VALDOSTA STATE MAGAZINE 9 translating and helping Deaf individuals express themselves accurately and honestly. “I truly feel like I made the right decision coming to AV and pursuing a degree in American Sign Language/English interpreting,” she said. “I prayed about it, and I asked God for guidance. Having this community is a bonus. The hard part for me, as a student, has always been finding opportunities to communicate in American Sign Language every day. Now, we help each other. This is definitely enhancing my learning experience because there is never a day when I am not using American Sign Language.” Editor’s Note: “‘Deaf’ and ‘deaf’ are two different words in Deaf culture. [Capital] ‘D’ Deaf is the culture/community of the group of people that consider their diagnosis not a disability. They are very proud of the way they are. Not capitalizing the ‘D’ in Deaf would be considered disrespectful to the Deaf culture. [Lowercase] ‘d’ deaf is the diagnosis that medical personnel have given to the disability. If a person misuses these two terms, it could be the difference in offending someone and calling them disabled rather than actually respecting their culture.” Jalisa Brown of Lake Mary, Florida, left, and MyJah Davis of San Diego, California, communicate using American Sign Language while hanging out in Hopper Hall.