Worldview Magazine - Winter 2007 - (Page 35)

B “Is he going to help with the wells?” “Deﬁne help,” I said. Jere laughed. “How much did he make you drink?” I’d tried to ﬁnd that place beyond deafness and hearing before. In junior high and high school, I had tuned out most lessons, reading Nietzsche, Ayn Rand, e Happy Hooker Goes to Washington, or whatever book currently had my interest during class. My teachers, ill at ease with my disability and my skill at asking diﬃcult questions when they forced me to pay attention, usually let me be. My spoken English still had a lot of rough spots. I thought that zealots were zeeelots, racists were rahsis, and for the longest time had been tricked by my father into believing that the bridge to Jersey was named after George Washingmachine (Me: “Who’s he?” Dad: “ e father of our laundry.” But with the help of a few cues written on the blackboard I could ﬁgure out what my teachers wanted and give it to them. ey didn’t have much cause to complain. But outside of the classroom, hearing was one unending struggle of fast talkers and loud scenes. After the frustrating experiences of childhood, I thought college might be a place to start afresh, past the limitations imposed by my ears. At 17, I applied to Yale. In my admissions interview, for the ﬁrst time ever, I played the deaf card, and I played it, I have to say, like B. B. King plays Lucille. Interviewer: “What makes you diﬀerent?” Me: “Excuse me?” Interviewer: “What makes you diﬀerent from all the other candidates?” Me: (Takes out hearing aids, places them on desk. Nods, looks out window.) ut far from being a place where deafness was less important, at Yale it was much more of a problem than ever before. Classes were brutal; most of them were large lectures with instructors who spoke, in thick accents or while facing the board. No matter how many times I asked them not to, they kept doing so. Great academics, in my experience, are usually shockingly lacking in Consider a gift that lasts… NPCA has been the grateful beneficiary of a number of planned gifts. If you wish to discuss how you can make a lasting gift that will help us connect, inform and engage the Peace Corps community, please contact Kevin Quigley at kevin@ rpcv.org or 202-293-7728, ext.19. $45,637 - $72,592 WorldView 35 http://www.teachinla.com http://www.teachinla.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Worldview Magazine - Winter 2007

Worldview Magazine - Winter 2007 Contents President's Note Lafayette Park Note to Readers Commentary Letter from India Commentary Letter from Botswana Letter from Ha Teboho Letter from Jumbi Valley Letter from Mununga Letter from Medellin Giving Back Community News

Worldview Magazine - Winter 2007

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