As everyone knows I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. A fundamental belief of my church is that God has called prophets in these last days. Recently I was able to enjoy a special event that occurs every six months in my church. We have what we call "General Conference." This is the first weekend in October and April. From the 6th to the 7th of October I was blessed to watch the Prophet and President of my Church address the Church as well as the entire world. We also hear from our Apostles and other General Authorities within our Church. It is always an incredible spiritual experience. I'm prepping a post later specifically about this event.
One of the greatest blessings to me is to be able to watch this event in ASL. There is something about seeing the Gospel presented in ASL that brings it to life in a way captions never can. One of the statements that really stood out to me was in a story that was recounted. I'm paraphrasing but it was the prayer of a sister to the Lord saying, " Heavenly Father help me to know how to best fill my time."
With the onset of epilepsy it really felt like my life was completely derailed. What I had planned to be doing was no longer an option on the table. Suddenly every plan I'd made, every goal I'd set, and every expectation I had were changed. The statement of "help me to know how best to fill my time" has taken up a lot of space in my mind since I heard it. It reflects the attitude I'm trying to adopt. One of ok apparently my plan was not what I needed to be doing or where you wanted me to be so please show me what I should be doing and where I am needed.
I always feel music reflects much of our perspectives and attitudes on life. A song I heard recently captures how I'm trying to feel right now. It's called "while I'm waiting" by John Waller. The song is about serving the Lord while waiting. Since I'm still waiting for life to "get back on the tracks" as it were I'm trying to find ways to serve the Lord until then. Although my attitude is far from prefect and it's still a struggle to be positive it's a struggle worth making.
If anyone has suggestions please let me know! I think between myself and all the amazing people in my life along with my loving Heavenly Father we can find ways to fill my time!
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Two kinds of people
This post is a reflection on recent life. It's not meant to be preachy to anyone, it's just my take on things. I recently read an important quote that stuck. It was: There are two kinds of people in this world. Those that say "Thy will be done" and those that say "Well fine have it your way." I've always been the second kind of person. I've dragged my feet and always managed to get to the end of my rope well before I'm willing to listen.
I think a lot of our perspectives on life are wrapped up in those two answers. The first is a willingness to listen, to understand that there really is a plan even when we can't see it. It's belief in the idea that it is always darkest before dawn. The second is pure stubbornness, it is an I know best attitude. Frequently the second response leads people into situations they don't want to be in before they're willing to accept help.
I've always believed that God gives us choices in life, forks in the road. Often we don't see them until we're well down the path, having chosen without ever really noticing it. I also think he tries his best to give us gentle nudges before he uses a boot in the backside. I got another gentle nudge this week. After beginning to have full blown seizures and watching what that was doing to my life I got mad. I was mad at God and everything and everyone else. I was mad that things weren't working out the way I had planned. I was so mad I was willing to ignore the things I know are true. Then my amazing sisters sat down to watch a movie with me. We were narrowing down the choices between a familiar and hilarious movie and a movie I hadn't seen before. I picked the second movie, somewhat interested.
The entire movie was a gentle nudge, because it was about a guy who got to the end of his rope. He got to where his life was going up in flames before he realized that the God he was certain didn't care about him or his problems was very interested in both. I say another because two good friends also gave me nudges. One reminded me that it wasn't God's fault that I was having seizures. It wasn't his decision for that to happen. The other gave me a very insightful answer to a question I asked, an answer that I needed to hear. As always when I feel lost my wonderful husband gives me nudges too. I've found so far in life that when I get a gentle nudge and I actually listen to it a course correction is always involved. I've also found that when I'm on the right path even if it's not the one I wanted or picked there's a peace there. It's certainty of, ok I don't know where this road leads but I'm trusting You to be with me wherever it goes.
I'm not a perfect person and I'm certainly not the best example of my faith. I'd like to think though that it may take an eternity to change me but one day I want to be the kind of person that can say "Ok, Thy will be done" instead of "have it your way."
I think a lot of our perspectives on life are wrapped up in those two answers. The first is a willingness to listen, to understand that there really is a plan even when we can't see it. It's belief in the idea that it is always darkest before dawn. The second is pure stubbornness, it is an I know best attitude. Frequently the second response leads people into situations they don't want to be in before they're willing to accept help.
