Two weeks...

Yes, I am a bit late in posting this entry, things have been pretty busy after Thanksgiving break. I only have two weeks left here at Gallaudet, and only one week left of classes so things should definitely start winding down. It is crazy to think that I have already been here for so long, and I will be back to constantly warm Arizona shortly. Speaking of temperatures, it is in the 40s every day here, which is definitely cold for me but I really hope it snows before the 18th! I love the snow and would love to live somewhere (even shortly) where it snows! And my friend Reema just told me that it might snow tonight, a 30% chance :)


It is hard for me to think back to before I was here at Gallaudet. I have matured so much through this experience and am so grateful to have had this opportunity. There was a time when I was, of course, afraid to travel to a new city, be immersed in a new language, and not know anyone around me. Proving to myself that I am able to survive and thrive in this situation has allowed me to learn a lot about myself and what I am able to do. Being at Gally has shown me just how important ASL is to me and how much I want to incorporate it into whatever I do in the future. 


Something that I realized when I was at home for Thanksgiving, is that I really take for granted the environment here. It is a unique opportunity to be able to constantly communicate in the language you are trying to learn; you pick things up more quickly, and are constantly forced to practice with every conversation that you have. In fact, I learn so much so quickly here that I didn't even realize how important that was until I went back to Arizona for Thanksgiving break. Although my family and friends fully support my interest in ASL, they do not know the language and I feel like once I return, I will not be able to have conversations in ASL that are constantly challenging and expanding my knowledge of the language. Although anything will be vastly different than the all day every day practice I have here at Gallaudet, I hope that once I get back to ASU, I will be able to find people in the deaf community who I can just have conversations with to help maintain and further my skills. 


Since I will be back so shortly, I am trying every day to take advantage of the opportunities here, and will keep you all updated on my last weeks at Gallaudet!


Before publishing this post I realized that I don't have any pictures or videos from this past week to upload to keep your interest! So...I will post this picture of Lost. I just recently started watching this show with my friend Angelica (who has seen it before), and we're pretty obsessed. If you like mysteries I suggest you check it out, there is always a lot of crazy stuff happening!

Thank you for reading :)
Kaleena


new sign of the week: a new sign for 'jealous'
most used phrase of the week: are we going to the Rathskellar (a late night bar-type restaurant on campus)