i say yes, but its not mine to decide.
hello, and welcome to my thread! as i have just signed up here i am unsure of how often pople are on here. but i guess i will find out
to start off i am mike. i am not deaf nor do i have anyone in my family that is deaf or hard of hearing. when i was younger i met someone who was. we both did BMX i learned tofinger spell to communicate with him. slowely i picked up signing from him. through himi met a couple other deaf people. i connected with them quickly even though there was a wall between us. MSAD minnesota state acadamy for the deaf was locatedin my home town. so my HS offered sign lang but not untill 10th grade. so naturally i took it. first year was a breeze as i had learned from friends. in 11th grade i took art at msad as well as took the 2nd year of asl at my hs. as a senior, i was a teachers aid in asl at my hs and also took deaf culture and was on yearbook for msad. by this time i had spent a lot of time at msad met a lor of people. i connected better with the deaf culture than my own. there was a lot less problems at msad, and everyone there was so nice. it was like a whole differnt world! but as for most people at the end of high school you part ways with a lot of your friends. some went on to gallaudet, some to other colleges, and some went back to their home town. as i used to be a bit of a trouble maker..... ok more than a bit. i distanced myself from who i was and moved to start of. i lost contact with most of the people i knew just so i didnt feel pressured into old habbits. i needed to get my life backon track. looking back. none of my hearing friends were really there for me. of course there was one or 2 but no one really cared what i was doing with my life. sure if i was in trouble they would help bail me out....but it none of us were going anywhere in our lives, and no one wanted to, but me. if felt trapped. as to where my deaf friends were possitive. if i said i wanted to open a shop. they would encourage me to do so, or if i said someday i will be president (not that i want to) but if i did they would say "well do it, you have my vote!" i dont know exactly why i felt the need to lose contact with everyone when i did, but i did it and now i regret it as i have lost a lot of connections with a lot of great people. i have recently started to let people back into my life and have reconnected with a couple people from msad! i had found out that one perso i met at msad was actually going to school where im living. ieven gave her a job. i know how hard it is for someone that is hard of hearing to find a job, and i know she was up for it so i gave her a chance, an she working out great. but i still really miss being a part of the deaf community. i mean sure i talk to and hang out with a couple deaf people but its just not the same as before. i was a part of it before. now im just associated.
so this is why im here! to try to reconnect, if i may, to a community that is so wonderfull its as if its not even real.
hit me up, ask me questions, and if you from minnesota lets get a beer.
peace.
mike.
hello, and welcome to my thread! as i have just signed up here i am unsure of how often pople are on here. but i guess i will find out
to start off i am mike. i am not deaf nor do i have anyone in my family that is deaf or hard of hearing. when i was younger i met someone who was. we both did BMX i learned tofinger spell to communicate with him. slowely i picked up signing from him. through himi met a couple other deaf people. i connected with them quickly even though there was a wall between us. MSAD minnesota state acadamy for the deaf was locatedin my home town. so my HS offered sign lang but not untill 10th grade. so naturally i took it. first year was a breeze as i had learned from friends. in 11th grade i took art at msad as well as took the 2nd year of asl at my hs. as a senior, i was a teachers aid in asl at my hs and also took deaf culture and was on yearbook for msad. by this time i had spent a lot of time at msad met a lor of people. i connected better with the deaf culture than my own. there was a lot less problems at msad, and everyone there was so nice. it was like a whole differnt world! but as for most people at the end of high school you part ways with a lot of your friends. some went on to gallaudet, some to other colleges, and some went back to their home town. as i used to be a bit of a trouble maker..... ok more than a bit. i distanced myself from who i was and moved to start of. i lost contact with most of the people i knew just so i didnt feel pressured into old habbits. i needed to get my life backon track. looking back. none of my hearing friends were really there for me. of course there was one or 2 but no one really cared what i was doing with my life. sure if i was in trouble they would help bail me out....but it none of us were going anywhere in our lives, and no one wanted to, but me. if felt trapped. as to where my deaf friends were possitive. if i said i wanted to open a shop. they would encourage me to do so, or if i said someday i will be president (not that i want to) but if i did they would say "well do it, you have my vote!" i dont know exactly why i felt the need to lose contact with everyone when i did, but i did it and now i regret it as i have lost a lot of connections with a lot of great people. i have recently started to let people back into my life and have reconnected with a couple people from msad! i had found out that one perso i met at msad was actually going to school where im living. ieven gave her a job. i know how hard it is for someone that is hard of hearing to find a job, and i know she was up for it so i gave her a chance, an she working out great. but i still really miss being a part of the deaf community. i mean sure i talk to and hang out with a couple deaf people but its just not the same as before. i was a part of it before. now im just associated.
so this is why im here! to try to reconnect, if i may, to a community that is so wonderfull its as if its not even real.
hit me up, ask me questions, and if you from minnesota lets get a beer.
peace.
mike.
You beat me to it. 
to AllDeaf forum. I was from Minnesota before moving to New Mexico and then coming to Canada by myself. I was raised in Northern Minnesota, not far from Brainerd, Minnesota (25 miles north) in the bush or forest. I had to go to the city of Minneapolis to attend the mainstream schools (both elementary and high school). I hate those schools as I was not allowed to sign ASL and force to lipread and use oral-only method. I had struggled to try to understand what the teachers and the students said back then. That was a long time ago. I remembered going to Minnesota School for the Deaf (old name) in the early of 1960 to attend the football game (Homecoming game) in Faribault, Minnesota. Also I went to see if I can attend the MSD but I was turn down because I was too bright and felt that I would pass with flying color. Right (sarcasm) :roll: The head of the MSD told my mother that it would be better if I go back to mainstream school to stay there. 
I don't know if my mother was telling me the truth or lied to me. I really hate that. I really want to go into Deaf school there. I do remember the school very fondly. I will always remember the campus there. Beautiful. I really miss it very much. **sigh** 