Beginning of the 2nd Year

Hello everyone!

I arrived back in Washington, DC on August 25 to begin my 2nd year of graduate school. This year I am living in the dorms but with 3 good friends of mine. We all met last year and have remained great friends. I have the best suitemates ever! They are Nicole (my roommate from last year), Heidi (a Deaf Education major from New Mexico), and Krystin (an interpreting major from New York). I think I can speak for them when I say that our suite is the best! We have gone shopping and bought decorations and other necessities for our suite. The picture below is us with all our purchases from a long day of shopping!

My suitemates & I! (Me, Krystin, Heidi, & Nicole)

School started last week on Aug 31 and I have already been so busy! I have only night classes (most beginning at 5:30 or 6pm and lasting about 3 hours each). I have a different one each night, so that I only have each class once a week. I will have internship during the day and classes each night. The classes that I am taking this semester are Aural Rehabilitation 2, Organic and Swallowing Disorders, Informational Counseling and Interviewing, and Cochlear Implants. So far I really enjoy the classes and find them fascinating! I hope I stay as excited as I have been this past week!

Me & Allie hanging out

I begin my internship at Kendall Demonstration Elementary School tomorrow morning and I'm very nervous and excited. It will be a new experience to work in a school for Deaf and Hard-of-hearing children where I must sign most of the day!! I hope to improve my American Sign Language (ASL) skills this semester.

This past week has been fun meeting the new kids ("First Years") and getting back in touch with all my friends. We played kickball this past Friday with the First Year Speech-Language Pathology students. It was First Year vs Second Year...we got stomped! The First Years are really good at kickball apparently!

These are the First Year SLP students after winning the kickball game!

I am also proud to inform you that I have passed all of my Written Candidacy "COMP" exams!!!!! I studied so hard over the summer and knocked them all out! This is a huge accomplishment for me because you must pass these in order to continue in the program! I found out right before the kickball game but apparently it didnt help me win the game! Hahaha

I also had the joy of hosting 2 of my friends here this weekend. Maggie (one of my best friends from UNC) and her boyfriend, Blake, visited me in DC this weekend!!!! I had a total blast and enjoyed every second of seeing them. We toured around many museums and the zoo and they got to meet a few of my Gallaudet friends. I really had a fantastic weekend and was so happy they came to see me! Here are a few pictures of our weekend together:

Me, Maggie, & Blake in front of the Washington Monument

Maggie & Blake showing some love

Maggie holding a red panda stuffed animal at the zoo!

Erin, Me & Maggie petting a cow at the Zoo!

This semester will be a difficult one because of the amount of work and classes that I have all together. Many of my days, I fear, will be 13 hour days. I do already feel more calm than last year just because I have friends here, I know Gallaudet and how the system works, and I can communicate much better than last year at this time.

It was really interesting to compare my first day on campus last year with my first day back on campus this year. Last year I showed up and had no idea where anything was; this year I know exactly where everything is and can get there easily. Last year I could not communicate with anyone and even got asked if I was at the right school; this year I carried on conversations with strangers and checked into my dorm room with ease (even having a conversation about UNC vs Duke with the Residential Advisor-RA- in the office). Last year I was really really scared and worried about what I was embarking on; this year I'm still nervous, but I feel much more at ease. Last year I knew absolutely no one on campus; this year I called my friends on the way to school and got so many hugs when I arrived that I felt very loved!!! There are many more instances of the differences that a year can make, but those are the most significant to me.

If anyone has any questions for me, please send them to me by posting a comment on my blog here or by sending an email to melissa.perryman@gallaudet.edu . I still have few unanswered from last year so I will try to answer them as quickly as I can when I find time! Let me know if you want to receive an email from me when I update my blog and I will add you!

Please also visit my mom's website at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mwperryman for more information, pictures, and updates on my family's life.

I am very excited to begin this 2nd year!

Back in the swing of things

Hello hello hello!!! I figured I would start this post out by answering some more questions that yall sent me last semester. I love answering them. They are all really good questions!

How do the football players communicate on the field?

