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Anoop Randhawa

Varsha Sharma

Career Life Connections 12

27 November 2020

Declaration of Topic

1. I believe that my Capstone project is a combination of an “Inquiry/Research

Capstone” and a “Project Based Capstone”. As part of my project, I will be

researching and gaining knowledge about how the global pandemic has impacted

those that are deaf or hard-of-hearing, which makes this an “Inquiry/Research

Capstone”. This is also a “Project Based Capstone” because I ​will​ have a final product

that everyone can see: my signing in American Sign Language (ASL). Another

explanation as to how this is a “Project Based Capstone” is that sign language ​is

considered to be a form of art, and so in my final product I would be showcasing art.

2. My Capstone project idea is to continue to learn American Sign Language (ASL) and

to research on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected those that are deaf or

hard-of-hearing. I actually began learning how to sign in ASL last year for my IDS

Project. I ended up falling in love with the language and I just knew I had to continue

on with the project this year. Having spent already a full year learning ASL, I’m

hoping that by the end of this project I will learn more vocabulary, I will become

better at signing in different tenses, and I will become better at reading faster paced

signing. This year, I would also like to push myself to have a lot more conversations

in ASL with people who use sign language. Furthermore, I’m looking forward to

researching and learning about how this pandemic has impacted the deaf and

hard-of-hearing communities across the globe.

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3. There’s a few reasons behind why I really want to continue learning ASL for my

Capstone project. First of all, I absolutely loved learning sign language. By the end of

last year, I had learned how to make detailed introductions, ask questions, fingerspell,

and create complex sentences about different topics. The more I learned ASL, the

more my love for this language grew. At the start of Career Life Connections 12, I

asked myself, “If learning ASL and learning about the deaf community and their

culture makes me happy then what is stopping me from continuing to do this

project?”. My answer to this question was, “Nothing. Nothing at all. Nothing is

stopping me”, and that is how I knew I must continue the project this year.

Additionally, I enjoy challenging myself from time to time, and continuing to learn

ASL for my Capstone project would do exactly that. Learning a language is already

quite challenging by itself, however, attempting to learn as much sign language as

possible in about nine weeks will be very difficult. But, I am up for the challenge, and

I believe that I will be able to surprise myself again by how much I have learned by

the end of the project. Last but not least, I want my Capstone project to be purposeful

to me. I believe that to be able to sign is an important skill that will definitely come in

handy. For example, once the pandemic is over and senior care centres allow

volunteering to resume, I will be able to communicate with the residents that are

hard-of-hearing, deaf, and/or unable to physically speak. To be able to communicate

through sign language will also be a great experience for both the residents and me.

Moreover, I believe that this is a skill that will come in handy for future job

opportunities as well. The point of IDS projects is to explore areas of interest,

challenge yourself, learn all the skills needed for success in the workplace, and to

grow in each core competency, and I believe that this project will do exactly that!
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4. At the moment, I don’t have an interest in becoming a sign language interpreter.

However, I do have an interest in the medical field, and possibly pursuing nursing.

American Sign Language (ASL) is a skill that definitely has a connection to nursing.

In fact, my mom is a Registered Nurse and she uses this skill fairly often to

communicate with residents that are hard-of-hearing or deaf. Nursing is also a job that

is in high demand across all of Canada. This skill would also be helpful in the

working world because it’s great to add onto your resume. Additionally, I would say

that one of my strengths is that I am outgoing and that I am able to network. I think

that continuing to learn ASL will simply help me do more of that since I will be able

to communicate through sign language with people who are hard-of-hearing or deaf.

Furthermore, I personally wouldn’t choose language as the main area in which I

would attend University. But, I did some research and discovered that both SFU and

UBC offer ASL classes, lessons, and/or clubs, and these are all things that I would

love to be part of in University.

5. As mentioned earlier, I chose to learn ASL for my IDS Project last year, and that

project taught me the importance of practice, patience, and perseverance. In order to

be successful with this project, I must practice every single day whether that’s through

watching lesson videos every night or meeting up with people who can help me

practice my signing skills. Throughout this quarter, I also must continue to remind

myself to be patient and to continue to persevere. Last year, I learned that learning a

language is definitely challenging and that you may not always be able to see

immediate results of all your hard work, but as long as you remain patient with

yourself good things will happen. Fortunately, there will be no costs associated with

this project and the resources will be free. Having done a very similar project last year

means that I already know of several free resources that I can use. For instance, there
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are tons of websites, youtube channels, and blogs online that are very useful. I also

got into contact with Brittany, a teacher in the Special Education Department at J.O.,

and she informed me that she would be more than willing to be my mentor for my

Capstone project. Time-management will also play a huge part in this project,

especially since this year we only have about ten weeks with each course in school.

That gives me about nine weeks (not including winter break) to actually work on my

project, which is not a lot of time if you want to learn a language and research about

specific topics. However, I believe that by organizing my time wisely, practising each

day, and staying positive-minded and patient, I will be able to create a final product

that I will be very proud of.

6. As of right now, I don’t really have a clear idea of what will be expected of us in

terms of the final product. However, the main goal that I’m wanting to accomplish by

the end of this project is to be able to have several fluent conversations about various

topics with someone who uses American Sign Language. By the end of the quarter, I

would also like to be able to explain to someone my findings of how the global

pandemic has affected the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. At this point in time,

I am envisioning an engaging presentation that will go over my goals, the design

cycle, and short videos showcasing the sign language that I have learned and my

findings for my research question. However, depending on the format of our

“Capstone Project Fair”, I may or may not be able to do that.

7. This project will be REALLY challenging for me due to a few different reasons. One

being that I’m learning a language, which is already a challenge on its own, but I will

have to learn this language in about nine weeks. Learning a language takes patience,

and so this time constraint will definitely put me out of my comfort zone.

Additionally, we are in the midst of a pandemic and there are rumours of a possible
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shutdown in the following few weeks, which means that I may have to do video calls

with my mentor. This will be a challenge because communicating in ASL through a

video call allows you to easily miss things such as facial expressions, body-shifting,

and mouthing of words which can dramatically change the meaning of a

sentence/question.

8. My essential question is, “With having such a short period of time to do the Capstone

project, what are some effective ways to learn American Sign Language (ASL) so that

I can have several fluent conversations about various topics with someone who uses

ASL?”.