I've always believed that God gives us choices in life, forks in the road. Often we don't see them until we're well down the path, having chosen without ever really noticing it. I also think he tries his best to give us gentle nudges before he uses a boot in the backside. I got another gentle nudge this week. After beginning to have full blown seizures and watching what that was doing to my life I got mad. I was mad at God and everything and everyone else. I was mad that things weren't working out the way I had planned. I was so mad I was willing to ignore the things I know are true. Then my amazing sisters sat down to watch a movie with me. We were narrowing down the choices between a familiar and hilarious movie and a movie I hadn't seen before. I picked the second movie, somewhat interested.
The entire movie was a gentle nudge, because it was about a guy who got to the end of his rope. He got to where his life was going up in flames before he realized that the God he was certain didn't care about him or his problems was very interested in both. I say another because two good friends also gave me nudges. One reminded me that it wasn't God's fault that I was having seizures. It wasn't his decision for that to happen. The other gave me a very insightful answer to a question I asked, an answer that I needed to hear. As always when I feel lost my wonderful husband gives me nudges too. I've found so far in life that when I get a gentle nudge and I actually listen to it a course correction is always involved. I've also found that when I'm on the right path even if it's not the one I wanted or picked there's a peace there. It's certainty of, ok I don't know where this road leads but I'm trusting You to be with me wherever it goes.
I'm not a perfect person and I'm certainly not the best example of my faith. I'd like to think though that it may take an eternity to change me but one day I want to be the kind of person that can say "Ok, Thy will be done" instead of "have it your way."
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
The beginning of the saga known as the days of the Mouse
As most people know I currently work for the Mouse. It's definitely an interesting experience. Since I haven't really been blogging lately let me take the chance to start catching everyone up on my crazy life.
Working for the Mouse is a very unique experience. I am absolutely certain that there will never be a job quite like it. I work at Disney's Polynesian Resort or the poly for short. I wear one of the most hideous sets of work clothes I have ever come across. Truly Disney has a thing about ridiculous and ill-fitting work clothes also known as costumes. I want to meet whoever they picked to model our work clothes after because wow they need to see a doctor. Their bodies are just not normal. About costumes and the poly that's Disney speak but we'll get into that another day, it's a post all to its self. The one thing we are absolutely known for is our service. We go beyond what almost anyone would ever be willing to do. Our "guests" come with the highest of expectations.
Not to mention if you're staying in my resort you've either spent 10 years saving for this trip or you have a maxed out credit card by the time you leave. Maybe that's why we have so many people that are half drunk at our resort, they're trying to ignore their bill. We also have the unique opportunity to make a real impression on people. There are guests that I get to know and I'm really able to help. They give me reason enough to lip read and use English. Which in case anyone was confused about this I can't stand oral English.
We make a difference in lives sometimes more than we know. One of my managers told me about a night she came into work. She'd had a long day and wasn't exactly feeling all Disney chipper but she helped a little boy have a wonderful night. She received an email a few weeks later from his Dad. His Dad wrote her to tell her how much of an impact she'd made on his son's life just before he died of cancer. Next post I'll talk more about some of the special people I work for. As a teaser I'll let you know about the manager that refers to my seizures as epicness.
Working for the Mouse is a very unique experience. I am absolutely certain that there will never be a job quite like it. I work at Disney's Polynesian Resort or the poly for short. I wear one of the most hideous sets of work clothes I have ever come across. Truly Disney has a thing about ridiculous and ill-fitting work clothes also known as costumes. I want to meet whoever they picked to model our work clothes after because wow they need to see a doctor. Their bodies are just not normal. About costumes and the poly that's Disney speak but we'll get into that another day, it's a post all to its self. The one thing we are absolutely known for is our service. We go beyond what almost anyone would ever be willing to do. Our "guests" come with the highest of expectations.
Not to mention if you're staying in my resort you've either spent 10 years saving for this trip or you have a maxed out credit card by the time you leave. Maybe that's why we have so many people that are half drunk at our resort, they're trying to ignore their bill. We also have the unique opportunity to make a real impression on people. There are guests that I get to know and I'm really able to help. They give me reason enough to lip read and use English. Which in case anyone was confused about this I can't stand oral English.
