Monday, October 18, 2010

clinging to the promise You're not done with me yet

So, here's my dilemma:
The longer I'm in school, the less I want to peruse my major in a conventional way.
Would a year and a half more of undergrad and 2-4 years of grad school work? Yes.
Then I could live a conventional, safe life, probably in the Midwest.

And it would work.
And it would be good.

Is it best, though?

((Preface for the next lines:
I am not that girl that traveled abroad and it changed her life. Sometimes that works for people and it's great, but I am not that girl.))

I met some deaf Bahamians on vacation and signed with them for a while. There is very little to no programs for Deaf individuals there. ASL is frowned upon because it is not close enough to spoken English. If they do sign, however, they use Signed English, which is functional, but tedious. They told me the main way they get anything done is through other deaf friends and family.
After some preliminary research, there is one Deaf School run by the Red Cross, but most deaf individuals are just shuffled through the cracks. There are no interpreting services. So many things are supplied by the government and interpreting services would fall under that category, but it's not an option. There is no Deaf Culture. There are no advocacy organizations because it is still viewed so negatively.

There's a need.
There's a want.
There's a heart stuck in a class room that is dying to get out
and do something more than make money.

Do I know enough sign to go now? Oh heck no.
Maybe in a couple years of interpreters classes? Mmhmm.
How much is a ticket to the Bahamas? Cheap enough with a summer of work.

1 comment:

Toyin O. said...

You sound like a person with great goals and ambitions; good luck with all your endeavours.