Moving off-campus led to my other major decision of the summer, buying a car. I bought a used 2001 Volkswagen Passat, without any monetary help. To me this is an important step, because it shows that I’m finally “independent”. Sure, I’ve been at college for two years now, but I still had to call my parents up every once in a while for money, something I know we’ll all do at least once. In adjusting to having a car, I’ve learned about that much ballyhooed “DC rush hour”…

Growing up in a small town, Rush hour generally meant there were more cars on the road, but no real slow down. Now I’ve learned that rush hour means “you aren’t going anywhere for the next hour and a half”. Seriously people, if you are considering living off-campus, and trying to drive to school between the hours of 7am-10am or 4-7pm. Bring a book with you… Metro’s nice, but I don’t deal well with crowded situations, I like having my space.

The School year is off to a fast paced start, I’m currently taking 18 credits, and loving every class. In addition I’m working a number of jobs, but the one that I’m currently having the most fun with is SBG. I work as the Director of Academic Affairs, this job mostly entails helping students with any academic problems they might have, and working closely with Gallaudet Faculty to improve the academic situation at Gallaudet. I strongly feel that Gallaudet should be a place where deaf people are more proud of their education then their unbeaten football team. We are a one of a kind university, and we should have a one of a kind university. We have all of the elements in place, small class sizes, total communication access, advanced technology, and so on. Now it’s up to us to make Gallaudet the “Deaf Harvard” that it should be. I know I only have a year, but I feel that there are several big things happening at Gallaudet that will lead to positive change, I’ll talk more about those in future blogs.

I leave you with these pictures of Mt. Vernon, the home of George Washington, and a truly beautiful place. They are currently getting ready to open a new Museum there that will be state of the art (Time magazine recently had an article about it as well.). You should definitely find a way to get out there and see it.