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This summer was a bit of an awakening for me. All of my peers were studying abroad in amazing places and I felt stuck back in Los Angeles. I even took a break from watching people’s snapchat stories because I will admit, I was a little jealous.
While everyone was out exploring different parts of the world, I stayed behind and took a summer course to fulfill my language requirement. I picked the American Sign Language intensive, where you learn three quarters worth of ASL in eight weeks. Class started at 9:30am and ended at 3:00pm, Monday through Friday. They don’t call it an intensive for no reason! I went into the class wondering how on earth I was going to survive a six hour class, five times a week. Little did I know I was in for a surprise. The class was an incredible experience. Not only did I begin learning a new language, I met some of the greatest people. I bonded with the students in the class in a way I have never bonded with classmates before. Don’t even get me started on my professor, Ben. He is an amazing, charismatic instructor (hands down, the best professor I have had at UCLA, and I am currently a third year). He made the hours fly by and the lessons I learned in the class went beyond learning a language. I learned a lot about the oppression of Deaf people in society, how they’re pushed to the side and marginalized. I learned to become an ally to the Deaf community. At the end of the summer intensive program, our professor hosted an ASL bonfire, were Deaf/hard of hearing people and learners of ASL got to meet and mingle over at Dockweiler State Beach. I was so nervous because I felt that I did not know enough ASL to have conversations outside of a classroom setting. Needless to say, it was a little difficult to communicate, but with efforts on both ends it was possible. The bonfire ended when it got too dark to see hands and my friends and I from the ASL class invited three guys we met to eat with us at Denny's. Again, I was super nervous because this was a different, more intimate setting. I think it was actually easier to communicate. Those were some funny dudes! Although this summer I felt lost and left behind, I discovered a few things. One, do not compare yourself to other people, you’ll never be happy. Realize that everyone is on different trajectories and that you are doing the best you can for yourself. Give yourself some credit. Two, don’t skip out on chances because you’re afraid. Do the damn thing! Three, open yourself to learning about different people’s struggles, because we all need to stand together in order to overthrow the system of oppression we are currently living in. Lastly (and please excuse the cheesiness), I believe things happen for a reason. There was a reason studying abroad did not work out for me this past summer and there was definitely a reason I took this ASL course. I am continuing my ASL studies this year and I’ll be looking into education/interpreting programs I can apply to post undergrad. With love, Brigette E.
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