I should have answered this question last semester during football season. Gallaudet football players communicate via ASL (American Sign Language) on the field. It is quite easy to sign across long distances without distracting other people. Gallaudet University actually is the supposed birthplace of the huddle: (taken from Wikipedia: “…the huddle was formed by Paul Hubbard, a deaf player who went to Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. To avoid having the other team see his sign language between plays, he and his team huddled together to conceal the signs.”) Now every time you watch football, remember where the huddle may have come from!

Is there a full spectrum of sports teams there?

Gallaudet has a lot of sports (nothing like, UNC, but you must understand the size differences of the schools!). Gallaudet has the following sports: baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cheerleading, men’s and women’s cross country, football, men’s and women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s and women’s track & field, volleyball, and wrestling. I actually have friends that are assistant coaches for many of these teams. I know a football assistant coach, men’s and women’s basketball assistant coaches, and a track and field assistant coach.

Are you playing any sports?

Good question. Currently I am not playing any organized sports. I almost tried out for the GU dance team but got cold feet because my signing skills weren’t up to par last semester and dancing skills are rusty. Looking back on it, I don’t think I would have time right now anyways. I enjoy going to sporting events here. I can watch football and baseball out my window!

What is the hardest part about learning ASL - memory work, vocabulary?

The hardest part about learning ASL is everything! Hahaha! I love learning ASL! I learn new things everyday. I learn vocabulary and grammar all the time and I’m constantly tweaking how I say things. I have grown up learning things by watching other people do them, and that has really helped me out here at Gallaudet. I think taking dance for 15 years has helped train my body to copy other’s movements.

Are deaf students patient with the learners of ASL?

It’s hard to generalize the entire study body here, but from my experience, yes, everyone is very patient with me and other new signers. They appreciate that we are learning their language instead of forcing them to use our language. They are always willing to teach new signs and explain things so that you’ll remember. It’s comforting knowing that people will slow down or clarify if you ask them.

When you 'sign' are your emotions as tied into your words as when you speak? With the spoken word we have inflection and pitch to accentuate our intent - are there equivalents in ASL?

This is an excellent question!! Yes, emotions are ALWAYS tied to your words when you speak (both English and ASL). Inflection and pitch definitely accentuate our intent in spoken English, whereas facial expression and intensity of the signing accentuate intent and emotions in ASL. When signing anything, your facial expressions tie directly to what you’re saying and what you’re feeling about that topic. When discussing this topic with some hearing friends the other day, we all said that we felt silly when we use our face to express how we feel. We’ve been told when giving lectures to not use our hands or extreme facial expressions, but we come here and we’re expected to use both at the same time…all the time! It’s a difficult transition, but we’re all learning and becoming more comfortable and confident everyday.

School is still in session. It has been nice taking different classes and having different clients. I still really love all the girls in my program. I feel fortunate that we all get along and like being around each other, even outside of class and clinic!

As many of you know, I really missed home last semester. Homesickness really struck me a lot harder than I thought it would. I have found more time this semester to go home (I'm trying for once every month or so instead of just breaks). I found time 2 weekends ago to head home on a Friday and head back to school on Sunday. It was soooooooooo nice to be home even if just for a short time. I brought a friend home with me, Ben, to meet my parents, see my hometown (he's never been to NC), and just get off campus for a while. Okay, to answer the obvious question that has just arisen in your mind: yes, Ben and I are dating now. (Zack and I ended things over Christmas break amiably and still hope to stay friends with no hard feelings). Anyways, we had a lot of fun being off campus and out of DC for the weekend just enjoying the peace and quiet of Southern Pines, NC. It was also really nice to have someone ride with me for 6 hours each way in the car. He's a 1st year student in the same department as me (Hearing, Speech, and Language Sciences) and is in the Audiology program. I won't go into every detail of his life because I'd prefer not to completely embarrass him on my blog, but he's really nice and we have a lot of fun together!

Here are a few pictures from our weekend in Southern Pines, NC:

Me in Southern Pines petting a horse we found in horse country

Ben in front of "THE RESORT" in Pinehurst

Ben & I enjoying the pine trees of NC

I'm heading home next for Spring break in a few weeks and I'm excited to have a week-long break!