Final Post of the Semester

          Hello Everyone! So, this blog post is going to be somewhat different from my previous ones for this semester. That is because it is going to focus on the volunteering and Colloqium related activities I have done over the course of this semester.

          To begin, I wanted to talk about the volunteer hours that I have completed this semester at the Washington County Animal Shelter. I have completed approximately 8 hours of volunteering here throughout the last 3 months. In doing this, I mainly take the dogs for walks and give them a chance to grab some fresh air and play. I love being able to see the way their faces light up whenever they are allowed out of the cage and they feel that they can be their goofy charismatic selves. You can see it in their faces; in that moment they feel like they matter and like they are loved. I am so very honored to be a part of that moment for them and to show them that not all people will reject them. The ones that I seem to resonate the most with are always the Pit Bulls. I have grown up with this breed and I have never seen them as the scary monsters that everyone makes them out to be. They can be the absolute sweetest dogs and they truly do just want love and attention. It makes me very sad that this is the most common breed to find in animal shelters and they are also the most common breed to be kept in lock cages in these facilities so that people cannot go in and love on them. Dogs become what they are taught to be. If a dog is treated terribly and taught that everyone it comes in contact with is going to hurt it, then yes of course they are going to be more aggressive. And the more that society plays into this, the worse the issue becomes. Not all Pit Bulls are bad. And as a matter of fact, according to the Chicago Injury Center, the dog breed that has the highest rate of human attack is Labrador Retrievers. Labrador Retriever’s cause 13.3% of all dog attacks and Pit Bulls cause 8.4%. That means that a Lab is 4.9% almost 5% more likely to attack a person than a Pit. And German Shepherds are not far behind. They account for 7.9% of all human attacks. But yet everyone loves Labs and German Shepherds. It has literally been proven that Pit Bulls are not the most dangerous breed of dog known to man, and yet we still treat them as though they are ticking time bombs who will attack faster than look at you. I wish that the rest of the world could see them in the same way that I see them.

          On another note, I also wanted to discuss the shadowing that I have done this semester. This accounts for approximately 12 hours over the course of the last 3 months. My main focus for this semester of shadowing is broadening my horizons. I have always said that I wanted to be a Cardiothoracic Surgeon. However, this past summer I began shadowing Dr. Bunning in Bristol, and Ophthalmologist. And have become absolutely fascinated with Ophthalmology. Therefore, I have continued shadowing him and trying to soak up everything I possibly could about what it takes to work in this field. I have also tried to step outside of the box a bit and shadow others whom are not usually thought of for Pre-Med students. I have begun shadowing at a Chiropractic office here in Johnson City. I have been able to watch the doctors and the nurse practitioner work together to help patients in a way that I had never seen before. After working as an Medical Assistant at a Primary Care office, I got to see how pain was treated with medication. But, now that I am shadowing here, I get to see a whole new way of dealing with pain. It is truly so cool when you get to see medicine in a wholesome manner; not just from one side.

          Overall, I am very glad with the way I have decided to spend my semester and the activities that I have devoted my time to including volunteering, shadowing, and practicing and expanding my knowledge of sign language. I have learned a lot about myself and have found my voice to a higher degree than I have ever had before. I learned more about empathy and being able to understand and communicate with others in ways that do not include speaking. 

          I have truly enjoyed this semester and I hope to continue my journey of learning, far after this class ends this semester. I am so excited to come back next semester and begin another project. I already have so many ideas that I cannot wait to share. Thank you to everyone who has taken time to read my blog. I hope that you all have the best summer ever!!!

Collo Update 4

     Hello Everyone! So, I just wanted to check in and give a quick update on how my sign language learning has been progressing. First, I wanted to share something kind of cool that happened with me earlier this week. I was talking to a few friends of mine outside of my physics lecture about how I was working on this Collo project and how I was planning on starting the ASL minor in the fall (which I registered for on Monday by the way). We were all just chatting and discussing how interesting we all thought sign language was and they were even discussing maybe taking a couple of the classes as well, just to see what it was like. Then, another girl from our class came a sat down next to us. She stated that she had overheard a little of what we were saying and thought she would join in because she actually speaks ASL rather fluently. She stated that her first roommate at ETSU was deaf and communicated only by sign language and that her second roommate was also deaf, but had cochlear implants and knew very little sign language. She was describing to us the difference in the lifestyles and how dependent deaf people can become on their hearing aids. It was really interesting to hear what it was like to live with deaf or hard of hearing people from a firsthand basis. She also told me about a club on campus known as “Silent Bucs” which is lead and made up of mostly deaf and/or hard of hearing students. She also told us that she would happy to practice our sign language with us anytime we needed her to, and that she would find out when the “Silent Bucs” is planning on meeting next semester so we can meet and talk to some of them. It was truly so cool to hear about this language that I have fallen in love with, and how it is being used on an everyday basis among my peers. I am so excited to begin classes next semester!

     As for an update, I have been very busy as of late, have but have tried to make sure that I carve out a little time every night to study and advance in my sign language knowledge. So, I have still been watching several of Bill Vicars videos. He is truly so helpful, and he always does the video with a student sitting next to him that is learning and practicing right alongside you, so it feels like you are not the only one struggling with some of the signs. I have also been watching the video updates posted by OurSignedWorld. Recently, I was told by some old friends who learned to speak sign language at a very young age, that music is the best way to learn (not only words, but also to increase in signing quickness). This being said, I am still a rather slow signer, but signing to music and lyrics that I know well has definitely helped. I have been working on the signs for the songs “I Can Only Imagine” by MercyMe, “Fight Song” by Rachel Platten, and “If I Die Young” by The Band Perry. I still have not mastered these yet, but I have definitely made improvements. My church youth has been practicing “I Can Only Imagine” and the others I have learned via “thedailysign” on Youtube.

     The plan is to continue studying these until mastery, and maybe adding another one this upcoming week. I also want to go back to the very beginning of this journey and make sure I remember everything I have learned to this point. I will attempt to give another update next week and let everyone know how this is going. Until then, wish me luck!!!<3