Intrigued at a young age

I was intrigued at a young age and hooked from one moment on. I started to ask myself why do I really want to learn about the deaf culture? My thoughts took me back to the fifth grade while I was patrolling the stairway as a safety patrol. I loved to talk with anyone who passed the stairs I was watching and one day I noticed all I would get from a group of kids was a big smile and a wave. There is one particular girl I recall named Jessica she seemed bashful, well that was my impression at first, and had short blond hair.

One day Jessica stopped to talk with me when I realized she could not hear me. The aid for the class was named Michelle and she saw us and came to save the friendship. Michelle interpreted the conversation for us, after Jessica went to class Michelle taught me a few signs so I could talk on my own. I studied my alphabet and the following months I built a friendship with Jessica.

One day after school was out I was trying to speak with another deaf girl that I did not talk to regularly. I was trying my best to say excuse me, can I get through? I was told the next day that I called the girl an bad name. I was so embarrassed, Jessica was there and I believe she calmed the girl down. Michelle later told me that they had to explain to the girl that I did not know much sign language and was not calling her a bad name.

After that day I felt so bad I quit studying sign language and went back to only smiling and waving. As I got older I realize I truly missed an opportunity to build strong relationships and a perfect time to learn American Sign Language.

So here I am twenty something years later and yet I experience another embarrassing moment in my life. I know life is full of embarrassing events, but this took me back to a time when I young... except now I have learned to laugh at my mistakes.