I’m pretty sure you guys can tell why I selected the above lyrics for the opening of this latest gBLOG entry. I’ve been having a blast here in Seattle doing what I’ve been doing every summer as well as trying some new things. As I type away on Father’s Day, I’ve realized so much has happened since I last updated. I guess I’ll refrain from telling you right now and let the pictures and the accompanying texts provide you entertainment. Let’s commence my second summer picture montage! (Uh, a little drumroll here, please…)

Oh, and I turned eighteen. A long story cut short, I skipped kindergarten and as a result, became the youngest student in my class until college. I went to my high school senior prom at the tender age of sixteen and entered college at seventeen. All I can say is that I’m thrilled that I’m finally eighteen.

May 19th was when it was at, and it was very mellow, eating lunch with my former interpreter who has the same birthday, going to the Seattle Mariner’s game with my mom, and eating scrumptious desserts at a café afterwards with yet other friends. It was fun and I enjoyed my well-deserved turn in becoming an adult.

If you open to page 34 of the most recent issue of Odyssey, you’ll see the above paragraph beginning my article about my experiences with competing for four years in the Deaf Academic Bowl. It was an incredible opportunity and I’m glad that I got to start it all my freshman year in high school. I got to meet so many awesome people and through Academic Bowl, I found out more about Gallaudet and finally cemented my decision to come here at the beginning of the second semester of my senior year.

Sentimental statements aside, the reason why I’m stating this is because a week ago from today, I wasn’t even expecting to be on a flight to Boston to visit my mom’s family in Cape Cod. On last Friday afternoon, when I was working as a Student Ambassador volunteering at the undergraduate open house fair for prospective students, I received a text message from my aunt asking me what I’ll be doing during the weekend. I replied that I would be doing absolutely nothing, other than sunbathing and homeworking.

Well, I might have overwhelmed y’all a little bit, but that’s me. Every year for the past decade, Gallaudet and the “other” deaf college up north, National Technical Institute for the Deaf (a college in Rochester School for the Deaf), have met up and competed in goodwill competition ranging from major sports like basketball and flag football to minor sports like bowling and badminton. The location alternate every year between Rochester and Washington, DC, and this year, we were the hosts, welcoming a contingent of roughly a hundred RIT deaf athletes and spectators as well as visitors from out of state.

The metro system in DC is amazingly accessible (well, almost) and can get you pretty much everywhere in the area. I remember expecting about thirty minutes to go to George Washington University last month with two transfers, and it ended up taking only ten. Impressive, I guess. Well, enough about the metro system.

Around this time last week, when I told people that I haven’t been to Dupont Circle, a trendy area in the northwest quadrant of Washington, DC, I got looks of shock. Some were actually taken aback and pity me for not going out into the city enough. I couldn’t say anything else than the fact that I never got the opportunity to go to Dupont Circle. However, I apparently missed plenty of opportunities, because Gallaudet students love to go to Dupont Circle to walk around, eat out, and shop, not to mention it’s right on the red line, which is the same line as the Gallaudet metro station.

While the majority of Gallaudet freshmen went to Cancun, Mexico or Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, I went to Jensen Beach to visit my grandparents who’ve lived there for the past five years. My parents flew in from Seattle to meet me, and my aunt from Cape Cod flew in as well. So it was a little family reunion, and I enjoyed immensely seeing my grandparents after a two-year hiatus.

I had a great time in Florida, and I’m able to say that I did pretty much a lot during my 8-day stay. I swam in the community pool, I waved in the ocean, I drove down to Key West with the family for one night, I read five books, I attended a spring training baseball game in Vero Beach, and most importantly, I got some wicked tan.

Sure, taking a lot of classes can be good for your education and required credits are finished up quickly. However, the majority of Gallaudet students are involved in one activity or other. Some are involved in the Sociology and German clubs, others on the football team and tutoring history and math, and yet others can be working at Campus Activities and participating in a Greek organization. The possibilities are endless. One could interview someone for the Buff and Blue, our student newspaper, while working on a proposal for Student Congress on Wednesday nights.

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.