Hearing Students and Discrimination

Last August… gosh that seems so long ago… a person sent me a message on Facebook asking me a few questions about Gallaudet University. I thought the questions were pretty interesting and wanted to share them with you, with permission from the person, of course.

Here’s their question:
Well, i’m hearing and i want to be a speech therapist and its been my dream to go to Gallaudet for a while. I was wondering if i lived on campus and had classes with Deaf students would discriminated against?

This kinda puts me in a tough spot, I don’t want to make it seem that Gally is a horrible, horrible college (it’s obviously not), at the same time, I don’t want to make it seem like Gally is incredibly perfect. Every university has its flaws of course, with that said….

Real discrimination, is of course, not allowed at Gally. But if we’re talking about the kind of thing where you’re judged by who you are, then that does, unfortunately, happen.

A hearing student attending Gallaudet can set off different reactions. Some people may be really accepting of hearing students and value their interest in the deaf community. Lots of deaf students have hearing friends, and lots of hearing students become really involved with the university.

On the other hand, there are, unfortunately, some students have that “Deaf Pride” attitude, which can be a good thing, but is sometimes abused. Basically, they view Gallaudet as a deaf person’s paradise, where we are free from ridicule and discrimination from the outside world. So when a hearing person attends the only liberal arts college for the deaf in the world, especially when there are plenty of colleges for hearing students, deaf students can get a little territorial. This basically means they may not accept you, but I believe this to be a very small portion of Gallaudet University.

It all really depends on the attitude you bring to Gally. If you are open to new experiences and basically everything that could happen at Gally, you’ll be just fine. Discrimination by other students is hard to put up with (but of course, if it gets serious, you should report it), but almost every student here, hearing and deaf has been through it. For example, a lot of students judged me by my signing skills and the fact that I attended a mainstream high school and didn’t know much people here… even though I have deaf parents.

I’ve always found this quote to help me in situations like that… “It’s none of your business what other people think of you.”

If you’ve got questions… I’ve got answers!

Cheers,
Heather

Student Health Services

Hello readers!

Pardon me for not blogging on a regular schedule, I have a really good excuse, I promise! I’ve been sick for the past week or so with strep throat. It was the worst I’ve ever felt during my time here at Gallaudet University. On the plus side, I got excused from a couple of classes. On the not-so-plus side, it felt like I was hacking out my lungs for a few days.

But anyway, I’m back and feeling much better! In fact, my personal experience inspired a blog topic! I’m sure some of you prospective students or Gally supporters out there wonder what services are available to you when you become sick. Never fear! I’m here to tell you about the magic of Student Health Services (SHS).

Sure, Gally is located in a city where it is possible to survive without a car and completely rely on public transportation. But at the same time, it can get pretty scary and confusing, especially for a country girl like me. So when you get sick, it’s pretty uncomfortable for some students to go to the nearest clinic or hospital, even though they are available, such as Georgetown.

But, Gallaudet has it own clinic on campus and shares it with Model Secondary School for the Deaf. SHS’s services are limited in some ways, for example, they can help you if you’re not feeling too well and prescribe you medication, but if you’ve got a serious condition and need a more qualified doctor, you’ll be referred to another hospital or clinic. All in all, it’s pretty cool having a nurse right on campus for those days when you’re so sick, you really want your Mommy.

On another note, I thought I would close each blog with a fun fact about Gallaudet University, so here we go: Fun Fact #1…

Fun Fact #1
Every semester, Gallaudet holds an internship and job fair at the Kellogg Conference Center and Hotel here on campus. This really helps with finding internships that relate to your major and jobs for the summer or perhaps when you graduate. Interpreters are provided, of course!

Cheers,
Heather

Green Gallaudet!

I wanted to take a moment to recognize Gallaudet’s efforts at becoming more environmentally friendly. While there are more improvements that could be made, this is quite a step, and it deserves recognition.

