Jason Returns to the Blogosphere!
I would like to ensure to the blogosphere that I am still alive and well and intend to resume blogging. I seem to have shown a pattern of withering away at the end of every semester, the end result of accumulated stresses on the body and the mind. However, I look at it this way: a slab of steel has to be pounded countless of times, folded into itself thousands of times before it achieves the requisite strength for a true knight's sword. Every time I go through some mental pounding, the only way to go is to come out of it stronger. The alternative is to fall back into the fiery blacksmith's pit, back into oblivion.
Now, that I have done my share of feather-ruffling and strutting, it is time for some venting. There are so many things that I want to write about, I think I could practically write a few books. But the problem is, my academics keeps on getting in the way of my education.
What to do when you have to suffer through three-hour long night classes, staring at one area the entire time: the interpreter? The normal attention span of human beings is mere minutes, cut down drastically when a fully Deaf person such as myself is not able to enjoy watching the dynamic body movements of the professor describing 3-D concepts. Suppose he is describing 2 spheres orbiting each other, being hearing, he would still use his hands to visualize that concept. If I take my eyes off the interpreter to take a glimpse of the prof, I will miss out any words the interpreter might sign while my eyes are disconnected.
Moreover, PowerPoint projections are always used in class, and they are often used to convey visual information, such as complicated physics equations (think E=mc2) and their physical mainfestations, helping the students comphrehend. The professor uses laser pointers to point to whatever he is talking about, and whenever I look at the screen to see what he is talking about, I am guaranteed to miss whatever the interpreter signs.
Whenever a typical student has something to say, he or she simply speaks up, such as I would do at Gallaudet, I would simply sign up, and the professor would see me and stop, and take in what I say. I am not able to do that at all in a hearing class. I have to raise my hand, wait for the prof to see me, and then sign to the interpreter what I want to say. Oftentimes, the interpreter would still not translate correctly. For example, one question had me asking something like this: "How do you set up a batch rendering network?" But, what the interpreter translated was "How do you set up a butcher rendering internet?" You would never believe the funny faces I got! Fortunately, I rectified the problem before looking stupid any longer. Unfortunately, that saps my particpatory motivation.
Do you know what all this translates to? Out of seven courses I have taken at GW altogether, guess how many Incompletes I received? FIVE! yes, 5 out of 7! I try my best to avoid not to, but apparently, I am resigned to being severely handicapped as a Deaf, non-oral student at a completely Hearing university. My severe hadicap necessitates some extra time, probably two extra weeks, which my professors, luckily, recognize and understand. They are very accomodating, thank God!
I would admit, I would have it easier if I had a fellow Deaf classmate to work with, because I see most of my classmates working together on projects, seeing professors all the time, something that I am very hard pressed to do. I feel like we are on totally different wavelengths, and it is not easy to hold an efficient communication with hearing people when you talk about complicated concepts in computer science.
You might ask, why am I doing all this? Basically, I think of it as plunging myself in shark-infested waters, to "test" the waters, in order to SEE what we, the Deaf, really NEED, technologically-wise. I will have to say, that all my experiences maneuvering through the barriers, gives me the impetus to continue developing some of the technologies necessary to bridge the enormous gap between the Deaf and Hearing worlds.
Now, that I have done my share of feather-ruffling and strutting, it is time for some venting. There are so many things that I want to write about, I think I could practically write a few books. But the problem is, my academics keeps on getting in the way of my education.
What to do when you have to suffer through three-hour long night classes, staring at one area the entire time: the interpreter? The normal attention span of human beings is mere minutes, cut down drastically when a fully Deaf person such as myself is not able to enjoy watching the dynamic body movements of the professor describing 3-D concepts. Suppose he is describing 2 spheres orbiting each other, being hearing, he would still use his hands to visualize that concept. If I take my eyes off the interpreter to take a glimpse of the prof, I will miss out any words the interpreter might sign while my eyes are disconnected.
Moreover, PowerPoint projections are always used in class, and they are often used to convey visual information, such as complicated physics equations (think E=mc2) and their physical mainfestations, helping the students comphrehend. The professor uses laser pointers to point to whatever he is talking about, and whenever I look at the screen to see what he is talking about, I am guaranteed to miss whatever the interpreter signs.
Whenever a typical student has something to say, he or she simply speaks up, such as I would do at Gallaudet, I would simply sign up, and the professor would see me and stop, and take in what I say. I am not able to do that at all in a hearing class. I have to raise my hand, wait for the prof to see me, and then sign to the interpreter what I want to say. Oftentimes, the interpreter would still not translate correctly. For example, one question had me asking something like this: "How do you set up a batch rendering network?" But, what the interpreter translated was "How do you set up a butcher rendering internet?" You would never believe the funny faces I got! Fortunately, I rectified the problem before looking stupid any longer. Unfortunately, that saps my particpatory motivation.
Do you know what all this translates to? Out of seven courses I have taken at GW altogether, guess how many Incompletes I received? FIVE! yes, 5 out of 7! I try my best to avoid not to, but apparently, I am resigned to being severely handicapped as a Deaf, non-oral student at a completely Hearing university. My severe hadicap necessitates some extra time, probably two extra weeks, which my professors, luckily, recognize and understand. They are very accomodating, thank God!
I would admit, I would have it easier if I had a fellow Deaf classmate to work with, because I see most of my classmates working together on projects, seeing professors all the time, something that I am very hard pressed to do. I feel like we are on totally different wavelengths, and it is not easy to hold an efficient communication with hearing people when you talk about complicated concepts in computer science.
You might ask, why am I doing all this? Basically, I think of it as plunging myself in shark-infested waters, to "test" the waters, in order to SEE what we, the Deaf, really NEED, technologically-wise. I will have to say, that all my experiences maneuvering through the barriers, gives me the impetus to continue developing some of the technologies necessary to bridge the enormous gap between the Deaf and Hearing worlds.