Still going strong!

Hey everybody!

Big news!!!! I have successfully passed my written and oral competency examinations and will be able to graduate once I pass all of my classes and internships! This is a HUGE accomplishment!!!!! I am so happy to be done with such major hurdles of my graduate degree!!!! Thank you for all who support me and keep me sane as I continue on in my journey of graduating with my masters!

As I noted in my last post, I am interning at Kendall Demonstration Elementary School ( http://clerccenter.gallaudet.edu/Kendall.html ) which is located on Gallaudet's campus. I am mainly working with 2nd-8th graders with language difficulties (with a few speech goals for some kids too). I am pulling children out for one-on-one therapy and also integrating in the classroom by working with teachers. I have even taught a few classes! This may seem a bit daunting, but also add that I'm teaching in American Sign Language (ASL)! What a frightening thing for someone who just began learning ASL last year! Ahhhh! Luckily, most of the kids seem to like me and haven't given me too hard a time for being new and not an expert signer. It's a wild environment where I am using ASL the entire day. My eyes hurt after finishing internship there. I intern there every Monday through Thursday and even many Fridays. I am there from 8-4 on Mondays and Wednesdays and 8-2 on Tuesdays and Thursday. I have to leave early on Tuesdays and Thursdays because I also have a client in Gallaudet's Hearing and Speech Clinic. Yikes! Too much to do!

My classes are held at night (Monday through Thursday). I really like three of them...just not one of them. They are more related to deafness and working with deaf and hard of hearing people, so they are much more suited to my interests.

In other Gallaudet news, our Board of Trustees elected a new President yesterday. I went to the big announcement (in case of any protests, I wanted to be in the middle of it all!). T. Alan Hurwitz was elected our 10th Gallaudet President! Everyone seems excited and satisfied, so there will be no protests this time around. (For more information on him: http://news.gallaudet.edu/x34183.xml )

More Gallaudet news! Today on the TV game show, The Price is Right, a Gallaudet alum was selected to be on the show!! I did not get to watch the show live because of internship today, but someone has videotaped the important clips and put them on youtube. You can click here ( http://www.youtube.com/user/stevethevlogger#p/a/u/0/jmPMAQTN7go ) or watch the videos below. She does a great job! I apologize for the lack of TV sound and the noise of the man filming it, but welcome to the deaf world and how they watch television!

The first part where Kristine Hall gets selected and bids on the first prize:


The second part where Kristine Hall spins the big wheel:


The last part where Kristine Hall spins a second time:


Pretty cool to watch since it is one of my family's favorite television shows!

I have been very busy with internship and classes and have not had much time to get out and enjoy myself lately. Grad school is a busy busy adventure but hopefully it will end this coming May (2010). Just need to pass all my classes and internships. SOOOO GLAD that Competency Exams are over!!!

A few weeks ago I dragged one of my good friends from NC, Stephanie, to a Major League Baseball game here in DC. It was the Washington Nationals vs the Atlanta Braves. My family is a huge Braves family, so it was exciting to see them play. I also felt like I needed to support my home team. I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed the whole game. It went into extra innings!

A view of the Nationals stadium from our seats

Stephanie and I got rained on slightly, but refused to leave the baseball game!

I did find time this past weekend to carve pumpkins and eat delicious fall-themed foods with several friends. Here are a few pictures of the night:

A shot of the table...full of pumpkins and pumpkin innards! (We toasted the pumpkin seeds and ate them later! Yum!)

My friend and classmate, Jackie, with her carved pumpkin!

Me with my pumpkin! I look like an overexcited 5 year old!

All of our pumpkins lit up! Mine is the vampire in the middle! Oooo spooky!

I'm counting down the days until Thanksgiving. I get that Wednesday off from internship and class so I will be taking the Amtrak train home Wednesday and heading back to school on Sunday. I am very excited to see my family because I haven't seen them (except on Skype) since August!! I miss them terribly! If you haven't checked out my mom's blog (please do!! http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mwperryman ) you may not know that her CA125 (ovarian cancer maker) is down to 39 with 35 and below being the normal range!!! We are so happy because in July her CA125 was reported at 127! What a big leap!

I have several things to look forward to in the coming weeks to keep my mind off how long it seems until Thanksgiving. I'm hoping to visit a college friend who is a speech path grad student at the University of Virginia (UVA) this coming weekend (but will be thinking about my old friend from home who is getting married in Southern Pines! I wish I could go, but grad school won't allow me to drive any more than 2 hours anywhere!) One of the girls in my program is getting married on Halloween, plus Halloween is a fun holiday in itself! I also have a few friends lined up to come visit me in November (namely, my old boss from my job on campus at UNC-CH and his wife!). The girls in my program and I are all planning a big Thanksgiving dinner for the week or two before Thanksgiving like we did last year also. We all bring food or drinks and just enjoy each other and enjoy a minute to relax and eat delicious home-cooked food!

I will certainly post pictures of my visit to UVA, my friend's wedding, Halloween, friend visits, and the Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) Thanksgiving dinner on my next blog. Sorry there is so much time between each blog but I am sooo busy!

Hope everyone is having a safe and healthy fall. I love this time of year when the leaves change!