One of the ‘green’ things I’ve noticed are the new cups available in the Marketplace and Rathskellar, they all explain how they are made from corn instead of dozens of nasty chemicals used to make a typical plastic cup. I do wonder if being made from corn actually means these cups are environmentally friendly, but I’ll just have to go with the assumption that they are and praise Gally for its efforts. Another example includes the napkins which are brown, meaning they are more environmentally friendly than white napkins which require more chemicals and pollution in order to dye the paper white. That’s pretty much what I’ve noticed so far… has anyone else seen anything new and ‘green’?

I don’t mean to belittle these efforts, while they certainly make an impact on our environment, I wish Gallaudet would strive to make an even bigger impact by perhaps using all green materials to remodel or build new buildings that are needed on campus. It would certainly make a difference not only in our environment, but in people’s perception of Gallaudet. Gallaudet could be seen as a university that truly gives back to the world, not just to everyone associated with deaf culture.

On another note, I’m scrambling for blog topics here… I wonder if there are any lingering questions relating to Gallaudet eating away at your minds that you desperately need answered? If so, aim them at me! Leave your question as a comment on this blog, and I’ll do my absolute best to answer it.

Cheers,
Heather

Gallaudet Announces Presidential Finalists

It’s finally here! Last Wednesday, Gallaudet announced the four finalists for this university’s next president!

The finalists include: Dr. T. Alan Hurwitz, the president of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) and vice president/dean of the Rochester Institute of Technology for NTID, Dr. Ronald J. Stern, the superintendent/chief executive officer for the New Mexico School for the Deaf, Dr. Roslyn Rosen, the director of the National Center on Deafness at California State University Northridge, and Gallaudet’s own provost: Dr. Stephen F. Weiner.

Gally provided this website for those of you who wish to find out more about the presidential finalists: http://psac.gallaudet.edu/

I don’t know much about any of the finalists, but I do hope that this presidential search goes much more smooth than the last search and that Gally’s next president will continue to improve our fine school!

What’s your take on the presidential search?

Cheers,
Heather

Hidey Ho!

Hello again, fellow readers! After a fun-filled summer, I’m back at good ol’ Gally, putting my nose to the grindstone, as my grandmother puts it.

With school starting tomorrow, I’ve been looking over my classes with anticipation, I’m taking five classes, or 19 credits, the maximum number of credits students are allowed to take at Gallaudet. I guess we’ll see how that works out.

Two of the classes I am taking are GSR integrated learning classes, which means that they are classes that sort of combine two subject areas by team teaching. The way this works is there are two professors, each teaches a certain subject, but combine their lesson plans, policies, activities, and so on. These are part of the new curriculum that Gallaudet introduced in the fall of 2007, instilling a major improvement in our education.

GSR integrated courses have their pros and cons. The cons being that it can be difficult for the professors to team teach. I had a professor last semester that would sit back during lectures and basically not say much at all unless prompted by the other prof. Two professors can also mean confusion with turning in assignments, class policies, and general lessons.

Pros include the fact that you’re learning from two professors! Which, in my opinion, sort of gives you a bigger experience than if you had taken a class with a single professor. Also, one professor’s talents make up for the other’s flaws, which makes it easier for you to do well in the class.

In addition to these GSR courses, I am also taking two English major courses and an education major course. I’ve been resolving to do fantastically well this fall in my schoolwork among other things.
What are some of your resolutions for the fall?

On another note, I’ve been seeing plenty of freshmen around campus and I’m reminded of my first year at Gally, which I spent completely homesick. I hope my freshmen readers understand that almost everyone felt or still feels the same way. The best way to deal with it is to keep busy or talk to someone, including me! I’d be happy to listen or answer any of your questions!

Here’s to a wonderful fall semester!
Cheers,
Heather

“Urinetown” and the Gallaudet Dance Company

Gally’s always got something going on, plays, musicals, dance performances, workshops… you name it, we got it. Most of them are free for Gallaudet students too, a wonderful plus for most of us broke college students.

