goals, learned to write reflectively and analyze new information. Learned I cannot write and listen to music words at the same time! Drowned myself in the Code of Professional Conduct. I feel I have a better grasp on the concept of ethics, though mastery is far from me. Learned the difference between the words "intrapersonal" and "interpersonal."

I learned language in 2010. Learned to classify accidents and pretty much everything else! Learned words and vocabulary. Learned I'm not perfect, and that's okay. Learned to take a deep breath and relax with my videos. Learned that not knowing my grade day by day is okay as well. :)

I learned how to have fun in Conversation 1 (1300). Learned to just hang out and not stress about my signing. Learned that I'm still pathetic at reading fingerspelling!

Overall, my stress level this semester was higher than it has been ever before. I wanted to be perfect so badly. I wanted to be recognized as someone who deserved to be in the ITP. I wanted my professors to look at me and think "she'll be a good interpreter someday." I wanted my peers to acknowledge my skills. This was my chance to start to shine and I wanted it so badly. I wanted to not only pass classes, I wanted to ace them. I didn't want to walk away with anything else than a 4.0. But I didn't know if I could do it.

Well, I did it. When all was said and done, everything I poured into this semester is represented on official paper by four letters. A, A, A, A. I got the 4.0 GPA I wanted. But now, I look back, and realize that it might not have been worth it. One, or two, A minuses wouldn't have killed me. In fact, I wouldn't have killed myself like I did if I had allowed myself to be something else than as perfect as I could be. Last time I got a 4.0 I glowed and gloated for months... this time it's like it doesn’t really matter. Yes, I know my skills improved and if I had gotten straight Bs I would have known my skills weren’t as good as they needed to be. At the same time, maybe less stress and more fun would have resulted in more learning overall?

Often, the lessons learned in the classroom are so much bigger than just the information needed to write the next paper or pass the next test. I’m blessed to be at a school and in a program where learning those bigger lessons is possible.

Next semester starts two weeks from yesterday. 14 credits, all ITP classes. I know it’s going to be harder than this semester, in a way. At the same time, I have two of the same profs again and feel I know what they expect. I know what it takes to succeed in the program. I know I belong and no one is looking at me wondering why I’m there.

I’ve fallen in love with this language I’m learning to interpret. Fallen in love with the culture to which I’m being introduced. I intend to work just as hard as I always have... but maybe stress a bit less.

Spring semester 2011: Bring it on!

Odd days

Yesterday I was driving to the credit union when I looked at the clock and thought "crud, they're closed." It was 1:30, but I had momentarily convinced myself it was Saturday. Later last night I freaked out because I forgot to go to the library, which needs to be done every Tuesday. Once I realized that I was still living Monday, I calmed down. Then I laughed at myself. I hadn't realized how reliant I have become on the rhythm of school days to keep me on track as to which day it is. Today I also thought for a minute that it was Saturday as I hadn't gone to school.

Finals week is a lot of pressure, but is also a lot of sitting around and waiting for something to happen. I finished signing stories 4 yesterday, then did my unit 20 video today and so I'm done except for my 1220 final tomorrow morning. I've pretty much just ran errands and cleaned the rest of the day. Tomorrow morning will likely feel the same... I don't need to leave for my final until 11:00 and really have zero to do until then. Yes, I can study, but I can only read the review sheet so many times before my head explodes. I feel I know most of the material. At the same time, I feel like I have so many things to remember... my paper and flash drive, my book I'm selling back, my pencil and eraser, the card for our teacher, etc.

Today has seriously dragged. Which is very odd. It feels like Wednesday. Which is even weirder as Wednesday has been my crazy day this semester and I certainly haven't been at school for 6 hours today nor did I have my Wednesday babysitting job. Maybe it's because I thought yesterday was Tuesday? I just want my days back! Ahh!

On the bright side, I purchased all my books for next semester today! A girl who is just finishing 2nd semester contacted me and asked if I wanted to buy her books. Of course I did! They wound up costing me slightly more than half of what I would have expected to pay at the bookstore, and she got more for them than she would if she had resold them. I was planning to get them tomorrow when I'm on campus for the last time this semester, but I guess I can cross that item off my to-do list!

