an awakening..

I think I have forgotten that I’m one of the Gbloggers- so pardon for the long hiatus. I am sitting in one of my most fond places- Baltimore Washington International airport. I love it when I sit and watch people, studying how they behave. In general, people watching can be very amusing.

 

One of the fewest things I have been lacking this semester is consumption of pop culture. I’ve just been so busy with classes this semester- and I am this close to declaring my major. The new curriculum here makes it much easier for me to get things going with other classes than the general studies requirement courses. I like where I am heading towards and I believe that your Bachelor of Arts degree should be something you truly enjoy doing and merges well with your masters. I am not unveiling you all on what I am majoring in because I have this weird curse where I declare it without officially doing the major selection paperwork- I ended up not majoring in that area. So, people- please bear with me.

 

Anyways back to the concept of consumption of pop culture, the first thing I did when I went to BWI (besides treating myself a latte from Starbucks) was buying a magazine. I just love America because every fashion magazine must at least have something about weight loss in the cover. I couldn’t pick which magazine I wanted but one thing that made my decision much easier was judging the covers- I saw that allure has Kirsten Dunst on the cover. I had to take it, I love her! Ever since I saw how she portrayed the role of Lux Lisbon on The Virgin Suicides and I was in love with her. I don’t usually read allure but- I realized how sad it is because my selection is based on the covers. Let’s say if a magazine has a boring cover with some good articles inside or a magazine with Dunst on the cover with full of crappy article, which would I pick? Sadly- the one with Dunst on the cover.

 

I eagerly bought the magazine and sat down with my latte, I opened the magazine and I miss the colorful pictures of photoshopped models, scents of perfume samples, and lots of close-ups beauty ads. I started to laugh as I flip through the pages, I realized that the society’s control agents has gone mad. What we are consuming, reading, and seeing is not real. It is ridiculous and clearly unrealistic- but it got us believing. Everyday people hit the gyms to look good, maybe a thousand of women on the operation table- awaiting for their breast implants, and people  being obsessed with their bodies. It is exactly like believing a non-existing ghosts, but we believe the photoshopped supermodels instead.

 

I realized, America is addicted to this infectious disease- the pop culture but it is up to us how we interpret it. I must thank my GSR 240 class on sexism in advertising, it has truly opened my eyes to how the society is. Sometimes you take courses to get it over with but you do not realize how much impact it has on you.

 

Other than this, life’s good for me. Nobody said life was easy well maybe Hugh Hefner did. I’m on the winter cheerleading squad once again and am working for Green Gallaudet. I still work at Campus Activities. Also- I just became a new sister of the Phi Kappa Zeta sorority- I am very proud of what I have overcame this semester!

Validation!

For my Disability Studies class, I’m reading a chapter on bioethics and the deaf community, written by Dr. Theresa Blankmeyer Burke, who teaches in Gallaudet’s Philosophy department. The chapter includes this:

So far, I have posited a fairly strict duality between signing Deaf community members and the dominant mainstream culture, suggesting that research aimed at eradicating deafness is typically seen as good by members of the dominant culture and that this same research agenda is seen as harmful by members of the signing Deaf community. In reality, it is not quite so simple. Those who occupy liminal space, such as hard of hearing people who sign, or culturally Deaf people who wear cochlear implants or hearing aids, must also be attended to. [emphasis added]

Wow, I never thought of it before, but that is a really validating statement for me! As I’ve been working to understand myself as a hard of hearing person, I’ve been trying to understand my place in the hearing and deaf communities. I have observed people at Gallaudet say that “hard of hearing” is a medical term, you are either Deaf or you’re not, and I guess by that definition I am Deaf – and indeed, I’ve had people tell me that I am Deaf and I should reject the “hard of hearing” label and just let myself be fully Deaf. But to the hearing community, I am “almost” a hearing person…I just need a little help like watching you when you talk or having some things repeated. So I feel like I can’t reject the “hard of hearing” label because I don’t have the same difficulties communicating with hearing people that other Deaf people do.

