Hello everyone! My name is Vanessa Kersten and I am the
Resident Assistant (RA) for the American Sign Language Living Learning
Community for the 2017-2018 school year. I am a sophomore and I lived on the
ASL floor as a resident last year. I loved it so much I just had to come back!
I am Pre-med, majoring in biochemistry and minoring in ASL Studies.
Hello! My name is Katelyn Miller and I am the Peer Mentor
for the ASL LLC. I am a sophomore in college and I am a Middle Childhood
Education major and an ASL Studies minor. I lived on the ASL LLC last year and
I am looking forward to another great year!
The LLC started off the year with our kick-off event where
we played a variety of games including videophone, which is just like telephone
but with gestures. Our stakeholder Erin Wiggins was there and even joined in on
the fun.
This past week was Deaf Awareness Week Wisconsin (DAWW) and
many of the ASL classes cancelled class so people could go to the events. There
were people from all over Wisconsin who came to learn about Deaf culture and
support the community here at UWM. I had class and wasn't able to go but from
what I've heard the people in the LLC had a great time!
Things are settling down around here now that Fall Welcome
is over and people are starting to really focus on classes. Almost every night
you can find people studying in the lounge. Most people in ASL 1 are in the
same class so it's very easy to ask questions about assignments and to get
notes if you missed class. Other ASL students in higher levels are able to help
with vocab, grammar and facial expression. It is amazing to see our community growing
together and improving on our ASL skills!