Monday, October 18, 2010

Moving right along with Columbia!

ThumbsUp.jpg image by L3noisI emailed my admissions liaison and she just got back to me today, already! She is super informative and very friendly. She directed me to a departmental professor and answered a couple of my questions.

She even appreciated my involvement.

I just sent an email to the professor seeking an informal interview.

I'll keep you posted! (Pun intended:-)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Columbia's Open House

Well. I was impressed.

Compared to last May's collection of 7 women in attendance, the hodgepodge of representatives, faulty technology, and tardiness; today's event was professional and informative.
Free coffee and muffins don't hurt, either.

Roughly 300 prospective students attended, some with their badass/sickass children. I knew I wasn't the only one perturbed once the entire auditorium looked over at the sound of the child's cough across the aisle from me. Girl, leave your sick child at home, along with the other loud four you brought with you.


*ahem*


An alumna spoke as did a dean. Humor, personal testimony, advice, and tips bounced off the walls from the microphone like an old game of Pong; my attention was kept but I shifted restlessly in my seat. I'm not accustomed to sitting down for so long. I better get used to that quick!


Unlike the previous visit, we broke off into secular groups to discuss our particular field of interest. How awesome! Deaf Education fell into the Special Education program, which was umbrella-ed by Health Sciences. Elizabeth, my admission liason, gave us all so much logistical information with a smile and patience.


I came home, updated my application, and made a list of the things I need to ask faculty. What is the student to teacher ratio? What classes are held in ASL? What are current alumnae doing? What are professors currently working on? Which program is best for me, elementary education or high school?


Lastly, I began my application for Gallaudet. All that is left is the resume, letters of recommendation, and my letter of intent. All the heavy stuff. I emailed a former instructor from Sacramento State in hopes of broadening my experience and fortifying my skill.


Things are looking up.


Just keep signing, just keep signing, just keep signing...

Friday, October 15, 2010

University Visits

 Surprise!
Turns out Columbia does have an awesome program in their Teachers College. 
I just so happened to open an email inviting me to their open house this Saturday. Great. Let me go again. But this time, I want to talk to the faculty and find out if this program really is for me. Find out the benefits, highlights, outreach programs, placement programs, community involvement and skill requirements. 

Then!
November 12 is the Open House for Gallaudet. Already! Time off work is approved and lodging is arranged. Now time to make my list of questions and sight seeing. 
It is all coming up so quickly, especially after my hiatus from school. Feelings of excitement, anxiety, and nervousness are creeping up my spine. 
I think that's a good thing.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Train Go Sorry; a Reflection



I just finished reading "Train Go Sorry" for the second time. Well, really I want to say I sincerely read it for the first time, as my previous attempt was for assigned college reading during undergrad at Sacramento State University, California. Ms. Leah Hager Cohen's artistic tapestry weaving in and out of anecdote and biographical memoir created such a multi-faceted array of enlightenment, information, perspective, and impetus for further ponder. She has a knack for educating the reader in a way which is not patronizing, nor is it tedious in explanation. Her stories are clear, concise, and conclude in parable and metaphor congruous with the implicit message at hand.

I really feel like I know Sophia and her long hair and warbling Russian accent. I really feel like I know James and would congenially greet him on the street, admiring his gold jewelry. I really feel like I could shake Oscar Cohen's hand and agree with the arduous labor of his job, inadvertently sneaking a peep at his Bronx teeth. I could sense what it is like to grow up around a world painted in ASL and then struggle through the rite of passage into adulthood as a hearing woman, then back into the Deaf  W O R L D.

I am looking forward to finding more books by Ms. Cohen. Thus far, I have unearthed her blog. Not all of her writing in its entirety is about the ASL and Deaf experience. Regardless I still find it intriguing and captivating.

It is helpful to read about the experiences of another woman in her efforts to become an interpreter. She poignantly discussed the same things I worry about, have encountered, have heard professors warn my class about, and analyzed myself during conversations with my Deaf friends. This makes me feel validated and also comforted that I am not the only one with these thoughts and reactions.

I wish there was a Part II to this story, to find out the post-high school lives of these Lexington School alumni.