ASL Conference.

This is Koko and he knows sign language. He told his caretakers that he had a toothache and Koko was able to see a dentist. GENIUS!

So tonight I went to the Deaf Studies Conference at UVSC. After a day of school, sociology testing, and volleyball, I rode the fun bus to UVSC to go watch a performance with a bunch of Deaf individuals. I loved it! The performance was actually a movie, not a play, so I was a little disappointed, but I still enjoyed the video on Deaf throughout history. Got some good laughs in. Mainly the Deaf man in the front who shouted (to the best of his ability) AMEN when the screen read "Sign Language is an actual language." And that same man booed the actor who played Alexander Graham Bell... Deaf history was not good to Alexander Graham Bell and his invention of the telephone. The girls I was with and I met a nice man before the showing and he chatted with us for about 25 minutes. It's always interesting to hear about the odds and ends of the Deaf Culture and how to best pursue careers in ASL fields. And my favorite part was seeing my favorite ASL High School teacher! I just love her :). It made me feel at home to see someone I knew from Gilbert in this sometimes strange place. I can't even tell you how good it felt. I love American Sign Language. It has such a buoyancy and flow to it. Being at this Conference just furthers my appreciation for the language and makes me wish I could be enrolled in UVSC classes NOW and get a kick-start to my interpreting career. AH! Not until next summer... BYU offers pretty much nothing in terms on ASL classes and interpreting classes. So for someone like me, UVSC is my best and closest bet. Don't worry... I'll still go to BYU full-time and get my degree in sociology, but I'll take one class a semester at UVSC to prepare me for the interpreting exam. Also... I'm thinking about teaching ASL classes at the gym I work at back home. That is, baby sign language classes, for parents who would teach their children. That would be cool, huh?? I probably shouldn't be thinking about that until I'm really really smart with ASL.

ANYWAYS!! Tonight was fun. Now I need to write a paper on what I learned and how ASL makes me a better person. Oh joy...