When I decided to go back to school last year, I spent many hours researching different schools. I soon found that not many schools offer a 4 year program ending in a bachelor’s degree in my major. I knew that I wanted to say here in Wisconsin, but I was coming up with absolutely nothing when I searched for schools in Wisconsin. Just when I thought I was going to strike out and have to change my major I happened to stumble upon the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee homepage. I had never considered UWM, mostly because I had forgotten they even had a university. I discovered from browsing their website that they are actually the ONLY school in the state of Wisconsin that offers a 4 year program in my major - American Sign Language Interpreting. I immediately knew that this was the school for me. I applied for admission that very same day and received my acceptance letter a few weeks later! When I finally did find time to actually go to Milwaukee and tour the campus, I knew I had made the right decision. UWMs campus is absolutely beautiful and so culturally enriched. I am currently finishing up my freshman year here at UWM and with each passing day I grow more confident in my choice of school. When I had first started my year I had the feeling that I really had nowhere else to go since this was the only school that offered my major, but now that my year is ending I have decided that there is so much more to it than that. UWM has some of the finest ASL teachers in the country as well as one of the best interpreting programs! The school is very Deaf friendly so naturally there are many Deaf students to interact with on campus making your skill in ASL grow every day. The thing that really sold me on UWM was that in the dorms, where I am living, they have what is called an ASL living learning community where everyone who either taking an ASL class, majoring in ASL or knows ASL live together on the same floor. This has been a HUGE help to me during this year because we are constantly using ASL to communicate.
I try to imagine my life if I had chosen a different school because of having to change my major, and I find that really don't like that picture in my head. I know in my heart that I have chosen a school that will challenge me academically, help me to grow culturally, and allow me to perfect the skill I hope to be using for the remainder of my life.
This scholarship is sponsored by CenturyLinkQuote.com.
