I have spent much of my life learning what happens when people cannot communicate in the same way. I grew up with Deaf parents and hearing family members who could not always communicate with us through ASL. I know what it feels like when something you want to say does not easily reach the person in front of you. I also know the difference it makes when someone takes the time to understand. That experience has shaped me as a Deaf educator and how I work with students who communicate differently. I currently teach math at the Model Secondary School for the Deaf, a special education school, where I work with Deaf students, including autistic students with limited language. Sometimes reaching a student means stopping the lesson. I may pause the class, ask a student a question, and wait as long as necessary for them to engage. Sometimes their response is in ASL; sometimes it is written. I also pay attention to moments that might seem small. If a student smiles or laughs, I may use that moment to interact with them or invite them into the conversation. These moments tell students that I see them as people, not just learners completing an assignment. If I give a student important information, I may write it down so they can return to it later. When a student has difficulty understanding how much time they have, I may use a timer so time becomes something they can see. These adjustments tell students that their way of communicating belongs in my classroom. That is how I would approach a child like Rebecca. I would first learn the child rather than assume I understand them because of a diagnosis. I would review their IEP and observe how they communicate, what interests them, what causes frustration, and what helps them feel comfortable. I would use methods appropriate for that child, including visual supports, writing, gestures, AAC, modeling, or hands-on experiences. I would give the child time to respond and opportunities to make choices and demonstrate what they know. My goal would not be to make the child communicate like everyone else, but to make sure they have a reliable way to communicate with the people around them. Family would be an essential part of that work. My own experience has taught me that communication barriers affect more than the individual child. Families understand their child's expressions, routines, interests, and needs in ways educators cannot immediately see. I would want families to help me understand their child and actively participate in setting goals so that support continues beyond the classroom. Families should also understand their child's IEP, accommodations, and supports so they can advocate for their child and reinforce goals across settings. I am pursuing graduate study in Deaf and special education because I intend to continue working in PreK–12 special education, particularly with students who have complex communication and learning needs. As a first-generation college graduate, I know the opportunities education can create. Continuing my education has also required financial sacrifice, and I am relying on scholarships and different supports to help finance graduate school. This scholarship would reduce the debt required to continue my education to serve students like Rebecca. Rebecca's story reminded me that communication is not defined by speech. It can be a sign, a written response, a gesture, a choice, a smile, or a moment of laughter. Sometimes the most important thing a teacher can do is notice, stop, wait, and listen. I want every student I teach to know that their way of communicating belongs.

My grandfather served in the Korean War, and this summer I visited Korea. I grew up knowing Korea mostly through my family’s history, so being there gave me a different way to think about where my family came from and where I am now. It also gave me a personal connection to this scholarship. Grandmaster Hyong understood education as something worth working for, not only for himself but for his family. That idea is familiar to me. Education has never been a given in my family. My grandmother left her father in Washington because she needed a different life. My parents did not finish high school. They are both Deaf and grew up with limited access to language and education. I have watched how those circumstances affected their opportunities, and I have sometimes been the person helping them navigate situations involving language, education, and information they did not have equal access to. Because of this, I grew up understanding that education could give a person choices. It could provide independence, access to opportunities, and a way to build a life different from the one you inherited. I am the only person in my immediate family to graduate from a traditional high school and attend college. Reaching that point was important to me, but I also understood that I was carrying something forward for my family. I attended Gallaudet University and earned my bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education and Mathematics, graduating with a 3.92 GPA. I am now a graduate student in Deaf Education at the Rochester Institute of Technology while working as a mathematics teacher at the Model Secondary School for the Deaf. I chose graduate school because my work in the classroom raised questions I wanted to understand more deeply. I teach Deaf high school students with very different academic and language backgrounds. Some come to me with large gaps in their mathematical knowledge. Others can solve a problem when I work through it with them but struggle when they have to explain or apply the idea independently. I have learned that when a student does not understand a lesson, it does not necessarily mean the student cannot learn the material. Sometimes I have not found the right way to make the idea accessible yet. That realization has changed how I teach. I pay closer attention to how students respond to different representations, how they explain their thinking, and where they begin to lose understanding. I have become particularly interested in the difference between following a procedure and actually understanding the mathematics behind it. I explored that question through my undergraduate action research. I studied how Concrete-Representational-Abstract instruction affected Deaf high school students’ understanding of probability. Instead of introducing probability only through formulas, I used concrete materials, visual representations, tables, lists, and tree diagrams before moving toward abstract reasoning. I collected assessment data and observed how students responded to the different parts of the instruction. The results showed growth, but I was equally interested in seeing which representations helped students make sense of an idea and where they still needed support. That experience confirmed that I want to do more than teach from a textbook and move on to the next unit. I want to understand why certain approaches work for Deaf learners and how teachers can use that knowledge. My graduate studies are helping me build that knowledge, particularly in mathematics education, curriculum, and instructional practices that give Deaf students access to concepts while maintaining high expectations. After completing my graduate degree, I plan to continue working in education and expand how I contribute to the field. I want to continue teaching while also contributing through research, curriculum development, and professional learning. If I find an approach that helps my students, I do not want that knowledge to stay in my classroom. I want to share it with other teachers and continue improving it. I also want my education to continue affecting my family. I have reached a level of education that no one in my immediate family had reached before me. That has changed the kind of support I can provide to my parents and the opportunities available to me. I have seen enough in my own family to know that education can give people choices they may not otherwise have. This is one part of Grandmaster Hyong’s story that I understand. He worked for his education and then worked to give his family opportunities. I am not trying to repeat his life, but I recognize the responsibility that comes with being given an opportunity that previous generations did not have. I am willing to work for it. I am already working as a teacher while completing graduate school, and I know that becoming the educator I want to be will require continued learning. I am willing to conduct research, change my teaching when something does not work, listen to my students, and keep developing after I graduate. This scholarship would help me complete the education I have already committed myself to pursuing. My family members made the best choices they could with the opportunities they had. I have been given opportunities they did not have, and I want to use them well. I am the first person in my immediate family to reach this point academically. I hope I am not the last person whose life is changed because of it.