Mark Drolsbaugh Reflection

One thing is for sure, this is a fascinating book with situations that are relatable for me in some way or another. Mark Drolsbaugh definitely has had his fair share of struggles and unfair circumstances; however, he made it through and has become a strong and happy father. Through all his trials he has learned many important things that I believe everyone should know whether they are hearing or deaf, young or old, it doesn’t matter who they are. As Drolsbaugh was growing up he was taught that being deaf was bad, that sign language was going to make him stupid and incapable of ever being normal, and that he was weird. Being a teenager is hard enough, being different makes it worse, but being deaf with a lack of communication with people had …show more content…
One semester I was able to work with this student who was born hard of hearing, she hard complete loss of her hearing by the age of three. I learned many things that semester that I would have never learned if it wasn’t for that little girl. As I observed her in class I noticed many interesting things. This girl was named Kimber, she would teach the entire class at least one sign a day, the entire class would gladly participate in this (even the grumpy or mean students), one student even told me that it was their favorite part of the day. Most of the students were kind to Kimber in class; however, outside of the classroom students picked on her and would talk behind her back saying terribly rude things, it broke my heart. To see this girl in different settings was interesting, I had sat next to her and her mother at a basketball game once and I saw her communicate with her mother in sign, it was the most fascinating thing I had ever seen and is what officially got me interested in sign language. While reading this book and after working with Kimber I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have these hardships in life, it would take an emotionally strong person to survive them. Much like Drolsbaugh I had noticed Kimber having harsh days I could recognize it after a few short weeks of being with her, in class she had an online interpreter (?-they videochatted) but outside of class it was difficult for her to play with the other kids or chat with them due to the lack of communication. Eventually, she did have one friend who would chat with her using a whiteboard while Kimber taught her how to use sign. If Drolsbaugh had a friend like Kimber did I’m sure his life would have been much easier;however, life in’t about being easy, it is about getting through the hardships of life and learning lessons, it’s about becoming someone who matters and makes a difference in others lives and that is what