Off to try to sleep in preparation for tomorrow's final. I'm not tired, really, so this should be interesting.

End of semester countdown: 17 hours.

Finals week

I just turned in my final portfolio and Demand and Control paper for 1200. That means I'm totally done with that class! Sadly, it was probably my favorite class this semester, and the first big one I'm done with. Oh well.

While I was chatting with my prof after turning in the binder and paper, she asked me if I had checked my grade in the last hour or so. I checked my grade about three hours, but not one hour, before, so I said "no." She then informed me that she finished grading the final processing test and my grade on that had bumped my overall grade so far in 1220 to an A. I was so happy! Admittedly, that grade could very well go back down again, but to see that class listed as an A right now makes me smile.

My school to-do list looks like this right now:

2010: Signing stories four. Figure out how on Earth to do unit 20 video. Film unit 20 video. Turn everything in.

1220: Study for final. Take final.

That's it!

I'm so tired and worn out right now from a super crazy-busy weekend and a few intense conversations. But, I shall somehow persevere through the end of finals week. Or two more days, as it's the same thing. 48 hours from now fall semester 2010 will be in the books. Odd.

End of semester countdown: 2 days

I passed!

It's amazing what checking one's e-mail can bring. Tales of sorrow, tales of joy, random forwards, scheduling items, or even spam.

When I checked my e-mail upon arriving home from school today, I found the second! I passed the state written certification test!!! Admittedly, I passed by the skin of my teeth and out of the 3 other classmates who have told me their scores, mine is by far the lowest. However, passing is still passing, so I'll set my pride on the shelf and rejoice that God let me achieve this milestone on my way to becoming an interpreter.

Passing this test does not make me certified. Passing this test simply allows me to take the performance test for level one state certification. I won't be ready to take that test for probably a year. After the level one performance test I then have 4 years to pass the level two performance test, or lose my certification. So the written test is just a small step, but a significant step nonetheless.

I also had my last interpreting lab today. It was frustrating as I felt I was singled out and my interpretation was picked to pieces while others were just given a few pieces of advice... but then my lab teacher spent some time with me after class was over and helped me get the right perspective on feedback and encouraged me by telling me that she knows I have the skills to improve.

One more day of classes. Hard to believe we're so close to being done!

End of the semester countdown: 7 days

Last week of classes

Today was my last Monday on campus until Spring semester. Weird! I have three more days of classes, then a final project to turn in on Tuesday, then final, a series of final projects, and a large paper due Wednesday. I'm so glad that the whole pile of stuff is due Wednesday and not Monday.

Test in 2010 tomorrow, paper in 2010 on Thursday. I turned in the last homework assignment in 1220 today and just have the final in that class left. My interpreter observation/Demand and Control paper is the only homework left in 1200... but I have the portfolio to compile and three tests to take (or two, if I pass the state test). Wednesday I have my last interpreting lab and there is no school on Friday.

It's been a good semester, but the slightly sappy good-bye fall 2010 post is yet to come. That has to wait until I'm totally done with finals. ;)

End of semester countdown: 9 days

Days until grades are due: 16 days (and this is a little off as I have a prof who is consistently late with grades and he is the only prof who hasn't been posting the grades from each assignment online throughout the semester.)

State Certification Test: Check!

I've had an insane, crazy, crazy week. Homework and final projects are piling up and I'm pretty much stressing about everything that's due between now and the end of the semester. I'm also in charge of a major event outside of school which is adding to the stress and to-do list.

One thing that got checked off my to-do list today was taking the state written certification test! 100 multiple choice questions, 1.5 hours, and I'll find out within the next two weeks if I passed. The test itself was about what I expected, not super hard, but no walk in the park either. There were some areas though that we simply didn't talk about in class much so I really didn't have the answers. I'm hoping that that doesn't kill my grade too much.

Note to all future test takers (this test or other): Multiple choice tests are 2 parts knowledge and 1 part reading skills. Don't just skim the questions, and look for other questions to give you hints on questions where you felt you had to guess. True story.

