Maria Becerra

Deaf Culture
June 13, 2016
Dipping toes into the Sojourner Experience and Identity
My beginnings as a sojourner into the Deaf world began as a little kid and I wasnt aware
of this very important fact until recently. I had been cleaning out my room and along with all of
my childrens books I found a book of which I was deeply fond of during my childhood. It so
happens that this book in Spanish was one that talked about sign language and the way it is
important to not only those in the Deaf community but to everyone in general; in this book were
two pages with the Mexican sign language alphabet. It was then that the seed of passion for sign
language was planted. Throughout the years, after trying to find sign language classes for hearing
students in elementary school was not a success, I resorted to putting this in the back of my head
and although I was not conscious about this being there, later I would come to realize the big role
this book had in my life.
Flash forward to college after a change in major from nursing to arts (ceramics in
specific) and there I am in advanced ceramics class trying to help a student who seemed to be
struggling with his pottery. I had approached this student and was standing right behind his
shoulder looking over it and giving him several tips in order to make his project come to life
more easily only to have felt completely ignored. Trying to be understanding I let him know that
it was completely fine with me if he preferred no help from anyone other than the teacher and
that I would make my way to help someone else. As I was leaving, he sensed someone next to
him move and looked up at me with confused eyes, to which I responded saying there were truly
no hard feelings. He motioned and started using sign language to explain to me that he was deaf,

in that moment of realization, not only did I feel guilty for having assumed the worst, but I felt a
very strong surge of frustration in not being able to communicate with him.
That moment was pivotal; I then vowed to take ASL 1 that summer, and did so. Being a
believer of providence, what happened next, I would say was provincial. In taking this class I
very quickly came to love ASL and towards the end of the semester I once again encountered this
young man during a visit to the grocery store and in seeing him I was able to communicate in the
most basic signs and fingerspelled words, but the feeling of accomplishment and of satisfaction
in the realization that the language barrier once there was no longer there. I was so happy and
overjoyed that the thought of introducing my mom to him didnt even cross my mind, something
Im always accustomed to do. I continued taking sign language classes and during my ASL 3
class, one I was struggling with a little, I once again saw this young man, this time at church. He
was surprised that in a couple of months my signing had improved dramatically and we were
able to have a more extended conversation. That semester is when I decided that I no longer
wanted to be an arts major, but instead focus on sign language.
As a nursing major, my goal had been to work with kids, once I switched my major to
arts, my goal hadnt changed, I continued wanting to work with children, but instead it was
narrowed down to wanting to work with children with special needs in teaching them ceramics to
help not only their motor movements but also help teach patience and anger management. Now,
in being fully immersed with sign language and knowing truly in my heart that this is what I
want to do for the rest of my life, I continue to want to work not only with children, but with
children who have special needs, be it autism, down syndrome or even any speech impediments.
I would love to be an advocate for sign language as a primary language for these children or

adults, to see many bloom and become more independent in learning a language that is so rich
yet so little known about.
With so much uncertainty during my first college years, I have gotten much criticism,
specially due to the fact that I changed majors from a major which would have granted me a very
lucrative job, to a job that would practically render me broke, to one that is little known of or not
talked about. Ive noticed my identity radically changing during these years, it changed from an
identity in which my focus was not only in wanting to help others, but focused simultaneously in
having a job in which I would be very well off economically speaking to one filled with more
humility and focusing on my true happiness when making pottery while also helping others, to
finding one of the most beautiful languages I have ever encountered and feeling a sincere sense
of full belongingness within a community.
I am not yet a fully developed sojourner, but with time I hope to become such a
sojourner; until then, I feel it is my duty to continue to inform myself and involve myself into the
Deaf community head on, with no fears holding me back whatsoever. Being a realist, I do
acknowledge that the path of a true sojourner will not be an easy path, but instead a very difficult
one, yet I come fully armored and ready to fight until death for my dreams and for the dreams of
others.