Great News!

I started college as an ASL major and had a vested interest in learning as much as possible, so I came into ISU with quite a knowledge base of Deaf Culture and American Sign Language. I was able to petition out of the Deaf Culture 100-level course but was encouraged by my advisor to take Deaf Culture 256: Culture and Community.

But after half the semester, I felt I had learned nothing new and decided to drop the course and petition it.

My first petition was denied due to lack of documentation of my knowledge, so I re-petitioned with an essay I'd written on the juxtaposition between Disabled and Non-Disabled status in the Deaf Community, especially in relation to the Americans With Disabilities Act. Apparently it was still not enough and Dr Turner asked me to take the final exam from the course.

I was livid after taking the exam, because so much of the information was proprietary -- it was not in the textbook (Journey Into the DEAF-WORLD by Ben Bahan et. al) and therefore not readily available to me. I felt like I had been cheated somehow.

But today I received news that Dr Turner has accepted my petition and I won't have to take the course. This is great news! Now I'll have that extra room in my schedule to fill with psychology courses and research. This fall, I'm in a research methods psychology course and I'm very excited about it.

Anyway, just thought I'd share my excitement! I feel vindicated, almost.