4 more days of school, then finals week, and this semester is done! Wow! I'm already done with language lab and finished 1300 this morning. Life isn't going to slow down though. The end of the semester signals the start of Christmas season around here.

End of the semester countdown: 12 days.

Breathe... maybe

After feverishly checking my grades online all weekend, my persistence was rewarded a few minutes ago! The grade for processing test 3 is up and it's the highest grade out of the three processing tests so far. I also did well on my abstraction and content map, not so great on my one sentence summary... again. Those bits and pieces of written work, however, really don't carry the same weight that the processing test does. I might be holding out hope for an A in this class after all. Maybe, that is; we'll have to see how processing test 4 goes tomorrow.

I also managed to get the visualization map done over Friday and Saturday. It wasn't quite as hard as I thought it was going to be, maybe I'm getting used this type of assignment? I'm still quite glad I don't have to do another one, however!

Here's what this final full week of school looks like.

Monday: Processing test 4 and SL retell due in 1220.

Tuesday: Video due in 2010, paper due in 1200.

Wednesday: Paper, visualization map and TL salient linguistic features due in 1220. Second to last interpreting lab.

Thursday: Paper and test in 1200.

Friday: Last 1300 class (just a party, nothing stressful) and the State Exam (majorly stressful).

I'm done with language lab for the semester so that's not among the classes I'll be skipping on Friday to take the test. I'm not really *skipping* 1220, however, as class is essentially canceled for us to take the test.

By the end of this week the month of November will also be done. Seriously?

State test countdown: 5 days.

Second SL retell

Remember my post a while ago about my TL retell and how frustrating it was? Well, as we're doing our second discourse analysis, I get to do another TL retell... but first I have to do a SL retell. Because the last clip went from ASL to English, the TL retell for that one was in English. This clip goes from English to ASL so the SL retell is in English.

Anyway, I sat down to do my English retell and this time instead of trying to script and nearly memorize the whole thing before, I simply used my content map and impromptued it. Guess what? I practiced twice and recorded once! That's all it took! I'm pleased with how I did and just hope I managed to include everything. So now I am moving on to the next two steps, the TL salient linguistic features and the visualization map.

Let me say... I *hate* the visualization map. I have to essentially write the clip in pictures. No words allowed. It's like a storyboard for the lecture we watched. I am sooo not an art person, nor do I think artistically. The last one I did on the computer, which was a pain in the neck, and I will probably wind up doing this one on the computer as well simply because I can't draw. So, I'm putting this assignment off and instead working the TL salient linguistic features first even though they're both due the same day. I'll start working on it after I finish this post and my IM conversation, that is. ;)

State test countdown: 1 week from this morning! :freaks out:

Unit 19

Video one of the long weekend = done! It's far from what I would like, but I'm beyond caring right now.

Unit 19 dealt with whole-to-part, listing, comparison, and illustrating a fact. I was supposed to include two examples from each category in my video as I sold or promoted a new product. Well, I choose to "sell" air freshener and I think I managed to include everything. It's harder when I have to use a comparison as part of an overall presentation and not just isolated.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoXYPKwzVxA

Up next on my to-do list: The SL retell.

Hurry Up and Wait

Well, today is my first snow day! Being homeschooled until my senior year of high school meant that snow days were non-existent. But here I am, in my second year of college, at home on a school day. I'm not really that thrilled though, we have so much we need to cover in our classes between now and the end of the semester that I would rather be at school. Oh well.

I feel like we have so much to do, and so little time in which to do it, but we can't really get going. Today is a snow day, then the rest of the weekend we're off for Thanksgiving. We have next weekend, then a Friday off on the 10th. It adds up to this: 11 days of school (days I go in to take finals included) in the next three weeks. And really I'm only going to school ten of those days because I'm skipping school to take the state test. Seriously? I'd rather have ten days of school in the next two weeks and just finish everything. Again, oh well. I'm not the one who sets the schedule.

Yesterday we took a test in 1200 leading up to the state test in a week and a half. I was nowhere near as prepared for it as I thought I was! I'm not really looking forward to getting the grades back. I also turned in three papers. Yay for handing in 10% of my grade in one day?

