Jameela Jamil x I Weigh Scholarship

Breaking news: Big sister defends little sister and accidently discovers her passion. Inspiration often comes from witnessing an act of kindness. My inspiration grew from witnessing an act of unkindness when I overheard two students gossiping about my little sister. "Did you see Cassie's stupid-looking hearing aids? She is just using them for attention. They make her look like a grandma." I was stunned by these hurtful remarks. Cassie was in the third grade and had just received her first pair of hearing aids. Those students had no idea of Cassie's daily challenges. I didn't tell my sister about this; instead, I went to my favorite teacher, relayed the incident, and asked if I could start a club that might help build a bridge of understanding - something fun like an American Sign Language Club. The teacher replied that it was a good idea, but she wasn't aware that I knew sign language. I said, "I don't, but I can learn." That was six years ago, and I have been studying American Sign Language ever since. Unfortunately, our school is small and does not offer ASL. I had to research it online and began studying at home. In 2019, I founded our high school's first American Sign Language Club, and the membership continues to grow. Six years ago, I came to my sister's defense, and since that time, I have become very interested in deaf studies. I became an advocate for other hard-of-hearing students in our school, and I switched my career plans from veterinary medicine to audiology. "What? You want to be an audiologist? But you can hardly even hear." Well, I have heard that multiple times. Yes, I am hard-of-hearing, and yes, I want to be an audiologist. Both my sister and I are hearing-impaired, and we have an amazing doctor. I am impressed by our audiologist's knowledge and compassion. She has inspired me to follow in her footsteps. As a Dr. of Audiology, I can help my patients with the technical aspects of hearing enhancement. But as one who lives with these life-altering changes, perhaps my experiences can lend extra insight, and I can guide my patients toward appropriate coping skills. Then my "would-be" disability will become my strength. I will be studying counseling to help with that aspect of my mission. Student advocacy - I became an advocate for other hearing-impaired students in our school. I tried to increase the teachers' awareness of our challenges, and I offered recommendations to enhance our learning experience. Some of my suggestions were more involved, and others were quite simple such as choosing videos with the closed captioning feature and remembering to turn it on – a detail that is easily overlooked. In Oct 2020, I stepped way outside my comfort zone and competed in our local Distinguished Young Women's pageant. I used my ASL skills to perform our national anthem for my talent portion. Following that, our principal asked me to sign the national anthem before various sporting events. I was honored, and, of course, I agreed. I didn't sign before every event, but I performed so many times that my nickname became "That Sign Girl." I am always motivated to promote awareness and inclusion for the deaf community, and in this case, the Star-Spangled Banner was the perfect vehicle. I have included a link to a Facebook post where I am performing at the DYW pageant. I was not singing, only signing. It's only cell phone quality, but I think the sentiment comes through. Thank you for considering my application.