So last week, my roommate and I watched the Gallaudet Dance Company’s spring show. Admission was free, which made me happy, and I had nothing better to do on a Saturday night anyway… I know, I’m pathetic. Anyhoo, let me give out a huge round of applause for the people involved with this performance, it was enjoyable and simply fantastic. I especially loved the part where a bunch of kids climbed up on stage and performed a hip-hop number, so cute! Some dances were adapted to ASL with performers signing the lyrics, like Rihanna’s “Disturbia,” which was converted to dance that presented the issue of deaf people not being allowed to sign. I walked away feeling as if that was the best way to spend an hour and a half.

Then, last Friday, my roommate and I went to see Gally’s production of “Urinetown” a funny and engaging play that also bears a lot of similarities to the world we live in today. I’m not going to go into a whole synopsis but simply say that it was about water shortage and the increasing cost of peeing. The idea of actually having to pay to pee is funny, but as the play went on, it got more serious and not so unrealistic. Two thumbs up from this blogger!

I’d like to encourage everyone to go see every performance Gally has to offer, they thrive on our support! Most are free, so if they really suck, at least you didn’t shell out ten bucks and you’ll only have wasted a few hours.

Cheers,
Heather

Spring Break Part Deux

Continuing from where I left off last week… when I arrived in Alabama, I found that most of my expectations were right, and wrong. First, I found that not every place in Alabama is a trailer, complete with a front porch, rocking chairs, banjos, hound dogs, and beer cans. Alabama is actually quite beautiful in some places. Picture rolling green hills, red soil, pine trees, and old plantation homes. I also found that I was right in thinking that Alabama accents are funny as heck, they’re just so twangy and slow!

Anyway, after touring the Alabama School for the Deaf, which is a very nice school, complete with ancient magnolia trees, we headed to Atlanta, Georgia to take a peek at the world’s largest aquarium… I’ve never seen so many fishies! Stingrays, whale sharks, and otters, oh my!

On our way to the aquarium, we stopped at Jonesboro, Georgia. Now, if you’ve read and watched “Gone With the Wind” as much as I have, you’ll know that Jonesboro is where the main character, Scarlett lives. So the four of us (me, my mother, aunt, and cousin) stopped and visited a “Gone With the Wind” museum, complete with memorabilia, little known facts, and dress replicas. Trust me, I’m a “Gone With the Wind” freak.

After a few more days, we unfortunately had to head back to Minnesota. Of course, I was laid up with a huge cold, which excused me from driving… yay! But I was stuck listening to Tracy Chapman and The Police for most of the way home. Mind you, they’re both awesome, but after 14 hours, I’m liable to pull my hair out.

My spring break was odd and unexpected, but it was quite an experience to cross off from my “bucket list,” and of course, it is always nice to be with my family. By the way, how was yours?

Cheers,
Heather

My Spring Break

So for the last few weeks, I’ve been wandering around, doing whatever it is that needs to be done, but I kept getting this feeling that I was forgetting to do something. You know the feeling… something’s missing but you’re not quite sure what it is. Last week, I discovered what I was forgetting… my blog! I promise to get right back on the gblog track.

Anyway, spring break has come and gone and dozens of ridiculously tanned students walk the halls of Gally. I’m not much of a party person so Cancun, Acapulco, or Jamaica didn’t really interest me. I’m also cheap. I like my money to stay in my pocket, thank you very much. So for spring break, I went home to Minnesota and went on a road trip to Alabama.

I know… Alabama… that’s one of the strangest places you could go to on spring break, but my cousin works at the Alabama School for the Deaf and insisted that we visit her. So I flew home Wednesday before spring break started and drove down to Iowa to pick up my Aunt with my Mother on Thursday. Friday morning at precisely 5 am, we left for Alabama. We drove through Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee before finally arriving in Alabama. I spent a total of 14 hours riding in a minivan, watching my Aunt and my Mom chat and almost kill us all by narrowly missing a certain exit in St. Louis.

