Intro - What is going on??

  Hello! I suppose I should have planned ahead a little more and posted this beforehand but I didn't so here we are.

What is this blog for/about?

     I am currently taking American Sign Language classes and am planning to become an ASL Interpreter eventually. I grew up in Minnesota and the community college there has a great Deaf Studies program. I know one of the instructors as her daughter was my best friend growing up. Because I became interested in ASL recently I reached out to her and was asking questions about interpreting (she is also an interpreter) and ASL. She told me about a class at Central Lakes College where she works that is an ASL Culturally Immersive class in which they take a week-long trip to Gallaudet University in Washington D.C.---the only University for the deaf in the world. Throughout the week they spend a considerable amount of time on campus interacting with students, observing classes, participating in activities, and they also visit the national monuments and museums in D.C. Throughout the week students are only allowed to use ASL, no talking. She told me that if it was something I was interested in I was welcome to join them. I jumped at the opportunity, how often are you able to do something like that right? So now here I am, in Washington D.C. at Gallaudet University, using only Sign language!

     Going into this trip I feel somewhat scared and nervous, but also so excited. Although I know some signing I still feel like I need to know more. So I'm a little scared a won't understand enough, but I guess we'll see. I'm also nervous about no voice. I'm a very talkative person and am often making sounds or singing and so the idea of no talking this week sounds like a challenge for sure. However, I am still able to communicate with people so in a way am still talking, so maybe it'll be fine. I am expecting to learn SOOO much on this trip, ASL wise and history of the nation and I am so excited for all of it. I can't wait to see how much I've improved in my signing by the end of the week.

     I love to journal regularly because it helps me remember the things I do, experience, and feel, and I especially want to journal this trip as it is such an amazing experience and I don't want to forget anything. I decided to blog it because this way I can share it with friends and family who are interested in my travels and experiences and they can keep up with what I'm doing on my trip!

     I'm also planning to vlog as I go, I will do my best to include pictures and videos throughout my posts. As you may have noticed, I'm already behind...But I'll get it all up eventually:)

If you want to Subscribe to my Youtube Channel here is the link:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyWPO-cg15Gd6JFtU2ZH7LA/

My first video explains some of the same things that I wrote here: 

Thank you!

Gabriella