Charity Sanders

Life After School

Tue, 04 Apr 2006 03:01:16 +0000

I'm not graduating this May, but I am already wondering what it'll be like after school. I'll have been through 19 years of school by the time I graduate May 2007, and more and more I look forward to the end of this extremely long period of my life. I look to the period after the BA degree as a time of choice and extreme freedom, but it's a scary transition as well. My excitement outweighs any anxiety i may have, though.

Spring Fever

Tue, 04 Apr 2006 02:37:14 +0000

Not a very creative title, I know, but spring fever is here, and it's presence is strong. You can see students laying on the Gallaudet mall, soaking in the rays between classes. With the sun's persuasive rays making their way to every crack, through blinds opened and closed, a 50 minute affair (class) becomes agonizing. Open windows reveal gorgeous blossomed trees and milling Gallaudet students. Very few students are not wearing flipflops and shorts/skirts. Those unlucky students in class are peering outside, and I can bet you they're thinking, just 5 weeks left till summer vacation. Spring fever has hit, at full blast. ; )

Backpacking Part IV: An Eventful Turkish Border Crossing

Sun, 04 Dec 2005 23:09:03 +0000

Whew, I’m glad I was able to get this ‘notebook’ at a booth near the train station in Istanbul, because I have a lot of writing to do- I’m six days behind! It’s hard to believe, the time flies by, that it does. Last I left off (in the other journal), I was on the train to Istanbul, Turkey. That train ride was pretty uneventful, until the border crossing. When night came, we took shifts sleeping. The people on the train looked suspicious, and, on heightened alertness because of the contractor’s warning, we were paranoid. But taking shifts isn’t paranoid-it’s smart.

Backpacking Part III: Romania Part II- More Deaf People in Unexpected Places

Sun, 04 Dec 2005 23:06:30 +0000

Again, this is an excerpt from my journals written live during my travels in Europe last summer.

We paid for a two-hour metro ticket (they allowed us both to use it) with money we had ‘set aside’ and which I hadn’t included in the amounts stated before. We arrived at the train station, and they have this section cordoned off where people have to pay to get in the train station, run by people in official uniforms. I still have no idea what it’s for or why they make people pay, but we got in without paying, acting lost and confused and deaf (great acting, huh?)

Catching Up: Backpacking Part II- Romania Part I: Beauty in a Third World Country

Sun, 04 Dec 2005 23:02:48 +0000

Here's another journal excerpt from my European travels last summer.

Me on a train ride.
Picture taken by Robyn Girard

6-22-05 (Tuesday)
We were stuck at the Bucharest train station for maybe 20-30 minutes before getting onto our next train, to Suceava! They were getting ready for this broadcast there, though what the subject was, I have no idea. There were three different channels there getting ready to broadcast, I’m assuming at 1 pm.

Women and their female children were selling blankets, tapes, etc. throughout the ‘waiting’ area, outside the trainstation between tracks. When we got on our train, we had to wait perhaps another 45 minutes before finally leaving. During this time, people were constantly coming in and out trying to sell this or that. Some came in, dropped several products onto the seat next to us, then proceeded to the next car. When done, she’d (always a female) come back to see if we wanted anything (nope), then take it all back and perhaps move to the next car.

What becomes of everyone?

Fri, 02 Dec 2005 22:27:08 +0000

As I sit here in my chair in the Ballard West RA office, I have some time on my hands and observe the lobby that's often full of life, with freshman seated on the lounge chairs and couches, chatting, goofing around, and discussing what to do tonight.

Turkey Day

Tue, 22 Nov 2005 01:46:42 +0000

One thing I've gotten used to about college life is not going home for Thanksgiving Day, usually for several imposing reasons such as: it's expensive to fly home especially when I'll be going home soon for Christmas, I have to remain for a basketball tournament (which isn't a factor this year as I decided not to join the team), etc.

Exciting Times

Tue, 08 Nov 2005 04:13:25 +0000

I am part of a volleyball team that is going to make history, I just know it. Even if we don't make it as far as we hope to, it'll have been a wonderful ride and a good ending to my last year of eligibility for volleyball.