I have a minimum of five more videos to record in the next three weeks, possibly more. My goal is to get three of them done between now and Monday. One today, one Friday and one Sunday sounds doable. I also have my last (!!) processing test on Monday and my last test in 1200 a week from tomorrow.

We are in the middle of our second discourse analysis in 1220. We've done the prediction, watched the clip, done the review, content map, one sentence summary, abstraction and most of the source language salient linguistic features. Up next is the source language retell, the target language salient linguistic features, visualization map, the target language retell and then the interpretation!

BTW, source language means the language that the message is originally given in and target language is the language into which the message is interpreted. For this analysis SL is English and TL is ASL.

This semester feels like it's gone by so quickly. Wasn't it just yesterday that I was introducing myself to my classes?

State test countdown: 9 days. (Ohmyword!)

The final push

I feel like I'm on the edge of a cliff, teetering, about to be pushed off. Or rather, I've just been pushed off and I'm free falling, not exactly sure what I'm going to encounter at the bottom. The bottom is the end of the semester. December 16th marks the last possible day I have a final, so that's what I'm counting towards. I do know that the air on the way down is filled with homework. Lots and lots of homework.

We just started our second discourse analysis in CD&A. We received our topic yesterday, our prediction papers are due Monday when we will also view the clip (in English this time). We'll do our recall in class on Monday as well, then Wednesday our content maps and one sentence summary are due. The rest of the semester continues at the same pace. And that's only one class! The date I'm looking forward to passing is Tues the 23rd when we have two thought question sets, one portfolio paper and a test due. All in the same class. Thankfully the work for conversations class is over, as minimal as that was. However, I'm going to guess that homework in our language class will ramp up as we're probably only halfway through the material we need to cover this semester.

This is when I'm thankful I don't work outside the house!

Last night the ASL club at my school held a potluck and I went. There weren't many people in attendance, but it was fun to hang out nonetheless. I met a Deaf Olympian there and had an interesting time trying to figure out when he was teasing and when he was not. The dynamics were interesting as we had many different skill levels of signing represented!

Time to hit the homework. My priorities today are my 5 year development plan (which I'm rather clueless on how to write) and the script for my next Deaf activity video (insert stress).

State test countdown: 20 days

Deaf activities

For each of my language classes (ASLI 1010, 1020, 2010 and 2020) I am required to go to three Deaf activities. Basically pick an event where Deaf people will be congregating and go hang out for an hour or so. The idea is that in mingling with Deaf people my language and cultural skills will improve. I am blessed to live near the Sanderson Community Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (Deaf Center for short) and thus have an abundance of Deaf activities mere minutes from my house.

During ASLI 1010 last year I tended to go with a group of hearing friends, walk around with them, then leave without truly interacting with any Deaf people. ASLI 1020 last spring was much of the same story, though I tried to get out of my box a bit more. This semester, however, I decided that I needed to force myself out of my comfort zone and truly associate with Deaf people. I can't say that my plan is working 100%, but I'm sure doing better than I was this time last year!

One thing I am doing to help myself is to go to more than just the required three activities. I have gone to probably 5 or 6 already this semester with more coming up. An additional twist as I have advanced from the beginning classes (1010 and 1020) to the intermediate classes (2010 and 2020) is that instead of writing a short paper to tell about my experiences at various Deaf activities, I need to relay the same information via sign language on a video.

As I might have mentioned before, videoing myself is the single most stressful type of assignment which I can be given. Read a book, write a paper, analyze a sentence, explain Deaf culture, take any form of written test, these are things I can do. But as soon as I have to set up a video camera on myself, I start freaking out. Interestingly enough, I don't stress very much if I'm being videoed in class or lab. Even though with those clips I have one shot, and that's it, whereas with videos I do at home I often have days of preperation time, and a nearly unlimited number of re-takes available. I think it's the very ability to stress for days and then to scrap a video for the smallest mistake that eggs on my perfectionist side.

