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Hundreds of Students Explore Their Futures at RIT/NTID

NTID News - July 23, 2008

Explore Your Future students Corey Balzer of Maryland, Gabriella Caballero of Texas, Dalton Allen of Texas and Colton Baldwin of Arizona watch RIT/NTID science instructor Dr. Robert Nutt describe the parts of an eyeball.

During a career awareness session this week in a classroom at Rochester Institute of Technology's National Technical Institute for the Deaf, some students loved being in the laboratory, where they donned safety glasses, rubber gloves and aprons as they took turns dissecting a cow's eyeball.

But a few of the students thought the experience was gross, and said they'd rather be crafting a Web site or ripping apart an engine.

One lesson all the students learned: Whether you prefer working alone or being with other people, there are careers that will match your interests.

That's the message hundreds of deaf and hard-of-hearing students from 40 states and Canada learned at the Explore Your Future career exploration camp at RIT/NTID this month. The six day program - held twice over two weeks - is intended to give high school students a taste of college life while offering them career options to consider.

"It's been very informative," said Greg St. Denis, 17, of Auburn, Maine. "I've been thinking about teaching, or being a coach."

During the camp, the students kept a busy schedule doing a variety of things, including taking personality tests to find out if they are introverts or extroverts, and the types of careers they may enjoy - working with their hands, with people or technology.

They also wrote business plans for a lemonade stand, made telescopes and designed newsletters under the supervision of teachers, counselors and current students - about 90 people work during EYF to make things go smoothly.

Parents meet with counselors on the final day of the camp to review their child's interests.

Laura Kieliszak, 15, of the Rochester suburb of Irondequoit, called the eyeball dissection "a little bit disgusting, but I dissected a worm before." Being a scientist wasn't top on her list of career choices. Laura, a two-time Odyssey of the Mind world champion, said she enjoys making things with her hands. "I might want to open up a bakery. I like making brownies."

Heather Emerson Jeremy, assistant director of Pre-College Outreach for NTID, said many of the EYF students will end up applying to RIT/NTID for college. But a major goal of EYF - now in its 24^th year - is to have students meet others like themselves.

The students are divided into groups of eight or 10 with others who share communication preferences. Some only use sign language. Others don't know sign language and use their voices to speak. Others use a combination. Interpreters and captionists make sure all events are accessible.

"We want them to make friends and meet people like themselves," Jeremy said. "Sometimes they might feel like they are the only ones like them."

Daniel Andrews, a second-year student at RIT/NTID, knows the feeling. He attended EYF when he was in high school in Missouri City, Texas, where he was the only deaf student in his school. Now, he worked as an orientation assistant during EYF. He saw himself in a lot of the students.

"When I first came to EYF, I wanted to make friends. I wanted to have fun. I wanted to pick up signs that I didn't know before," Andrews said. He made lasting friends during his EYF experience, and encourages today's students to do the same.

Ashleen Evans, of Lebanon, Ind., heeded that advice. She enjoyed seeing other high school students using sign language. Although she's accustomed to speaking rather than using ASL, she was surprised she was able to understand everyone so well, even other students who sign.

"I've made a lot of friends," she said. "I enjoy hanging out with friends and getting to know each other with all the activities."

The EYF students met repeatedly with counselors and advisors. They watched short videos of successful deaf professionals, including a veterinarian, physician and optician. And they spent time as a group eating meals, bowling and attending a dance. A rainy afternoon canceled a trip to an amusement park, but the students instead hopped on buses to a nearby theater to watch a captioned movie.

Andrews has advice for the future college students: "Remember to keep a balance with their academic and social life. Do the best you can. Choose your dream."