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February 18, 2006
entry no. 1
Every time I sense a change in the weather, from freezing wind to humid sunshine, from drizzling clouds to blue skies, I am reminded of home. Here and there, the weather is ever changing, erratic, and always unpredictable. It does not matter where I am, in Washington or in Seattle, I will always feel I am at home, thanks to the weather.
Well, hello. I’m Tyler and I’m a 17-year-old freshman here at Gallaudet. As you can see, I’m from the glorious state of Washington in the great Pacific Northwest. I bet you’re probably asking me what am I doing 2,700 miles away from home as a student in a university that I had never heard of until four years ago.
I grew up in Seattle, city of the Space Needle, the Pike Place Market, and the rain. Seattle offers deaf teenagers a culture that is insufficient. With our schools so far apart, we could rarely get together for special events. I got along fine with my hearing peers and enjoyed hanging out with them, but I wanted to look beyond my small group of friends and see what the world offers for young deaf people.
Through Deaf Academic Bowl and recruiters that came to my high school, Roosevelt, I learned much more about Gallaudet and what exactly it is, the only liberal arts college for the Deaf in the world. Gallaudet is basically exactly everything that I have heard about. It is full of warm, friendly people, and I wake up everyday knowing the fact that I can approach anyone on campus and chances are they know ASL.
Since I have been here, I have been involved in the community as an Open House Student Ambassador, the Class of 2009, and Hillel. I am also on the Swim and Track & Field team. I am in the Honors Program here at Gallaudet, as well as being on the Honor Council. I am also on the College Bowl Development team, which is the junior varsity team to the actual College Bowl team at Gallaudet for the National Association for the Deaf conferences.
Recently, I went to the Capital Athletic Conference Swim Championships at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Our team of twenty were the smallest, but we made an impact on the competition by getting 7th in one relay and got several swimmers in the finals, held at night with everybody looking on, including myself in the 400 yard Individual Medley. Overall, it was a fun experience and a bittersweet way to end our impossibly long season, starting from practices the first week of September to the champs in the middle of February.
Doing our "BISON" yell before every meet.
Me doing the breaststroke portion of the 400yd I.M.
I’m going to bring my first gBLOG entry to a close by inserting a couple of pictures that signifies the beauty of Gallaudet, and the fact that we need to observe life in order to enjoy the beauty of it all.
The view from the front of my dorm, Ballard West, of Gallaudet shrouded in snow.
Taken from the window of my dorm room a few nights ago.
Thanks for reading.
con amistad, tyler
Posted by tyler at February 18, 2006 2:46 PM
Comments
Tyler-
Excellent first blog. I'm impressed, it was well thought out. You also took a lot of time writing this, haha. It's nice to know a fellow classmate of mine enjoys writing as much as I do. We've had a wild and eventful first semester, and unfortunately, we haven't done much together. We should do more together and write a gblog together (gosh, that sounds so queer, does it not)? Haha, keep up the good work!
Your fellow gBLOGger,
Greg
Posted by: Greg at February 20, 2006 2:58 PM