Anyway, after a week of practicing and stressing, I finally videoed my first Deaf activity commentary this afternoon. It's not perfect, but I'm not re-doing it because: 1) It's really long and so it takes forever to re-do. 2) I am a student of this language, not a master, I should be expected to make mistakes! 3) This one clip isn't that huge of a portion of my grade and 4) My perfectionist side needs to be taught a lesson.

The video is posted here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3Zc7F_zRnY

I'm not that thrilled with the lighting, but there's nothing I could do to fix it. (And I tried. The story involves taping flannel over my light, setting up my backdrop somewhere else, and stubbing my ankle. All in vain.)

State test countdown: 24 days.

CPT 3

Our third cognitive processing test was this morning and I am so glad to have it over! CPT 3 was short and sweet, we actually got out of class about 10 minutes early this time as opposed to the last CPT which wound up taking almost two class periods. I *think* I did better on this one than the last one... but again, I have to wait for grades to come back.

CPT 3 focused on paraphrasing skills. For the first part of the test, we received a list of 5 words then had 60 seconds to write a more general and more specific word for each of the original words. There were two columns on the paper, one for the more specific word and one for the more general word, but I kept getting them mixed up! I finished two words, then looked down and realized my specific word was under the "general" heading and vise versa. I think I mixed up 7 out of the 10 words. Talk about increased stress level! The rest of the test had us mostly working with full sentences.

Only one more processing test left to go for the semester. I'm very thankful we don't have more than that! These tests are hard.

I'm on pins and needles right now with regard to my grade in the C&DA class. Our teacher hasn't graded stuff for that class for a while and right now the various papers and tests we have turned in, but which haven't been graded yet, constitute about 15% of our grade, unweighted. I'm checking engrade multiple times a day at this point. Yay for being a perfectionist/OCD about my grades? :P

Counting

I'm the type of person who tends to always have countdowns going. Be it until holidays, birthdays, or any other big event, I'm the one who knows exactly how much time is left.

Here are the current countdowns for school:

State written certification exam - 1 day less than one month from today. I just got an e-mail saying they received my paperwork.

End of the semester - 6 weeks from today marks the end of finals. I will be done a few days earlier if I pass the state test.

Interpreting labs - 4 left.

Processing tests - only 2 remaining!

Written tests in 1200 - 2 remaining.

Grades due - 7 weeks from yesterday. As someone who freaks out about grades, this date is almost more important to me than the end of the semester!

The weather is most certainly fall right now, and is most certainly changing to early winter next week. Yet another indication that this semester is closer to being finished! I feel like it has positively flown.

Tests and stress

It seems like this is the season for midterms. Though we're past the middle of the semester, we are facing one test after another.

Last Friday was a written mid-term in 1220 (Cognition and Discourse Analysis). It was primarily questions regarding jargon words and terms, and things we're learning in "That's Not What I Meant" (amazing, book, btw). It was a killer, but I studied hard and felt I did well. We'll see when the grades come back though.

Today (Tuesday) was our second test in 1200 (Intro to Interpreting) and that one was nicer as it was multiple choice rather than short answer. Again, I think I did okay on all 40 questions though the two I missed on the last test were on this one again and I couldn't remember the correct answer for one of them! Nothing like staring at a page, knowing that you answered wrong last time, but being unable to recall the proper answer. I erased my answer twice before settling on what I hope was the right choice!

Tomorrow we have a written test in 2010 that was supposed to be today as well, but got postponed. It should't be that big of a deal, but I'm still stressing. Tomorrow I also get my personal evaluation from Connie regarding how I'm doing in 1220 (and probably a bit of overlap to the program in general). Though I can't study for this, nor can I change anything she is going to say, it is still somewhat nerve wracking to know that your professor for three of your classes is going to tell you if you, so far, have what it takes to succeed in your career of choice. I guess I should realize how blessed I am to have that individual attention and feedback and rest in the knowledge that this isn't in my hands, but God's. Ah, it's so hard to keep the right perspective about school work!

