Where Words Don't Speak

By Anna Bocook

 Upon entering U of L this fall, I was admittedly a little concerned I would get bored of my major. I've always had an interest in Sign Language, but I was afraid doing it every day would get redundant. To my surprise, by the second week I knew I could do ASL for a long time and never get tired of it. ASL, or American Sign Language, is beautiful. To really speak it, you have to engage your entire upper body. One sign can have multiple meanings depending on the NMMs (facial expressions, mouth shape, and other topicalizations) that you use. The forcefulness behind your sign can change your entire sentence. All of these little pieces come together to make the bigger picture.
    Students in ASL classes must complete 12 hours of Deaf Culture Immersion, which includes 5 hours in our ASL lab. Lab is one of my favorite places to go; we have a "no voicing" rule, so all you tend to hear in there is laughter. It's so heartwarming, but more heartwarming than that is Deaf Culture itself. Even as hearing people, my classmates and I feel like we are a part of it. I walk into class, and I have this feeling that I am part of something special. It's a minority that society often looks over and forgets to appreciate, and my wish is for more people to understand what a welcoming community it is. 
        Maybe my mind will change over the next four years, but for now I can see myself pursuing this language and its culture for the rest of my life. I've started signing as I talk with my hearing friends, and some of them have even picked up a few things. These little bits of simultaneous communication help me practice translating on the small scale, but it is also a wonderful excuse to sign. My ASL class in particular is sign only, much like the ASL lab. In that class you are fully immersed by week two, which is very beneficial for picking up ASL. 
    ASL is a class I don't just want a grade in. I want to learn it all, I want to absorb as much as I possibly can, and I want to share it because I'm in love with it. I even enjoy doing ASL homework, which isn't something I can say for all classes. I am already looking forward to what the rest of my major holds for me, and I pray that I always feel the same way about ASL as I do now.

Anna is a McConnell Scholar at the University of Louisville in the class of 2029. She is studying American Sign Language with a minor in political science.