Ending semesters, jerks, BPN, new horizons....

In about 36 hours my semester will be winding down. After tomorrow night classes are finished. After that I have 3 finals. Then it's over, and I will have completed my first year as an Interpreting student. Right now I shoudn't be blogging, but finishing up paperwork, video veiwings, song interpretations and ASL studying. This week has been a complete mess, in more ways than one. Work, school, work, school, work, school.... but I'm not upset about the events. Several things I won't post about. Some I will. First I want to talk about something that happenned this week at work. I can't shake it. I believe it was Monday morning when an ASL interpreter I know (sort of) came into my store. He also works at Gallaudet. If some of you don't know, there's a huge protest going on at Gallaudet right now- if you'd like to know more you can visit these fantastic cataloges of the action Here and Here (Thanks Heidi. :)) On monday I barely knew anything about the protest, so when the Interpreter came in lamenting about the state of his workplace, I asked him what was going on. With an incredbily condesending look he said "If you don't already know, I don't have the time to tell you." and walked out. It's been driving me crazy. He acted like I was a complete idiot for not knowing all the full details. I understand that ASL and interpreting are SO much more than the language itself. I completely get the fact that half of what I have to learn to be an interpreter has to do with culture. As soon as he said it I felt incredibly stupid and like I had absolutely no talent for my chosen feild and like I was a complete and utter failure for having to ask about the protest. I know about DPN, I know about I King Jordan, I know about a lot of things. My question is this, and I think this is why I've been so bothered.... Before things become history, how do people know about them? Communication! That's the whole point!!! So I didn't pick up a newspaper or see any of my teachers or classmates over the weekend, I'm sorry. So I didn't go searching for what's going on at Gallaudet on my own. I'm Sorry. But the fact that I was completely denied all information from this man is really really bothering me and I find it completely unacceptable. He's hearing. He works closely with the Deaf, but he's hearing. He made me feel like he was just completely too good to be bothered with me. So guess where I got my information about the protest from? The Deaf people who come into my store, particularly Heidi. She could have just as easily told me that it wouldn't interest me or thtat I wouldn't understand or as a student of ASL and Deaf Culture it was my responsibility to figure it out for myself, but do you know what she said instead? "It's a long story, I'll e-mail you." For that I am totally greatful. Not only to Heidi, but to the other Deaf people who come into my store and allow me to sign in my broken ASL and who don't make me feel like a complete failure for not knowing how to sign 'weekend' and for taking a few extra seconds to remember how to sign 'smart'. Signing to me must be the equivalent of speaking to a 5 year old (maybe worse!), but they do it anyway. I've learned a lot from school this year. I've gone from a newborn to a 5 year old in 9 months at CCBC, but the things I've learned from the new friends I've made at Dobbin are things a school can't teach me. Sign Language is a beautiful, interesting language, but Deaf Culture is even more interesting and beautiful. Okay, I babble, but it's true. I'm more sure than ever that this is what I want to do! And on that note, I applied for a position with AA county parks and recreation today at the theraputic recreation camp, which is a camp for special needs children. I want to work there, a lot of the kids apparently use very basic Sign Language to communicate their needs and from what I understand there is at least one kid who's just deaf, with no other special needs... which makes me wonder why he's in a special needs camp...? In any case, I faxed my application over (Well, really Roy did because I have no clue how to use a fax machine, oops) and I had a voicemail on my phone from Wendy Scarborough not 15 minutes later asking for an interview. This either means my application was incredibly impressive or that they really really really need people, either way- I want it. Moreso for the experience than for the money. (honestly) I hope they hire me and I hope I like it and I hope I get to use ASL... but we'll see. I really feel like I need to try something new this summer, and I've already alerted my manager at Starbucks that I'll be taking on a second position elsewhere for the summer and she said it would be fine. However, I've been with this company a long time and people seldom do what they say they'll do, so we will see about that also. Geeze, I'm long winded when I should be doing something else. So I'm going to end this and neglect my homework for a tiny bit longer so Ginger and I can go for a little outing. Oh, and for those of you who check my blog everyday despite that fact that I go months without updating- Thanks. :)