~Tuesday, April 29, 2008~
24 days to Graduation!
Hello all,
So it's almost time to leave Rochester. I'm not sure how I feel about this... I don't know if I'm quite ready.
Rochester has been my home for about 4 years. RIT has been my safe haven for 4 years. I-90, I-476 and I-81 have been my routine highways for traveling for 4 years. The Genesee has been my rowing heaven for 4 years. I just don't know.
I can't count on both my hands the things I've accomplished here, but they'll all stay with me in memories of my RIT experience. It's been a great one and I'm looking forward to my last month of May here, filled with senior events, thesis cramming, final rowing races, dinners with old freshman year friends, packing up my UC apartment, and the like.
To make my life easier, I've been taking my senior thesis one day at a time. I find this to be the most effective method because A. it's the way to go, and B. why agonize next week before it's due?
NY State Champs are this weekend at Whitney Point, NY. We'll be racing a varsity 8, and then based on our results, taking either a 4 or an 8 to ECACs in Worcester the following weekend. I'm bummed that I'll be missing IMAGINE RIT (link) this weekend as well as Karen's Walk (www.karenswalk.com), but I'm sure I'll read all about them in the RIT Reporter (link) when I get back. All these websites I've just used in this paragraph are amazing, by the way. I'm so amazed with RIT's achievements in web design and just overall Public Relations. Wow.
That's all for now, hope all is well. Enjoy the sunshine!
Reader Questions
Question
If the deaf student is not using ASL,Is he /she survive in campus life? How the deaf oral student can get info. in big RIT classes?
- Kl
Answer
Thanks for your questions.
I can speak from experience when I say that a student can very much survive campus life. I came to RIT not knowing any sign language, and am still "alive!" I have many different groups of friends that are hearing, hard-of-hearing, and who are deaf but speak orally. Students can also pick up sign language along the way to communicate with those who sign. Because RIT is so diverse, it's very easy for students to get involved with groups that don't communicate using only sign language. However, if the deaf student wants to, he or she can take ASL classes or learn from deaf friends how to sign.
As far as learning in RIT classes, there are a variety of ways to obtain information. Notetaking is a popular service here on campus, in which hearing students take notes for deaf students, and then the notes are posted online for the deaf students to access. This way, the deaf students can pay attention in class without missing any information while taking notes themselves. C-Print is another option that deaf students can use, where a captionist sits in the back of the room and types a summary of the professor's lecture, and the deaf student has a laptop to read the captioning real-time on the laptop they are provided for the duration of the class. It's a very effective way of getting information on the spot, and it's all in front of the student on a laptop, being typed. Interpreting is the most widely employed method of getting information at RIT. Many sign language interpreters work at RIT and interpret hearing professsors' lectures for deaf students.
So, there are many ways for a deaf student to "survive" at RIT - hope this helps!
- Sarah
~Tuesday, April 8, 2008~
more time, yet more work
So I withdrew from one of my classes. It was a history-based class (not my cup of tea) and I wanted more time to focus on thesis and crew. Without the class, I'm already ahead in credits, so it doesn't affect my plans for graduating in May. This is the first time I've withdrawn from a class, but I feel so free and more able to organize my time.
Thesis is going well. I submitted my IRB form last week so I should hear from them in 2 weeks. Seems far off, but in the meantime I hope to prepare more of my literature review & and develop my experiment for study. I can't believe that once my thesis is done that'll pretty much be it for me. I mean, my poetry class is taxing, but enjoyable at the same time, and food & wine pairing: amazing.
Speaking of food and wine, I've had so many "epiphanies" lately in the world of wine. I find that just a few classes helps enhance my palette & my knowledge of picking out scents and the earth.
And speaking of the earth, today is a glorious day. It's about 65 degrees outside, and just about everyone is wandering the quarter mile, looking for excuses to stay outside instead of going to class. Right now I'm at work, and staring out the window.
We all get so happy when the sun comes out, and it makes me smile. Not that winter is a bad thing, but it's nice to have a little change of scenery after 4 months of living in the arctic tundra.
Reader Questions
Question
I'm looking for a blog with all deaf individuals to grow my business...could you recommend how I can get into contact? I am a sales rep (yes, I'm deaf and fluent in ASL) looking to expand my market! Any help from your end would be greatly appreciated!Joelenep.s. I went to NTID for one year (1985)!
- Joelene Orlando
Answer
it would be a good idea to contact NTID marketing.
you can direct any questions you may have here:
link
hope this helps!
i think it's a great idea though, to work on expanding your market. blogging is continually growing and is a successful medium of communication!
- Sarah