We make a difference in lives sometimes more than we know. One of my managers told me about a night she came into work. She'd had a long day and wasn't exactly feeling all Disney chipper but she helped a little boy have a wonderful night. She received an email a few weeks later from his Dad. His Dad wrote her to tell her how much of an impact she'd made on his son's life just before he died of cancer. Next post I'll talk more about some of the special people I work for. As a teaser I'll let you know about the manager that refers to my seizures as epicness.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Riddick, New Hearing Aids and Disney!
Hey everyone sorry for the delay again. Life has been rather busy lately. Alex and I began fostering a wonderful 3 and 1/2 month old lab border collie mix named Riddick. Riddick is in training to become a hearing dog! He's a wonderful energetic puppy and boy is he smart. There's a lot to tell about Riddick so that will be a post all to itself and will hopefully include plenty of pictures.
In other news we decided to buy the more expensive hearing aids. I tried the lower priced aids but I got no benefits from there. We'll be picking up the new ones this week so I'm hopeful it will go well. I've used a demo version of the nicer hearing aids before, during Christmas. They work quite well for me but even with a hearing aid there are still sounds I can't hear which is why we're using Riddick.
Finally, I am proud to announce that I was accepted into the Disney College Program! Alex was also accepted into the DCP. We both start working on May 21st and will work until Jan 3rd. More details will be following. Hope everyone is doing well!
Rachel
In other news we decided to buy the more expensive hearing aids. I tried the lower priced aids but I got no benefits from there. We'll be picking up the new ones this week so I'm hopeful it will go well. I've used a demo version of the nicer hearing aids before, during Christmas. They work quite well for me but even with a hearing aid there are still sounds I can't hear which is why we're using Riddick.
Finally, I am proud to announce that I was accepted into the Disney College Program! Alex was also accepted into the DCP. We both start working on May 21st and will work until Jan 3rd. More details will be following. Hope everyone is doing well!
Rachel
Friday, January 27, 2012
Internships
So recently I've been going through the application process for some internships. I just want to contrast two different situations that have happened. A little bit of background information first. BYU constantly has different tables set up in the student center, the Wilk, for companies looking for interns.
The first company was Holland America and Princess Cruises. I had picked up a few brochures because there wasn't a person sitting at the table in the Wilk at the time. When a representative showed up I walked over to talk to her. I typically don't speak orally, so I pulled out pen and paper to talk to her. My first question was the all important one, what accommodations do you make for Deaf people. You should have seen her face. She went from excited to talk to a possible intern to disappointed in about five seconds flat when she realized that I couldn't hear her. She began by listing the jobs that I can't hold with their company and then said she didn't know what accommodations if any the other jobs had. I wanted to make sure it was competely clear and so I asked her if I couldn't be hired for those jobs just because I can't hear. She wrote back that, that was the exact reason. I have to admit I was really angry at that point. Before walking away I spoke orally telling her I thought that was interesting because denying me a job just because I can't hear is blatant discrimination and completely illegal.
The other situation could not have been more different. I went to the Disney College Program presentation on campus. Like normal I had two interpreters with me to make communication easier. The staff from Disney worked with me to be set up for the presentation. They kept the lights up during two movie clips so I could watch the interpreter. The recruiter is also learning ASL, he practiced signing to me. He let me know that there were a variety of jobs available to me regardless of whether I can hear or whether I speak orally. He also let me know that Disney would make all the necessary accommodations for my living arrangements. Disney would provide things for the doorbell, fire alarms all of that at no charge to me if I was selected to work for them.
It's always interesting to see how people deal with my deafness especially with jobs. These are just two of the many experiences I've had but I think they show the best and worst scenarios.
Rachel
The first company was Holland America and Princess Cruises. I had picked up a few brochures because there wasn't a person sitting at the table in the Wilk at the time. When a representative showed up I walked over to talk to her. I typically don't speak orally, so I pulled out pen and paper to talk to her. My first question was the all important one, what accommodations do you make for Deaf people. You should have seen her face. She went from excited to talk to a possible intern to disappointed in about five seconds flat when she realized that I couldn't hear her. She began by listing the jobs that I can't hold with their company and then said she didn't know what accommodations if any the other jobs had. I wanted to make sure it was competely clear and so I asked her if I couldn't be hired for those jobs just because I can't hear. She wrote back that, that was the exact reason. I have to admit I was really angry at that point. Before walking away I spoke orally telling her I thought that was interesting because denying me a job just because I can't hear is blatant discrimination and completely illegal.