But there it is in black and white from Dr. Burke: a hard of hearing person who signs. In the middle. Here is what Wikipedia says about liminality:

Liminality (from the Latin word līmen, meaning “a threshold”) The liminal state is characterized by ambiguity, openness, and indeterminacy. One’s sense of identity dissolves to some extent, bringing about disorientation. Liminality is a period of transition where normal limits to thought, self-understanding, and behavior are relaxed – a situation which can lead to new perspectives.

Yes. That is me. Neither hearing nor Deaf. In the middle, ambiguous, indeterminate. It feels good to understand this.

Written a while ago but now posting!

After spending 2 months at Gallaudet, I’m now finally going home to Florida. It is so strange how times have changed, and so fast too. I can barely remember what’s happened the past few weeks except for class stuff (fortunately!!!) The days and nights blend in together making it harder to remember which day it is. Today is October 16th, the last day of midterms and only one week left for homecoming. And let me tell you…whoo!! Dang, the midterms were pretty tough! It was unlike high school exam week where the teachers would only test on one or two chapters. But in college, they test everything they’ve taught throughout the semester into one test. I enjoyed the challenge though, it was something different. I made a fairly good grade on my government test, which is a huge accomplishment for me. Before, in my senior year, I took college level government class and all the test grades I made were either D or below. At the time, I was having difficulty with life and with school. I ended up failing the government class, so this time, I’m determined to make a good grade on the class and get it over with. I’m actually enjoying my time here in Gallaudet, despite my personal obstacles. It is definitely a great place for the deaf people and the hearing people as well. There is definitely diversity in the deaf community that I never knew of before. Before coming to Gallaudet, all I had known was oral deaf people, low academically driven deaf people, and preppy deaf people. But here, there are…well…let’s just say, the diverse dressing style, personalities, opinions, and social rules that are new to me. For example, if someone has your attention but they wanted someone else’s attention and that person is right next to you. The person would ask you to get that person’s attention for them so they could go ahead and talk to each other. The concept makes sense but in real life, it’s so strange to me to experience that because, I don’t know the proper social cues if I were to tap someone for another person so they could go ahead and talk.

I Can’t Go to France

Malheureusement je pense que je dois quitter l’idée d’aller au France pour une mois l’été prochaine. Je pourrais y aller avec une programme de Gallaudet mais le voyage coûte plus que $5000 et aussi si je quitte l’Amérique pour si longtemps qu’un mois, je manquerai plus que $4000 du travail et j’ai besoin du cet argent pour la reste de ma diplome. C’était vraiment une super chance et j’aimerais bien y aller mais les coûtes sont trop haut pour mois. Je dois me rester avec la satisfaction que la France ne peut pas disparait et peut-être un jour je peux y aller.

J’ecris tout cela avec mon français inutilisé depuis plus que dix ans alors si je me trompe et quelque chose ne marche pas en Google Translate, je suis desolée et excusez-moi.

New

*smile*

Hi! My name is Te’aira Tucker and I am a new blogger for Gallaudet University.  

Let me start off by giving you some background information about me. I am from a small town in Alabama. I am hard of hearing. I am a very mellow person. I love to laugh and smile as most of the people here at Gallaudet. I am thinking about double majoring in Deaf Education and social work. 

I am going to try and keep you all posted about my life here at Gallaudet.

Let’s start off with an event that happened two weeks ago.

My classmates and I met Myron Uhlberg. He was there to talk about his book and his experience with his deaf parents. Mr. Uhlberg is the author of ” Hands of My Father: A Hearing Boy, His Deaf Parents, and the language of Love”. His book is amazing! I laughed and cried when I read it. So when I got to meet Mr. Uhlberg in person, it was a great honor. He is such a nice person. I am glad I got the chance to meet him.

My classmates and I

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That was an event I will never forget.

Moving on to something else that is current. Today I went to Gallaudet University’s women basketball scrimmage game. I watched the women play and supported my friends.

They were great! Here is some pictures from the event.

photo of me at the game

It was a great game and I am glad I went to support our team. I can’t wait til the next game.

I am hoping I will post more events of what is happening at Gallaudet.  Gallaudet is such an amazing school. There is always new events happening here.   I can’t wait to see what is next here at Gallaudet.