Catching Up: Backpacking Part I- The Other Side of the River Elbe

Sun, 23 Oct 2005 23:14:59 +0000

As I have mentioned in a previous blog, I was in Europe for approximately two months during the summer. For three weeks, I was involved in a German Studies Program supported by Gallaudet University, taking place in mostly Hamburg, Germany. I elaborated on it in a previous blog. The remainder of my time in Europe was spent backbacking with my best friend Robyn. I realize that, looking back, it is really hard to write about the events and truly express the emotions and explain the dynamics of each crisis or event while looking in retrospective. So, I will let my journal do the talking. Here's an excerpt from my journal, written live in Europe.

The Seventh Day

Sun, 23 Oct 2005 18:32:18 +0000

I have a love-hate relationship with Sundays. As you can probably derive from my comment, today is such a day: a Sunday. I LOVE Sundays because they're my only real respite from a long week, they give me a chance to relax as I can only do on Sundays. As a member of the volleyball team, we have practices/games six times a week and Sunday is the only day off. However, having just one day off of the week makes me want to cram Sunday with all the things I've wanted to do all week: go to the mall, go food shopping, do homework, study for an exam.

A Dwindling Road

Fri, 21 Oct 2005 19:29:02 +0000

It is Friday, October 21st at 2 pm. The weather’s gloomy, the sky’s hazy and there’s a steady mist of rain coming down. I can see the Hanson plaza, along with its nest of dorms and the cafeteria, and a few people walking along the concrete paths. I forget exactly what my point was, but the little things never cease to amaze me. Today is one of those days that could easily blend into thousands of other days just like it, only it couldn’t. This weekend is Gallaudet University’s homecoming weekend, and more important (or sadly), marks the end of another week of regular season volleyball, meaning there’s only one more week.

The Beginning of the Beginning, and More

Thu, 25 Aug 2005 20:51:11 +0000

A few days ago, the atmosphere was festive and jovial, announcing the beginning of New Student Orientation and the arrival of 348 new students, a record as far as I know. These freshmen enjoyed their newfound freedom, formed new friendships and rediscovered old friends. However, today I noticed the beginning of their realization of the reality of what college life at Gallaudet is like aside from the social aspect. I walked into the Student Academic Center at one time, and the first thing I saw was a new student saying that “the world was ending.” Stress is high, as these new students are struggling to get the schedules they want, and even the upperclassmen are feeling it, racing to perfect their schedules or pay off their balance, as well as buy their books and exclaim at how expensive they are.

Deutsch Gehorlosen Sprachen: A Mini-Dictionary

Thu, 28 Jul 2005 14:20:58 +0000

Here: I thought it would be of interest to present various signs, contrasting DGS and ASL signs. I'll begin with fingerspelling. First of all, the entire DGS fingerspelled alphabet is very similar to that of the ASL one. The only differences are: the T and the G.

The picture on the left is the ASL G, and the picture on the right is the DGS G.

The picture on the left displays the ASL T, and the picture on the right displays the DGS T.

While the alphabets are similar, ASL utilizes its much more than DGS. In ASL, some words do not have signs and you are expected to fingerspell them.

Deutsche Gehorlosen Sprachen (DGS)

Wed, 13 Jul 2005 21:06:18 +0000

Whew! The time has flown, and I can't believe that I've had two months of summer already. I'm still in denial and pretending I'm still on vacation while I'm participating in training for my position as a New Student Advisor for the Bridge Program. The Bridge Program at Gallaudet officially begins next Thursday, but I'm already being caught up in the whirlwind. Time goes by so quickly, I feel like I'm going to be 90 before I realize it.

Elisa, me, Chris, Tamijo and Kari after a cruise across the River Elbe.

I've had a pretty educational summer so far that has given me some experiences of a lifetime. I spent the first leg of my summer taking a three-week "German Studies" course in Germany.

Welcome to the Dark side!

The Woes of Having a Car

Tue, 03 May 2005 16:55:52 +0000

I don't have a car. The reason I don't have a car is because I don't need a car in D.C. Too many Gallaudet students have cars, leading to arguments over parking allotments for students. Get this: parking has been a hot topic here at Gallaudet University since the 70's, perhaps longer. I don't see that changing anytime soon.