The other situation could not have been more different. I went to the Disney College Program presentation on campus. Like normal I had two interpreters with me to make communication easier. The staff from Disney worked with me to be set up for the presentation. They kept the lights up during two movie clips so I could watch the interpreter. The recruiter is also learning ASL, he practiced signing to me. He let me know that there were a variety of jobs available to me regardless of whether I can hear or whether I speak orally. He also let me know that Disney would make all the necessary accommodations for my living arrangements. Disney would provide things for the doorbell, fire alarms all of that at no charge to me if I was selected to work for them.
It's always interesting to see how people deal with my deafness especially with jobs. These are just two of the many experiences I've had but I think they show the best and worst scenarios.
Rachel
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Winter Semester
Ok so I still haven't finished writing about Christmas. Sorry, I'm working on it but we had a very busy Christmas break. So in the meantime ( by the way totally didn't know meantime was one word until today) I'm going to update all of you on how this semester is going.
I'm currently taking ASL 102, New Testament (Part 1), Statics, Calculus 1, and Technical Writing. Thus far I've had a pretty good start to the semester. I've only encountered a few problems. The most prominent one came from my English class which is on technical writing. As everyone knows I use interpreters during class. This means that I normally sign and the interpreter will voice for me ( for more information about voicing check out my last blog, I know shameless plugging). For this class we have to do several presentations. The problem occurred when I asked my teacher after class how he wanted to time me. He had been using his watch, which obviously wouldn't work so well for someone who can't hear the alarm.
My teacher then made a rather grave mistake. He asked me to present orally, meaning he didn't want me to use ASL during my presentation. He went on to say that he felt that using an interpreter for the presentation made it the interpreter's presentation and not mine. Many people will read this and wonder ok, where's the problem I don't see it. The problem is that is completely inappropriate and flat out illegal to ask that or bring that up with a deaf or hard of hearing student. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, it's just flat out illegal for a teacher to do that. One of the ironic things is that my teacher uses in the canal hearing aids.The other ironic thing is that my husband had been encouraging me to do the presentation orally and I had been considering. After the mistake on my teacher's part I've decided to present using ASL. I want to stand up for my rights and do what I'm most comfortable with. My husband is fully supporting my presenting in ASL, mostly because the teacher made him mad.
On a funny note, a very funny situation happened in my religion class. Every day we start with a prayer. If you pray then you have to introduce yourself to the class and answer three random questions. The class asked me how I met my husband, my major, and then my teacher walked right into a huge no-no. My teacher asked me what is the most important thing we should know about "hearing impaired people". I signed back instantly, (without trying to be snarky) not to call us hearing impaired. The entire class including both of my interpreters and my teacher burst out laughing.
Being Deaf at a hearing school certainly has it's ups and downs, it's funny moments and it's hard moments. But all in all, it's not half bad. Next time more about communicating with hearing people (when I don't speak) and eventually I'll post about Christmas.
love you all
Rachel
I'm currently taking ASL 102, New Testament (Part 1), Statics, Calculus 1, and Technical Writing. Thus far I've had a pretty good start to the semester. I've only encountered a few problems. The most prominent one came from my English class which is on technical writing. As everyone knows I use interpreters during class. This means that I normally sign and the interpreter will voice for me ( for more information about voicing check out my last blog, I know shameless plugging). For this class we have to do several presentations. The problem occurred when I asked my teacher after class how he wanted to time me. He had been using his watch, which obviously wouldn't work so well for someone who can't hear the alarm.
My teacher then made a rather grave mistake. He asked me to present orally, meaning he didn't want me to use ASL during my presentation. He went on to say that he felt that using an interpreter for the presentation made it the interpreter's presentation and not mine. Many people will read this and wonder ok, where's the problem I don't see it. The problem is that is completely inappropriate and flat out illegal to ask that or bring that up with a deaf or hard of hearing student. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, it's just flat out illegal for a teacher to do that. One of the ironic things is that my teacher uses in the canal hearing aids.The other ironic thing is that my husband had been encouraging me to do the presentation orally and I had been considering. After the mistake on my teacher's part I've decided to present using ASL. I want to stand up for my rights and do what I'm most comfortable with. My husband is fully supporting my presenting in ASL, mostly because the teacher made him mad.
