After becoming deaf, I realized that I'd better get an education if I was ever to do anything with my life.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
When I was young I knew I was deaf. I couldn't accept it.
Right after college, I was trying to figure out what to do. Teach? Act? Model? Do PR for the deaf community? And now I'm doing all I dreamed of and more.
If I'd been born into a hearing family and went to a public school, I would have probably felt much more isolated, and being deaf would have become my identity.
One of the reasons I wanted to teach deaf children was because it made me very sad that they spoke so clumsily and that they moved with less grace that I knew was possible of deaf people.
I took some classes in sign language when I was in my early teens because I was told that I would be completely deaf very early. But I never really wanted to learn.
I got my mathematics degree because I wanted to teach deaf children math.
I'm really excited to educate the world about what deaf people can do.
All my life, I just felt that I should have finished my education.
Own your identity. Love who you are in the world. Love your deafness.
Growing up, I was always involved in the deaf community.