Monday we have our third (out of four) processing test. These tests define the word "hard." They are a combination of receptive, expressive, and processing skills. In other words, can you sign? Can you read sign? Can you remember sign? Can you remember English? You think you can? Awesome, now go do three of those at the same time. The last test of this nature which we took currently has the honor of being the lowest score I have ever received on any college assignment or test. I'm hoping it keeps that honor. Permanently.

I also have a video or two for 2010 which are due at the end of the semester that I really should be working on now.

Ah, perhaps this is the reason for my mental and emotional breakdowns when faced with my homework to-do list? It also seems that when it rains, it pours, and my responsibilities at debate club are also exponentially increasing along with the school stuff. :deep breath:

6.5 weeks to go in the semester. I think I can do this!

Unit 18

Unit 18 was the first unit that we did in ASL 2010 this fall. (The textbook series starts with unit 1 back in ASL 1010 and counts up through three books. Hence why 18 was the starting point!) We covered different body and body-part classifiers, role-shifting and reactions. At the end of the unit we were assigned to video ourselves telling a story to show the skills we learned. We worked from a list of requirements and different ideas for our story. The story I wound up choosing to tell was the day I fell flat on my face at church. It was a great "falling" story and also is one of the more embarrassing moments of my life (and it's the embarrassing story I mind telling the least because it wasn't my fault!).

This is the link to my video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIP0OW43emk

Btw, the facial expressions are a key part of the language. A lack of facial expressions is somewhat equivalent to a lack of inflection in English.

Now we're on to unit 19, "Sharing Interesting Facts."

Tomorrow is our second processing test in Cognition and Discourse Analysis. I'm not really looking forward to it and our 2 hour lab. But tomorrow also marks the halfway point in the semester!! I can't believe time has flown so fast. Christmas is only two months away? When did that happen??

TLR Conquered!

I sat down this afternoon determined to finish the target language retell and I got it done! I think I did well... the only issue is that you can hear my guinea pigs making noise in the background. :sigh: I can't win for losing. I tried to redo it but my patience is about gone for this particular project.

To record myself I am using the i-Sight camera on my Macbook Pro that I purchased specifically to make recording myself during the interpreter program easier than using a regular digital camera. I throw a large black cloth over my bunk bed and achieve a professional looking background that is simple to set up and take down!

We will actually interpret this dentist clip tomorrow in class, then celebrate completing our first discourse analysis! This time we started in ASL and worked our way to English. Our next discourse analysis will start in English then we will work our way to ASL. I'm not quite which direction (ASL to English or English to ASL) is one is more challenging for me at this point; I think it's a matter of the vocabulary used.

I'm so thankful to have now completed all three major homework assignments which are due Monday and Tuesday! :)

TLR = trouble

Right now I'm working on completing my target language retell, the second to last step in an 11 step analysis process that we're doing for one 4 minute video clip. The topic is "your child's first dentist visit" and I am thoroughly tired of everything dentist related! This particular assignment seemed to be easy as all I needed to do was retell the story (that we saw in ASL) in English. I don't need to actually interpret it (yet) and I get to do it at home which means I have as many tries as I need to get it done the way I want it done.

Well, I think I'm on take nine or ten right now and I can't get past the first 30 seconds. I don't know what it is with this one project but I keep messing up. With my speech and debate background I would have assumed I could do this in one shot, not unlike an impromptu speech. But it's not working out that way. At all. Maybe this is my perfectionist side coming out?

I have to have this done by Monday at 10. I'm hoping something clicks and I'm able to retell this story that I have practically memorized by now!

The good news is that I finished Tuesday's main homework assignment earlier today. :)

Introduction

My name is Sarah and I'm a first semester American Sign Language interpreting student. I am enrolled in a two year program at the local community college and am loving every minute of my classes, even when the homework gets up to my eyeballs.

The purpose of this blog is to be a place for reflections and comments on what I am learning in school these next two years, then my experiences as I start my career. Perhaps even an occasional video of my work. I lead a busy life and have several different hobbies and interests but I hope to keep this blog primarily focused on My Journey to a Different World; the Deaf World. I don't promise that my English will be perfect, nor my grammar impeccable as there might be times when I need to write, but cannot take the time and/or effort to edit.

I welcome you to join me on my Journey.