I’ve never been really good at introducing myself. Never have been, probably never will be. When meeting new people the most anyone ever gets out of me is, “Hi, my name is Colleen. *inserts sign name here*” Pathetic, I know. I was thinking that I’d be sweet and have someone interview me to make up a little biography for me. So I thought up of some things that I’d want the general population to know. I even thought up of some cute and witty antics to go along with my introduction. Since I’m not sweet and I don’t have anyone jotting down my information, I decided to pretend that there is someone next to me taking notes of all great and wonderful things Colleen.
Colleen hails from Royal Oak, Michigan (that’s about an hour north of Detroit, for anyone who is curious!). She is currently stuck at the age 18, but acts and looks nowhere near her age. Colleen is still not sure what she wants to major in, jumping between Psychology, Deaf Studies and Education, “I’m just a measly freshman,” Colleen laughs, “I still have time to decide!” A lot of people at Gallaudet would say that they’re very involved at the school between sports, clubs and student organizations, but Colleen has decided not to do anything because she…
…*interrupts* ooookaay, thats enough of that, I can finish the rest of the introduction 
I just finished my first semester at Gallaudet, and so far, on a scale between one and five (five being the greatest) I give it a 3.5. I’m not sure what prevents me from rating it a perfect 5, but hey, I need to leave room for improvement, eh? Upon arriving to Gallaudet people told me three things:
1) I will experience some Culture Shock
2) Beware of the “Gallaudet Drama”
3) The cafeteria food sucks!
The last one doesn’t need much explanation. at first, being the clueless new student I was, I thought that the food was fan-tabulous! There was a variety of food at hand and I could have whatever I wanted. *fast forward to two weeks later* I’ve tried everything…the only thing worth mentioning is the mashed potatoes. to. die. for. But then again, being a devout Irish-woman, I do like my potatoes!
I didn’t experience much of a culture shock, which came as a surprise to me. I grew up oral but I’ve had a substantial amount of exposure to Deaf people, and I consider myself to be a decent signer. I never felt too overwhelmed with the amount of signing and I never got tired of it. At first I was afraid that I was going to have a hard time understanding teachers and begin to struggle in classes, but fortunately, all of my teachers were fluent signers and I got the access to my education that I had never gotten before (DEFINITELY the biggest perk of Gallaudet!)
The infamous Gallaudet drama is probably what had the most impact on me. Now, I’m a girl who likes drama and gossip, but before going to Gally I was usually a bystander. Now, because of the communication access (!!!!!!!!!) I could become a part of everything and it definitely found a way to come back and bite me in the butt. I’ve learned from everything that has happened so far, and I know now to stay out of affairs that don’t concern me.
I’ve been thinking of ways I need to improve, in order to make next semester better. In a way, there are a lot of things that I can do…whether or not I will actually do them is the question.
1) MEET MORE PEOPLE! I need to become more involved…join a club or something!! I’m very happy with the friends that I have now, but it never hurts to make more friends, right?
2) Get better grades. I’ve never really had to work hard in High School and the habits I picked up are hard ones to kick! Next semester I’m going to sit down and say to myself, “Colleen…focus. STUDY! Do your homework!” No more staying up all night, buzzed on energy drinks, doing last minute studying for me!
3) Get a grip on my financial situation! I need to spend a LOT LESS money. And a job would be really really nice to have! I applied for a job and just had an interview…let’s see how that goes yay me for taking the first step towards making Gallaudet a better place for me!
4) Get.More.SLEEP! I need to stop staying up late all the time. I’m very good about getting up to go to classes, I’m just never fully awake when IN class. I’ve noticed that whenever I’m not asleep, I’m tired, and I take naps like every day…and then I’m up late every night because I can’t sleep. *sigh* it’s an ongoing cycle of torture!
So we’ll see what next semester holds for me! I’m sure it will be grand! I think this semester was especially hard for me and pretty much every other freshman because of the recent protest. We had just started school when everything happened, and everything was screwed up for about a month, and we’ve never had time to properly adjust to the new environment. Hopefully things will go back to normal sometime soon!
So now I’m tired, and I’m going to take a nap!! (haha)
I bid thee farewell!
colleen
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