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

Sign Language Update

Hello Everyone!

So, I just wanted to put out an update on my sign language learning and practicing since I have had a lot more time this week, due to it being Spring Break. While I have worked on several medical signs, songs, and the vocabulary that I talked about on the first blog, I have also been trying to dive a little deeper into the deaf culture. I have found a couple who pots Vlogs on YouTube about their experiences and adventures. ASL with subtitles is used throughout the entire video, so even though I could only pick up a few words I recognize here and there, I could follow along with what they were talking about. Their channel is called “Our Signed World” (oursignedworld) and it just gives their viewers a glimpse into their lives as a hearing (Courtney) and deaf (Zach) couple. Being able to watch these videos have helped me to pick up on some more conversational words and phrases that I would use on a more day to day basis. They also talk some about deaf culture and how it fits into the hearing world. Watching these vlogs has been both fun and informative for someone who is trying to learn ASL.

            Also, on a separate note, I wanted to talk about an experience that I had today. I was leaving my house for a doctor’s appointment this morning and realized that my car was 8 miles until empty. Therefore, I left my house and stopped at the nearest gas station. I went inside to pay for my gas and there were two customers in front of me. The first man bought his coffee and cigarettes and left, and then the second man stepped up to the counter. I noticed that the man was not saying anything, but was instead alternating holding up 3 fingers and then 0. He would then point to his car parked outside the door at the pump. The cashier kept asking, “What? I don’t understand you. What do you need?” And the man continued trying to tell him. Finally, he motioned for a blank piece of paper sitting on the counter with a pen. On the paper he wrote, “I need $30 more in gas.” The cashier who had just told the man he didn’t understand stated, “Yeah, I got that part. What pump?” Mind you the man had obviously been into the station once by this point because he was saying he needed “more”. That means the cashier had likely just rang him up a few minutes before. The man pointed to a car outside at a pump where you could not see the number from the inside of the store. Mind you, there was only 2 cars parked out at the pump and the man was obviously pointing to the blue one. The cashier states, “You realize there are four pumps out there, how am I supposed to know which one you want?” By this point I was livid. How dare he speak to this man the way he was. So, I stepped to the window and saw that it had to be pump 3. I then looked at the man and finger spelled, “You need $30 gas for the blue car, right?” He looked thrilled that someone was willing to stand up for him. He signed, “Yes, thank you,” and then looked back at the cashier. I then said to the cashier, “He needs $30 worth of gas on pump 3.” He then states that he just sold the man $5 worth of gas for that pump. So, I said (very angry at this point) “Great, well now he needs $30 more in the same pump.” The cashier nods and hangs his head, rings the man up, and hands him the receipt. The man looks at me and signs, “Thank you! Have a good day,” and then leaves the store. It is now my turn to pay for my gas. The cashier looks at me and says, “That was ridiculous, huh? He could have told me that to begin with.” I was astounded that someone who be that blatantly disrespectful to another human being and then have the gall to make it out as though it were the customer’s fault and that it was an inconvenience. I asked him if he realized the man was deaf. He said that he did, but he could have found a better way to communicate. Needless to say, I was livid. I told him that communication was his job. The man told him repeatedly what he needed and the cashier continued to tease him and mock him by pretending he did not understand. That is not okay! You do not treat another human being that way under any circumstances. I was glad that my low quality, beginner signing and finger spelling could help, but I was so angry that this was even an issue. What happened to offering another person basic human decency? I realize that everyone does not know sign language, just like everyone does not speak Spanish; however, the man tried to communicate in 3 different ways; at some point we have to meet them halfway and want to understand what they are telling us! People need to learn to be nice to others who are different than them!

I think this shows an important reason why we should try to learn more about other cultures, and I am not just saying this because this circumstance struck a chord with me because I am currently learning about the culture that was being mocked during the above situation. I am saying this in general. There is so much hate in this world and it saddens me to realize that at the rate we are going it is only going to get worse.

It is due to things such as this that have made me want to be an interpreter for the deaf eventually, whether that be formally or even in smaller scale situations like this. I want to be a voice for the those who are only able to speak through their hands and show others that, though the communication style is different, they are still people. There is a big difference between deaf and ignorant, and people need to realize that.

This post was more to share about how I have already seen sign language impacting my life, rather than a practice update. However, I did want to list some of the sources I have been using for the medical signs and which songs I have been working on. For the medical signs, I again looked to Meredith ASL and Bill Vicars. Their videos are so informational and easy to follow along with. I also used a video that my mom shared with me on Facebook where a deaf paramedic gave some signs she felt were most important in an emergency medical setting. However, I now cannot find the video or the paramedic who taught the signs; however, most of them were also found in the other two videos mentioned above.

I will continue studying these words and will decide on new topics or guided studying to begin within the next few days. I will keep everyone updated with what is to come! Thank you and I will give more information soon!

Update on Spring 2018 Collo Project

Hello Everyone,

     So though I have not been able to post in the last few weeks, I have been hard at work with learning the words and phrases that I discussed in the last post. I have also worked on many new words and phrases as well including animal signs, food signs, and holiday signs. It can get a little confusing keeping all of the signs and meanings together in my head, especially considering that that some of them can be very similar in their production, though they have very separate/unrelated meanings. For studying I have been using a lot of videos on YouTube. One ASL teacher that I watch a lot and who helps tremendously is Bill Vicars.  Most people know of him because of his video "Top 100 Signs to Know" and some of his other shorter videos, but he has many available for learners on his channel. He actually sits with his students to produce these videos and it is really helpful to see the corrections he gives them as you are learning too. I have also been using Meredith ASL which is another channel on YouTube that has videos posted for certain topics such as her video for how to talk about Holidays in ASL. I have also been watching videos posted by "The daily sign" which is a channel that I young girl around my age started detailing her journey of learning sign language. Through her videos, I learned some really neat information. First, American Sign Language is not the only form of sign language recognized in the US. There is another type known as Pidgin Signed English or PSE for short. Basically, ASL does not follow common English Syntax and does not always have words or phrases that match perfectly with the English Language. PSE follows more along with standard English and may be spoken by some deaf Americans you may meet. Even so, the vocabulary used in both PSE and ASL are rather similar and it should not create much of a disparity between understanding.

     Overall, I have already learned a lot from this project and I am excited to continue. That being said, the words and phrases that I am going to work on this week are emergency medical signs that may become important in my future line of work, and signs for some popular songs. I felt like this may be a cool way for me to learn some common vocabulary that I use on a daily basis. I, of course, will also continue practicing what I have learned already as to ensure I will not forget.

     Also, I have one more cool tidbit of information. ETSU will start offering  an American Sign Language minor beginning in the Fall of 2018. I have been fascinated with sign language since I was a child, and since I have begun this project, have fallen even more in love with it. This being said, I have decided to declare this as my minor. I am o very excited and I cannot wait to continue my journey of learning with so many others from the ETSU campus who want to learn more about this rich and fascinating culture. I will keep everyone updated as I receive more information, and as I continue practicing throughout the week.