ASL: See What I'm Signing

 We made it! 

The end of the year is almost here. Classes are finishing up and everyone is getting ready to move out. The end of the year is a busy time. Not only are people cramming for finals but they are also trying to pack up all of their stuff so that it will fit in the back of a car. The Freshman are not aware that this is nearly impossible but they will soon find out.

This month the ASL LLC successfully hosted See What I'm Signing. The volunteers ran the games spectacularly! The people who attended the event seemed excited and eager to learn. There were a few people who went through twice just to learn the signs again! The best part was that everyone who came through the games section stayed for the Deaf Panel. We had 5 people on the panel with very different backgrounds to show the diversity of the Deaf population. The audience had some very insightful questions and seemed engaged with the discussion. I am looking forward to hosting this event again next year and I am hoping we will have an even bigger audience!

To wrap up the end of a great year, the LLC will be having one last social to hang out together before we all go our separate ways. The floor has had our ups and downs but I am proud of all the residents and what they have accomplished this year. It's hard to remember that at the beginning of the year most of the residents had no prior knowledge of ASL. They have all come so far in their education and I know they will continue to be involved in the Deaf community and their ASL skills will develop even further. 

Have a great summer!

 The Deaf Panel members at See What I'm Signing

The wonderful volunteers!

Honors 1: Volunteering & Field Trips

This month will mark the last full month of the 2017-2018 academic year before finals arrive in the month of May. In the month of April, Honors 1 resident have attended some unique events across campus and put on by the Honors 1 LLC. On April 15, a group of Honors 1 residents attended a presentation by a UWM hosted historian on the topic of hieroglyphics. 

UWM hosted a historian that presented a lecture on hieroglyphics and how they related to reality and fiction. Honors LLC residents that attended this presentation were able to learn about a subject that they may have not been exposed to in their lives. The historian was insightful and her lecture was an interesting look into art and the past for LLC residents.

Within the week leading up to Earth Day, various residents participated in volunteer opportunities provided by the City of Milwaukee and UWM. Certain residents helped clean up the Milwaukee River located near the Riverview Residence Hall. Other residents helped make Milwaukee a more beautiful place by planting trees and flowers with varying organizations.

To end the month of April, the Honors 1 LLC took a trip to the Mitchell Park Conservatory Domes. The Domes have been named a national treasure and host exotic plants and artificial environments which teach the general public about horticulture and the natural environment. The Domes are a trademark of the city and are one of the many destinations every Milwaukee resident needs to see at least once in their lifetime. This will be a great way for residents to relax and spend time with one another before the final push of the semester is needed in May.

Health Professions: Women's History Month

March came in like a lion for the Health Professions LLC, but with finals around the corner, I doubt that residents would feel it went out like a lamb. Students studied hard together for midterms. They stayed up late in the lounge and lobby reviewing organic chemistry and anatomy, but then it was time for them to leave for their first spring break in college! During March, residents received the option to meet with their academic advisors in Sandburg! They did not even have to leave to the residence hall to meet with their advisor. We also celebrated Women’s History Month and the contributions that women have made to health with bulletin boards on the floor in the LLC. This was a fun way to start a conversation about women’s health in the LLC.

Residents are now getting back from spring break and getting ready to tackle their second semester finals. The residents love going to supplemental instruction and tutoring together in order to get the best grades that they can. The residents like going to work out classes at the gym to stay healthy and relieve stress, too! We are looking forward to doing study related events leading up to finals to get everyone feeling great about finals. Everyone is excited to figure out where they would like to live next year! Many residents are going to live with others from the LLC in either an apartment or again in the residence halls. We are excited for the last 6 weeks in the LLC and to see the great health professionals that the residents will become!

Hidden Figures of Health Board highlighting important female figures in health advancements

ASL: Dinner & Bowling

Hello! Hello!

March is a quick month! It is hard to believe that there are only 1 ½ months left until spring semester is completed!

March went by so fast there ended up being two events on the same night for the ASL LLC. On March 28th, we had the staff and student dinner. There were three of the ASL professors and one staff interpreter who came for this dinner. We talked about what Deaf life looks like: how the hearing school or Deaf school impacts a Deaf person’s life and much more. There were so many conversations happening at one time, I would say two or three at a time! I believe that this benefited the students who are studying ASL. They learned a lot! One of the residents told me that she learned what it's like to see many Deaf people talking. It is hard to switch back and forth between watching the people involved but it gets easier with practice. We also had a service learning student come to the event, and she guided an activity for the group. We played two truths and a lie. It was so much fun to try and figure out which one was the lie. Some of the people did mess up and tell all truths or stumble over a sentence, which gave away which one was the lie.  

After the staff and student dinner, the Signing Student Association (SSA), hosted bowling night for the ASL LLC only! It was FREE so we did not have to pay to bowl or pay for shoes. ASL LLC residents went to de-stress themselves with some bowling fun! The LLC Stakeholder (one of the ASL professors) came to the event too! Shout out to one of the residents, Casimir, he played three games and all of his scores were over 100. Way to Go, Casimir! It was a fun night!

We still have one more event coming up before the end of the semester. The ASL LLC is hosting See What I'm Signing on April 11th. The resident's will be able to use what they have learned this year to help educate their peers on some of the basics of Deaf culture. We are all looking forward to the event and are hoping that a lot of people will come to support the Deaf community and our residents!

Local Host: Geek Week/Pizza & Paint

The Local Host LLC has been very busy in the month of March. Like we talked about in our previous blog, there were two events during geek week at the beginning of the month that were geared towards the LLC students and their major, along with a look into what the future could look like being in their major. At the event DiversITy in particular, students were able to see projects that current students are working on within their major and topics they are interested in studying. They were also able to try a virtual reality headset and experience what a VR setting looks like. This was one of the favored areas at this event, not only amongst the LLC, but anyone who attended this event. With the stress of midterms shortly after these events followed directly by spring break, I decided to plan an event for the whole floor the week that everyone returned from break in order to get everyone in our community together to have pizza and paint canvas’, so everyone could see each other and relax a little after classes that day. Next month, we will be having our App Off event at the end of the month to see how far everyone’s ideas have progressed throughout the semester, and we will also be having one more event for the whole floor to get together and hang out before finals and moveout in May.