I have been interested in sign language for ten, going on eleven, years. When I was a little girl, I loved to watch the adult and youth drama teams perform songs in sign language and interpretive movements. I was convinced that I would do the same one day. When I was seven years old, that chance came my way.
Cheryl, a woman at my church, got together with my mother and they started the very first child drama team entitled IMPACT. (Ten years later and the name still hasn’t changed.) I still remember the very first song she taught us. It became our signature song: “Light Your World” by Newsboys. I worked with this woman for many years, but regrettably, she had to resign and the drama team was no more.
I went on for several years unable to do anything. Then, one day, Tracy, a distant family member and friend, decided to get things going again for the youth. I was the first to sign up. We spent several hours practicing and perfecting our songs. (Soon after that, as you all know from a previous newsletter, I went to Mexico and preformed there.) After several months of creating and performing drama again, the group died out and Tracy moved away.
After Tracy left, however, I decided to take the task of sign language up myself. Last year, I was in a senior English class and had to do a senior project. I chose to learn, perform, and apply sign language to everyday life. I taught myself and applied it by communicating with a deaf child that attend my church at the time. This way I would be forced to not back out of my personal commitment to myself. You will be happy to know that I made a 97 on the project that was graded by judges and not my teachers.
Now that I know sign language (and are still learning some signs) I perform on my own since there is no group for those who truly enjoy this wonderful gift. I also help my neighbors, who have graciously restarted IMPACT for the young children, teach the children and sometimes perform with them. My neighbors have generously made me the co-director of IMPACT. I will always be able to do what I love now and hope to one day take over completely.
I know now that I will never be the same again, thanks to sign language. It has shaped my life more than I could have ever imagined. It has become a way of life for me. I can’t picture my life without it now.