On a funny note, a very funny situation happened in my religion class. Every day we start with a prayer. If you pray then you have to introduce yourself to the class and answer three random questions. The class asked me how I met my husband, my major, and then my teacher walked right into a huge no-no. My teacher asked me what is the most important thing we should know about "hearing impaired people". I signed back instantly, (without trying to be snarky) not to call us hearing impaired. The entire class including both of my interpreters and my teacher burst out laughing.
Being Deaf at a hearing school certainly has it's ups and downs, it's funny moments and it's hard moments. But all in all, it's not half bad. Next time more about communicating with hearing people (when I don't speak) and eventually I'll post about Christmas.
love you all
Rachel
Friday, January 6, 2012
"Voicing"
I know I've been a slacker lately about posting, sorry I'm trying to do better. This post is going to be a little out of sequence because I'm also working on writing all about the holidays. My posts about Christmas break are going to go up after this one. So no one shoot me for being out of order.
With the start of the new semester I'm assigned interpreters for my different classes. Some of the interpreters I've worked with before and others I haven't. But the interesting phenomena I want to talk about in my post is "voicing." When a person does not speak, whatever the reason, and only signs the interpreter will "voice" for them. Essentially the interpreter is interpreting everything that person is saying for other people who don't sign.
Normally with my classes and interpreters I speak for myself but not always. Sometimes it's easier to sign what I want to know and often it just feels so much more natural. It also depends on the interpreter and how familiar we are with each others signs. I find that the more I use ASL the less inclined I am to speak orally.
It's just a very interesting thing to watch someone speaking like you (not for you, it's an important difference). When an interpreter voices for someone they are speaking as that person, never for that person. There are many different views on the use of voicing especially for late deafened adults. A lot of people think that if you can speak you should. Thus they believe that voicing promotes a certain level of laziness. I disagree with that idea. An interpreter voices for me because I make a linguistic choice, I choose to use a different language that I'm frequently more comfortable with. Also it's very hard to switch back and forth from ASL to English. If I'm already watching my interpreter and conducting the class in ASL it's unnecessary to switch back to English to ask a question then back to ASL to receive the answer.
For example today in my technical writing class we introduced ourselves to another member of the class. I signed the entire time and allowed my interpreters to voice for me. I felt much more comfortable doing that and it was a much more enjoyable experience for me. Take my very biased opinions about voicing with a grain of salt and think about it. Would you choose to have someone voice for you?
Rachel
With the start of the new semester I'm assigned interpreters for my different classes. Some of the interpreters I've worked with before and others I haven't. But the interesting phenomena I want to talk about in my post is "voicing." When a person does not speak, whatever the reason, and only signs the interpreter will "voice" for them. Essentially the interpreter is interpreting everything that person is saying for other people who don't sign.
Normally with my classes and interpreters I speak for myself but not always. Sometimes it's easier to sign what I want to know and often it just feels so much more natural. It also depends on the interpreter and how familiar we are with each others signs. I find that the more I use ASL the less inclined I am to speak orally.
It's just a very interesting thing to watch someone speaking like you (not for you, it's an important difference). When an interpreter voices for someone they are speaking as that person, never for that person. There are many different views on the use of voicing especially for late deafened adults. A lot of people think that if you can speak you should. Thus they believe that voicing promotes a certain level of laziness. I disagree with that idea. An interpreter voices for me because I make a linguistic choice, I choose to use a different language that I'm frequently more comfortable with. Also it's very hard to switch back and forth from ASL to English. If I'm already watching my interpreter and conducting the class in ASL it's unnecessary to switch back to English to ask a question then back to ASL to receive the answer.
For example today in my technical writing class we introduced ourselves to another member of the class. I signed the entire time and allowed my interpreters to voice for me. I felt much more comfortable doing that and it was a much more enjoyable experience for me. Take my very biased opinions about voicing with a grain of salt and think about it. Would you choose to have someone voice for you?
Rachel
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