Yesterday morning I had a great opportunity to watch the film Shooting Beauty. Disability Concerns co-sponsored the screening with Diversity Advocacy, so it was suggested that I attend. I must say that I was blown away by this documentary. Basically this woman (a professional photographer) volunteered at a center for folks with cerebral palsy and rigged cameras to their chairs so that they could take photos of their lives. Their pictures were eventually featured in a gallery in Boston. The woman/photographer and the director (a cute, married couple) were there to talk about their experience afterwards. I thought the movie was just really well done. The content was so inspirational and it made me think a lot about working with students with disabilities. Though there are only a few students that I come into contact with that have severe disabilities, I feel in some way that I have a heart for it. So I'll keep that feeling and chew on it for awhile.
In contrast, yesterday afternoon I went into Heartland with an attitude. As I've mentioned earlier, I'm just generally feeling down about HCC lately... right now to the point where I'm not looking forward to going. I've been "working" there for two months and am still clueless about what I'm actually supposed to be doing. I sit at the front desk (not sure if my role is to "cover" it while the secretary is away, though I'm treated that way) and ask advisors if I can shadow them during drop-ins and appointments. These are literally the only things I do while I'm there. I've learned the advisors' different styles and can tell already which I will use in my own practice. Logistically, though, I know very little. When I say this, I mean that I have no clue how to use PeopleSoft and don't even have access to much of what I need to actually do anything on the computer that would be helpful to a student. The little I learned yesterday was because I happened to say to Chad, while annoyed and staring at the computer screen, "Is there some sort of orientation for this?" He was great and spent about half an hour of his time teaching me how to use three different areas of PeopleSoft. So I guess I know that now. I feel like I need to have a conversation with Cecilia about other functions of my role as a graduate intern--I was asked by the secretary to cover a shift while she's on vacation and I've been asked by advisors to do secretarial things like make copies and shred papers. I can understand covering the desk, but I guess I didn't expect the other things to come up. I don't mind doing those things if it's what I'm supposed to do, but I was never told that it would be part of my job, so I'm just thrown off a little. I think Bri and I are on the same page about this. So anywho--after Chad gave me a little training, I was pretty much out of my funk for the rest of the evening.
I went to my second DRA (Deaf Redbirds Association) meeting last night, which felt a lot more productive than the last one I went to. This time we actually learned a little sign language that I think I'll be able to remember. We went around the room (about 40 of us) and each said, "Hi, my name is..." and "My favorite animal is..." and it was fun. Today I also went to a Silent Lunch, which basically was just me and five of the RSO's officers. They talked a little bit in sign language, but mostly just in English and only about DRA-related issues and events. I was fine with that--it gave me some time to get to know them a little bit. I'm pretty excited to learn more about that culture. There's a Silent Dinner on Friday, which will actually include community members. I'm pretty nervous about that one, but I'm sure it'll go fine. I feel like I'm being forced to step out of my comfort zone quite a bit lately and even though I hate that most of the time and dread going to things, it's always fun after I just do it. I need to remember that!
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