I have always been one to have fun. As a kid I was extremely active and curious, always making friends with others too easily and dragging them to go on adventures with me, often letting my curiosity get the better of me. With my activity levels through the roof I would often run several miles a day whenever I wasn’t in school and probably swam the same distance during the summer. Unfortunately with the amount of swimming I did, I was very prone to ear infections. I mostly got these infections in my left ear, and as often as I got them, I also got tubes in my ears several time. Over time this greatly affected my hearing, becoming 80% deaf in my left ear. But it was this, as well as my mother being deaf in her right ear that lead me to become passionate about American Sign Language (ASL). I have a history of laziness, even with things I like, but sometimes even when you are passionate about something, you have to fight your laziness, even when a busy schedule might bring you down and stop you.
These days, between school and two jobs, I hardly have any free time. Last time I went to school, I only had one part time job and had plenty of time, but didn’t have much drive so I was lazy and didn’t do most of the work. This lead me to drop out and focus on work, until I can think of something I could see myself being passionate about and doing. I have know about Sign Language for a while, but I wasn’t frequently exposed to it until these past few months. As a kid, people that spoke different languages always intrigued me, but I had a certain draw to ASL, probably because of the situation between me and my mother being partially deaf or hard of hearing. I would always watch two deaf people talk with their hands and learned several basics signs early on.
While this something that interested me, back then it didn’t stick out much more than other things. I was young and focused on having fun and while I was a good student up until middle school, my attention often jumped from one thing to the next and had a very hard time focusing on things.I was soon diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) and began taking medication and figuring out ways to make it easier to do my school work and pay attention in class. While I began doing better in class, I still struggled with homework, sometimes waiting til last minute and staying up late into the night working on all of it. Overall I was pretty good with my grades until about middle school.
It was this time when I’d hardly ever pay attention to class and do much homework, unless the topic was interesting to me. It was almost as if I only saw the stuff I wanted to learn more important than everything else I was being taught. It was only when I got really into the dea or topic of a class or assignment that I would really get into it. Sometimes even then II would struggle to do the work, always wanting to do things the easy way. When I couldn’t get an idea or figure out how to do something I would give up and just do something else.
This continued throughout high school and then my first year in college, after which I dropped out to focus on work for the next couple of years. Fast forward to a few months ago, when a friend of mine made me watch a show called Switched at Birth, a show in which Sign language a huge part of. It was then that made me go to Youtube and websites like Life Print (ASL University) and begin to really learn Sign Language. While interpreters were mentioned frequently in the show, it wasn’t until several seasons later when they introduce a character that is a trained interpreter was I realized that this was something I can make a career of, while helping others. After that, I paid off my college loans from before and re-enrolled,learning that TCC has a fantastic Interpreting program.
Even with my journey to become an Interpreter beginning, I do find myself having a hard time opening my laptop and doing the work I need to. After coming home from work I often want to just get on my console and play some games with my friend or go out to eat with them. Even on days when I am off (which is few and far between) I take my time waking up and doing other activities, such as a few hours at the gym, leaving any kind of work until the last minute.
Often I find myself struggling to do the work that needs to get done, even in my free time. I try and use the motivation of becoming an ASL Interpreter. American Sign language has become a passion of mine and once I master it, I plan on learning other forms of Sign Language such as Japanese Sign Language (JPL), and eventually, starting a business that can bring something to the Deaf community. Even with these goals that I am passionate about in mind, I still struggle with the work of it each day and know it will become harder as I keep going, but it’s this passion that drives me.
These days, between school and two jobs, I hardly have any free time. Last time I went to school, I only had one part time job and had plenty of time, but didn’t have much drive so I was lazy and didn’t do most of the work. This lead me to drop out and focus on work, until I can think of something I could see myself being passionate about and doing. I have know about Sign Language for a while, but I wasn’t frequently exposed to it until these past few months. As a kid, people that spoke different languages always intrigued me, but I had a certain draw to ASL, probably because of the situation between me and my mother being partially deaf or hard of hearing. I would always watch two deaf people talk with their hands and learned several basics signs early on.
While this something that interested me, back then it didn’t stick out much more than other things. I was young and focused on having fun and while I was a good student up until middle school, my attention often jumped from one thing to the next and had a very hard time focusing on things.I was soon diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) and began taking medication and figuring out ways to make it easier to do my school work and pay attention in class. While I began doing better in class, I still struggled with homework, sometimes waiting til last minute and staying up late into the night working on all of it. Overall I was pretty good with my grades until about middle school.
It was this time when I’d hardly ever pay attention to class and do much homework, unless the topic was interesting to me. It was almost as if I only saw the stuff I wanted to learn more important than everything else I was being taught. It was only when I got really into the dea or topic of a class or assignment that I would really get into it. Sometimes even then II would struggle to do the work, always wanting to do things the easy way. When I couldn’t get an idea or figure out how to do something I would give up and just do something else.
This continued throughout high school and then my first year in college, after which I dropped out to focus on work for the next couple of years. Fast forward to a few months ago, when a friend of mine made me watch a show called Switched at Birth, a show in which Sign language a huge part of. It was then that made me go to Youtube and websites like Life Print (ASL University) and begin to really learn Sign Language. While interpreters were mentioned frequently in the show, it wasn’t until several seasons later when they introduce a character that is a trained interpreter was I realized that this was something I can make a career of, while helping others. After that, I paid off my college loans from before and re-enrolled,learning that TCC has a fantastic Interpreting program.
Even with my journey to become an Interpreter beginning, I do find myself having a hard time opening my laptop and doing the work I need to. After coming home from work I often want to just get on my console and play some games with my friend or go out to eat with them. Even on days when I am off (which is few and far between) I take my time waking up and doing other activities, such as a few hours at the gym, leaving any kind of work until the last minute.
Often I find myself struggling to do the work that needs to get done, even in my free time. I try and use the motivation of becoming an ASL Interpreter. American Sign language has become a passion of mine and once I master it, I plan on learning other forms of Sign Language such as Japanese Sign Language (JPL), and eventually, starting a business that can bring something to the Deaf community. Even with these goals that I am passionate about in mind, I still struggle with the work of it each day and know it will become harder as I keep going, but it’s this passion that drives me.