Hello everyone and welcome back. For those of you that do not know, this will be my last Ning Journal enter as I will be graduating from the University of Richmond on May 9th! After graduation, I will be working as a dermatology medical assistant in Alexandria, Virginia, after a year of which I will be applying to PA school. However, I still plan on continuing my ASL! Once COVID-19 has abated, I plan to involve myself in the Galladete Community and volunteer within the Deaf Community. Until then, I will continue my education by chatting with Reba weekly as a friend and teacher.
To provide a brief update, Reba and I have continued to meet twice a week. We are making our way through Barron’s “American Sign Language A Comprehensive Guide to ASL 1 and 2 by David A. Steward and Jennifer Stewart and things are going strong. I am are continuing to expand my vocabulary and with each new word learned, Reba and I generate example sentences. Most recently, we have been creating stories or reciting children’s books through ASL for greater translation and understanding practice. Last week, I had chosen to retell “The Story of Ferdinand” by Munro Leaf, while Reba recited the story of the Three Little Pigs. This has been an extremely helpful exercise as it requires me to incorporate multiple objects and conversations between characters in the story. I believe one of the hardest parts of ASL at this time is establishing different objects/characters signing space and explaining a conversation between two people that are not myself. This is because I have to set specific characters in locations and with personalities within my signing space, something that I have not really had to do before. Additionally, I have to maintain and emphasize my facial expressions while trying to set up the story and its characters.
Regardless, it feels like yesterday that I started taking ASL. I remember when I first joined the Self-Directed Language Program for ASL, I had a lot of trouble finding a time to meet with and communicating with Reba - so much so that I almost decided to drop the program. However, I am forever grateful that I did not as I now have a wonderful friend and mentor. The time has flown by, but as I review what I have learned and through my lessons with Reba, it becomes apparent that I lived and learned through this seemingly and undeniably fast time.
I am forever grateful for the SDLP and hope that all my readers know the program as much as I have. Also, I am so happy to announce that the University of Richmond is offering ASL as a course under the Linguistics classes. Although the course does not fulfill the general education requirement for language, I am beyond happy that the University allowed for the addition of this course. It will increase the University of Richmond students' understanding of the deaf community and, hopefully, if the program gains traction, could eventually be considered a qualification for the Gen-ed.
Once again, thank you to the SDLP for all the time and effort that you have given me. Michael, you are a wonderful teacher and have been incredibly patient and helpful throughout my time here. Thank you so so so much for the work you do.
Have a great life everyone!
Comments
Hey Eli, first off congratulations and I also wish you nothing but success moving forward in graduation and your plans for PA school! I found your journey with ASL very inspiring and pretty awesome that you were able to also find a friend and mentor out of this experience! I am in awe and amazed by the work you completed and also the awareness to effectively share the retelling of "The Story of Ferdinand." I will definitely continue to teach myself phrases in ASL which you inspired me to do from your previous journals and final presentations from past semesters that I watched and really enjoyed! Congratulations again and thank you for sharing your experiences in the SDLP!!
Elijah, congratulations, and I wish you so much success in your future endeavors! It is really great to hear how you persevered and ended up gaining so much out of the program such as a newfound love for ASL and a wonderful friend/mentor. Also, the fact that you intend to become more involved in the deaf community is pretty amazing. Hopefully I get a chance to take the new ASL course before I graduate!