First Class Session ^-^

See-Sign is so easy to learn! :D I am so happy it is. You have no idea. Plus, at first I was expecting the class to be American Sign Language, but it's not. Although, I am happier I got into this class instead of the college class at the college. Gosh. The day I tried to get added into the class, the teacher was not even there. Then before the second class session even started, some of the potential students were freaking out. Students who went to class early to get a seat were chit-chatting about the rumors they heard about the class. Apparently, you could never speak. It makes sense since most ASL signers don't speak, but I thought learning it would be signing as well. I thought wrong.

That is why I am unbelievably relieved to be studying SEE-Sign in this class my mentor told me about. She is such a huge help. I found a great mentor to work with. So anyways, back to the class... The teacher is so nice! She's funny. If she makes a joke, there are adults to the left of where I sit that laugh really loudly. Then there is this Deaf woman who works at the Day Care center in the same building during the class. She came by, and I don't know why, but since I don't see many signers (which I have barely met any), I am just amazed. If it is like a foreign language (i.e., Spanish) in which I hear even just one word I know, I feel proud of myself. 

For SEE-Sign, it's different. I feel like you have become accustomed to seeing words without someone saying them to you. Especially if the person you are communicating with is deaf. On the bright side, with SEE-Sign, we actually can talk. I am sure that at least five times, the teacher has referred to kids. What I mean by that is she would say "and when you're teaching your kids this, remember to..." and such. It made me think that this class is for parents. This makes me laugh because not only do I think my sister (who takes the class with me) is the youngest, but I think I am the second youngest in the class.

The teacher said for the first three weeks of class we will just be learning the basics. I contemplated taking the 2nd class located in the room next door but I decided against it. Boy am I glad I did because majority of the words she was telling I seriously had no clue. It is great, though. Not only am I learning the exact signing for English, but I have my sister who sits right by my side, signing along with the class. Did I mention she is only a fifth grader?

On a lasting note... Today we learned the basics in just two hours. We learned the alphabet, Be-Verbs, Pronouns, Basic Vocabulary, and Numbers.

I can't wait until next week!

And a textbook! Maybe another too :D

One of my friends has a sister who took an ASL class. He told me when I was talking to his girlfriend that he has the textbook and just this morning I received it from him. I was so happy!! I thought it was going to be one of those huge textbooks with a hard cover and so many words I'd be too intimidated to even read 5 pages. Thankfully this one is actually small and manageable. I'm reading the first couple pages and I'm liking it already. It's telling me about the difference between Deaf people and deaf people. Basically, Deaf ones are the ones who are in the ASL community while deaf ones are the ones who do not or have not been introduced to ASL just yet.

Also, there are exercises and pictures with words and such and it's a huge help. I plan to read a bit everyday. Hopefully with the class and this book, and with the help of my mentor, I will succeed in learning American Sign Language.

There's a class!!!

So after my first meeting with Debbie (my mentor), we've been talking over email and she has given me great advice already in just meeting her for the first time. Since we were not planning to meet until next week, she emailed me the information of a class I could take. It is a bit far but after conversing with my mom, it has been decided that I am most definitely taking the class. Debbie thinks the class will give me a base in working with her. I am hoping to work with the kids she works with. Although the kids she works with are hard of hearing and are only learning the basics of signing (so not necessarily ASL) I think working with younger kids helps me pursue my dream career of being a nurse.

The class is once a week and it won't be too much of a hassle to drive to the class so I am definitely looking forward to it! :D

Mentor? Check!

After calling at least 7 phone numbers from the Napa County Office of Education, someone called me back and gave me the number to my mentor. I called her, we talked, and met up on Thursday after my class. It was great. She was super helpful. I think this project is going to be a great learning experience.

Our conversation mainly circled around what we could do, what she was supposed to do, looked over my letter of intent, and made another time to meet up. She even talked about how she works with young kids who have hearing disabilities. I thought this would be so interesting and a great experience because I really want to work with kids (hence my internship at Kaiser). I was so happy to hear that she was willing to take on this project with me given that's I'm sure she's got lots to do already.

I'm so excited!! I need to get my hands on some ASL books to get myself ready and just prepared. I borrowed a children's book from my neighbor and one of my friends has a textbook of ASL. I think just reading it and practicing it will definitely get me going.

This project is going to be a blast!!

Figuring out my Senior Project

For the LONGEST time... I could not figure out exactly what I wanted to do for my Senior Project. I had two ideas: 1.) End Product = playing the piano and singing at the same time. 2.) Learning American Sign Language (ASL) with End Product = Signing the entire presentation while talking.

Since the very beginning when I could actually sing, I've been singing. I love it. It's my passion. I'm taking my second Napa Valley College voice class this year. Again, I love it! Then there's American Sign Language. I first became interested when my best friend told me she took a class on it. I had no idea they had ASL as a college class. I failed in getting into the class... So, which one to choose for Senior Project?

I could ask my neighbor to teach me piano. Then again, I could find someone who knows ASL and ask them to mentor me in ASL. Finally, I had enough and we talked about Senior Project in class, so I asked my teacher. Thank you so much, Ms. H. because I finally know what I want to do.

Piano seemed too easy and I am taking a voice class already so I decided to learn ASL and sign my entire presentation of my Senior Project (of course while talking at the same time). It would definitely be a challenge but I love the language and watching an ABC Family Drama show contributed to this interest as well.

Now just to find a mentor...