Deaf.

I'm not so sure if you people remember this or not, but remember how I said in the very end of "am I cured?" blog that I would explain in more detail about teaching Deaf people about health and fitness, well in this blog that's what I am going to do.

So, all my sisters in my family (that would be two) have a passion for sign language and the Deaf culture. They both want to be interpreters as their majors. My first class in college (I'm doing duel enrollment) was A.S.L. I only took that class because I needed an elective and plus my twin sis was taking it and so was another friend of mine and I didn't wanted to feel left out. On the first day we went to class introduced ourselves and explained why we were taking this class. (My twin sister has an awesome reason why. But it's rather long. So maybe another time I can share it.) My actual words were: "uh...my older sister knows some sign language and sometimes she shows off, so I would like to learn." Lame reason I know.
As the class went on and we started to learn the alphabet, and the history of the Deaf culture I was having fun. And every time I went to class I was more interested. This new language I was learning was different. It was way more fun than learning Spanish that's for sure. I was intrigued by how with simple gestures I could tell stories and express myself in a way that I never knew before. I didn't consider practicing my A.S.L as school or as a chore. I thought it was fun and interesting. I passed the class with a big A :)
My older sister continued to teach me words and how to express myself. My twin sister said she wanted to do A.S.L 2  and so did I.
One day I went to Miami Dade to meet with my counselor about what classes to take in becoming a nutritionist. While doing so I told her about my previous class and how it was so much fun then she told me how she knew a woman who was Deaf and the woman needed to go and see a doctor for a very important appointment, but was denied because she was deaf. Which is so unfair. By law the doctor was supposed to get the woman and interpreter, but I guess he thought it would take too long so he instead denied her. My counselor went on saying that this sort of thing was normal.(sad but true.)
And while she was still talking something clicked in my brain it went like ding! I thought to myself why don't I teach the Deaf culture about health? I actually I said that out loud. All of sudden her eyes and my mom eyes lit up and they were like: "Yea, that's a really good idea, why don't you?"
Then I said, "I think it would be awesome. I would be doing two things that I love. I would be teaching fitness and using A.S.L!" I was smiling like crazy. For the rest of the day I was excited!
It's literally getting the best of both worlds. No lie.
It's really awful that just because a person is deaf that their health and wellness is thrown aside. My major is becoming a nutritionist and I will learn sing language so I can have patients who are both hearing and deaf. I don't know about you, but to me that's sounds awesome!
And if you don't know sign language I encourage you to at least try and learn it see if you like it. The Deaf world is pretty amazing.