[Reflection]

The road to graduate school has been a long journey since I have received my BA in Creative Writing at CSU, Northridge. My academic career has always been full of labyrinthine twist and turns as well as an interesting experience, and it doesn’t mean it’s over yet…

When I started college, I had two goals in mind, being a college professor and working as a book editor. But in school, I didn’t follow a straight path and studied in many different arts and multicultural literature classes while working in the dorms as a Residential Advisor.

I graduated with my BA the same year they decided to do away with the MFA in Creative Writing program that was offered by a consortium of California State University campuses, including Chico, San Francisco, Hayward, Los Angeles, Northridge, and San Luis Obispo. I was devastated since it was one of the few reasons why I decided to go to CSU, Northridge. I saw it as a great opportunity to work towards becoming a college professor and studying with other published authors and poets. I took a step to the right and started to follow my second goal which was to become an editor. I applied to Columbia University Publishing Course in New York for their shortest (six weeks) graduate school in the country. I didn’t get in but had a free plane ticket to New York. So as a recent graduate of college and without a job, I flew to New York City during the summer to visit friends.

After a few moments of traveling, fun and short living in New York City, I came back to LA with dreams of landing a good job in a publishing company so I could transfer somewhere else out of the desert. I did get several editorial, graphic design and marketing jobs in Los Angeles until my parents asked me to come home. I went back to Northern California since there wasn’t anything in LA to keep me there other than stardust filled dreams.

At home I found my roots and spent a few years looking for editorial jobs and trying to stay ahead of the competition by doing freelance graphic design work for different non-profit organizations. I came to the realization that I had too much of a heart to be an ice-cold grouchy editor and I was too young to deal with the stress of the publishing world. So with a step to the left, I ended up at American River College (ARC) as a service provider by coordinating tutors and note-takers in the Deaf Services department. It was like coming home - working on a college campus again.

Through working at American River college I re-found my dream to become a college professor, but the question was… in what? I love reading, writing and had the blessing to be born to parents who are artists who supplemented their art by working as educators and craftsmen. I had the option of working in the field of Art, English and Education, but I needed something more than a B.A. degree in Creative Writing to be a professor.

I did a short internship in the Art Education program at the Crocker Art museum. I really enjoyed working with the staff and children as well appreciated the opportunity to develop lesson plans for the Crocker Art’s Striking It Gold online classroom. I thought about doing a MA in Art Education but was quickly discouraged by departmental policies at CSU, Sacramento due to not having a degree in Fine Arts, and the plight of the arts in California’s education system. I wanted to get an MFA in Creative Writing and settled on CSU, Sacramento’s Creative Writing MA program. The universe kept throwing so many barriers in my way to get into the MA program. That was my answer, this was not the path for me.

I took another step to the right when I was working part-time at ARC and was driven by the need to have a more solid job. I applied for the Instructional Assistant job at the Adaptive Technology Center. This position opened my eyes to a whole new world. I really enjoyed working with students and instructors in the last three years and looking forward to a career in the academics. With the support of my coordinator and colleagues I started to look towards furthering my education and stumbled across iMET by mistake. I was thrilled and worried by the prospect of taking classes through an online master’s program. I took it upon myself to interview Dr. John Cowan about how accessible iMET is for someone like me (who hears the world with her eyes). He reassured me that iMET was up to par and in-line with Universal Design. So I applied and the rest has been smooth sailing with a few choppy waves here and there.

Through the iMET program, it is my goal to make technology a tool of choice for the education of d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing students. It has been a long source of frustration for myself in the field of Assistive Technology and other educators or service providers that work in with d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing students the lack of technology used as an educational tool in their academic success. Most of the technology used with d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing students tends to have more focus as in being an accessible tool for communication purposes. I was able to learn beyond the parameters of my goals. I imagined other possibilities such as teaching an online course for students with disabilities to not only learn how to use technology but to learn their rights, assess their needs and come up with real-world solutions to be successful students.  

I have bent your ear long enough on my long journey getting to graduate school.  Let me hold your attention for a short while longer on my brief and enriching journey in just short of 18 months with iMET 12 cohort. By far, the way iMET courses are set up and the quick bonding with my fellow cohort members has far exceeded my expectations and previous experiences with online classes. I am very thankful to my cohort, my instructors, the interpreters, co-workers, colleagues at other colleges, my parents, my family, my friends and even to the baristas that know me by name at five different coffee houses in walking distance from my apartment for their support seeing me through this program and adding to my experience.

My heart is still set on getting an MFA in Creative Writing or Art. I still haven’t made up my mind yet so that will be another step to the left on that path that cuts so labyrinthine through my life and I already have one foot in that door of becoming a college professor. I have already been presented with opportunities to make changes in the community college system for d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing students which were my goal all along when I started iMET. I am glad to get this far as I am looking forward to standing with an M.A. degree in hand with my cohort, family and friends during graduation. Go iMET 12!

Photography done by Pat Crandley (the guy on the far right)