Introduction

Hello classmates and Dr. W!

Let me tell you a little about myself: I'm a hearing girl from Portland, Oregon. Am I apart of the interpreting program you ask? NO! I've had to explain myself so many times. I get why everyone assumes that first but come on. I want to teach ASL. Do I want to teach to the Deaf? NO! I want to teach ASL to HEARING high school kids. There are so many ignorant hearing people in the world. Even my hearing friends ask me the dumbest questions. Since I moved here I've been asked, "Is it totally silent there?", "You said the Deaf talk a lot...how do they talk?", and, my personal favorite, "Do the Deaf laugh?" That needs to change. Right now. And I'm working on that.

It's been hard going through the motions to reach my goal though. I'm pretty much on my own on this journey. My mom and I...let's just say we're more friends than mother and daughter. Trying to be mother and daughter makes problems for us. I'm too much like her: stubborn, tough, independent, hard working, etc. So we butt heads. She wants me to stay home instead of going out with my friends. I want to know why but all she tells me is, "Because I said so" or, "Because I'm your mother." Those are legitimate excuses in my book so I fight with her. That's beside the point. Our relationship being like that has caused me to grow up quickly. I am who I am because of her. She's still my superhero and my rock even when we don't get along. She's proud of me for getting into a Deaf university as a hearing person and that's all that matters.

Anyways, I'm sure you're wondering why me, a girl, would pick a weird boy name like Yossarian as my pseudonym. Have you ever read Catch-22? If not, I command you to go read it now. I love political satire and that book is the epitome of that. Already read it? Go read it again. I guarantee you this; no matter how many times you read it, you'll laugh and catch something you missed the first times. It's honestly the funniest book I've ever read.

That's all the guts I can think of to spill right now. Hope I didn't make too much of a mess =]