This blog is getting to be a bit long, and I know people don’t like reading long blogs, I know I don’t, all those words and no pictures get to be tiring. So, I’ll continue the rest of my spring break story the next time I post.

Cheers!
-Heather

Gallaudet University is the Place to Be!

As promised, here are a couple of things that make Gallaudet University the most amazing place to be.

Before I get into this, I got to take a brief stroll down memory lane. I first came to Gally in the spring of 2005 when I was a high school sophomore for a college visit with some other classmates. When I first arrived, Gally scared me and I told myself I would avoid it at all costs. But here I am… four years later, a second year student at Gally. And I gotta tell you… I’m so glad I didn’t listen to myself four years ago.

Reasons Why Gallaudet University Is the Place to Be:

1. Feels like home: Being a small university and the community within it even smaller, Gally feels like home. I never have to worry about knowing nobody and feeling all alone, you’re never alone here. Whether you’ve got actual family and family friends here or know absolutely no one on arrival, Gally grows on you and you become a part of a close-knit family. It’s hard to put this into words, but I never felt so attached to a school compared to my years in high school.

2. Accessibility!: Seeing as how I’ve been mainstreamed for most of my life, my eyes just couldn’t take an interpreter for another four years of school. Most of Gally’s professors are deaf or have great signing ability, which made learning so much easier for me, especially in math, my worst subject. Best of all, I never feel like the only freak in the class with an interpreter… I blend in. Also, the newest building on campus, the Sorenson Language and Communication Center (SLCC) is the only building to be completely designed for deaf users… imagine hallways and classrooms specifically engineered for deaf users-at Gally, that’s a reality.

3. Center of the Deaf World: I’m from a dinky little farming town in Minnesota and never got too many opportunities to really socialize within the deaf world, apart from the typical deaf club meetings, mainly because nothing ever happens in a little town. But at Gallaudet, it almost seems like the deaf world’s “headquarters” are here… I’ve been able to see Bernard Bragg and participate in so many experiences that really broadened my mind to the deaf world, which I thought I would never have been able to do. Another advantage of being in the center of the deaf world means that you’re understood, and no longer labeled “disabled” like I am back home.

4. You’ll live only a couple blocks away from Barack Obama! Yeah!

There’s so much more that makes Gally a great place to be, and if you’ve got a certain question… I’d be happy to answer it.

Cheers,
Heather

That’s Gallaudet For You!

Hello there fellow readers! Once again I’m back at good ol’ Gally after a month- long break spent doing absolutely nothing and I never thought it could feel so fulfilling.

After being snatched from the comforts of home in the name of academic responsibility, I started to make a mental list of the things that really suck about Gallaudet University and I decided to share it with you- because where else are you going to get information this honest? Please bear in mind that I love Gally, but like any other university, it has its flaws! So here’s a list of said flaws:

1. The food sucks: Sure, the first week you arrive here, a naive freshman or visitor, you’re amazed at the delicious food waiting for you. Then the first week ends, and you find yourself eating the same combination over and over and over, mainly because everything else is either disgusting or you’re just afraid to try something new since, once again, everything else is disgusting. You’ll often resort to ordering in but will have to face a dwindling bank account, which will force you into the cafeteria, unless you prefer to starve.

2. There are big cockroaches everywhere: Enough said.

3. Showers: Two problems I often encounter include (1) barely touching the shower knob and going from freezing to scalding hot water and (2) standing under a trickle, trying to rinse my hair out.

4. Washing clothes costs money: You’d think after paying a hefty tuition, Gally students would be spared from paying $1.25 per load. Even RIT doesn’t charge it’s students anything!

5. The dorms ain’t that nice: Picture carpet coated with stains and hair that is definitely not yours, and you’ve got a typical Gally dorm room.

That’s all I’ve got for now, feel free to add yours! Prospective students or visitors, don’t let these flaws keep you away from Gallaudet University, in my next blog, I’ll list the upsides to living at Gally, I promise.

Cheers,
Heather