Tuesday, September 27, 2005

What a reputation to try to uphold.

My instructor for my Interpreting I and Deaf Communication Studies classes refers to me as "the walking dictionary and thesarus." If there's a word she doesn't know how to pronouce, doesn't know the meaning of or a word or phrase that is similar, she looks at me. Consequently, the others in my classes have started doing the same thing.

It's a blessing and a curse. When I give an answer, they're simultaneously pleased and satisfied. If I can't give an answer, they're disappointed. If I'm found to be incorrect, they laugh.

Because of my post-graduate education and my journalistic background, my vocabulary exceeds that of my instructor and all of my classmates. My instructor might have a four-year college education, but I highly doubt it.

She's a CODA, which means she's a child of deaf adults. Her parents did not receive the education that most deaf do nowadays. Worse yet, they grew up in Missouri (sorry if you're from Missouri), where education in some (hick) parts of the state is like being educated by the illiterate. Trust me, I went to school in a small Missouri town for three years. By the time I finished third grade, I had just as much education as my dad's boss.

I digress.

One of the books that was required for my Interpreting I class is a book for building vocabulary. Needless to say, most of the words in the book that I've encountered thus far are words that I use in everyday conversation. Some of the definitions it gives are crappy, though, so I sometimes use other resources to give a more accurate representation of the word or phrase.

Geesh! I'm a reliable geek! I am a walking dictionary! Just don't pit me against a true genius. I run like a girl. Wait. I am a girl. Wait. I can't run: doctor's orders. Darn!

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