An elective class ignited a passionate career pursuit for Dawn Moore.
The West Nassau 2014 graduate plans to obtain an Associate Degree in American Sign Language and Interpreting in 2018 so that she can immerse herself in the deaf community.
“I never expected it,” she said. “It was kind of one of those things. I wasn’t looking for it, but it kind of found me.”
Moore had never interacted with deaf people until her senior year of high school, when she attended a silent dinner as part of an ASL 1 class assignment.
“I was scared to death,” she recalled.
Moore signed with two deaf people who sat with her during the dinner.
“It was like, really scary, but it was so exciting at the same time,” she recalled. “I always loved languages. I was in French Club for three years. I just took ASL as an elective for my (degree) but once I got in there and I saw the language and the culture and how beautiful it is, I was hooked.
“Also, it gives me the opportunity to go give back. It gives me the opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life.”
Moore attends Florida State College at Jacksonville’s South Campus.
Once finished, she plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. The university has a predominately deaf student population with a small percentage of hearing students.
The 21-year-old wants to equalize communication for those who can’t hear or have trouble hearing – an ability that many without hearing difficulties don’t question.
“For so long deaf people have been oppressed and have not had equal access to the things that we take for granted,” Moore said. “I don’t see it as a sacrifice. I get to help people communicate.”
Another goal is to gain national certification so that she can work in a hospital or in an educational setting.
“I haven’t even gotten to the hard part yet,” she said. “I want to be as skilled and as qualified as possible because there are a lot of qualified and skilled interpreters in hospitals and educational settings where they need to be, because children don’t get the education they need.”
Moore added that deaf children often experience learning gaps because their parents or educators may not know how to sign properly enough to teach advanced learning concepts.
“Children often don’t receive the higher level of competency that is required for higher education,” she said. “If you don’t have a proper language model, you will struggle with other subjects as well. They encourage us to work with all age levels because that gives us more experience and increases our skills.”
Moore is equally attracted to working in a hospital setting because deaf children could be misunderstood during emergency situations.
Since studying ASL, Moore finds herself immersed in her surroundings and the nuances of sights, sounds and smells as never before just so that she can relay those effects to others in a better way.
“Deaf people – they like to do that and they like giving that information,” she said.
Moore feels that she has a long way to go on her journey toward learning this new language. She views people who are deaf or hard of hearing as those living in a different culture.
“It’s just a different language, just like any other language, so if someone is deaf, they’re living in another culture,” she said. “That’s part of our job as being an interpreter – is living in a deaf culture.”
As she continues to delve into her education, the young woman has had to overcome her fears of ASL. She recently signed before a group of professors, relaying a monologue describing the events surrounding a 16-year-old girl who comes out as a lesbian. Moore awaits feedback from the panel.
“I am going to make mistakes because going up to a deaf person to communicate with them, I’m going to fail,” Moore said, adding, “Because I’m learning still, you know? But the deaf community is very patient because they want people to communicate with them. That’s why I give back. Learning sign language and deaf culture – all that they’ve given me – the least I can do is give back.”
Dad George Moore is not surprised that she selected an altruistic career.
“I thought it was pretty awesome for her to choose that,” he said. “There’s a lot of need for it. I’m very proud of her and I always knew that she would want to do something that would help people. I back her 100 percent.”
He has learned how to sign his name and the words “father” and “love.”
Mom Tracy Moore is equally excited about her daughter’s future.
“I have always said that I felt like God allowed us to write Him a list about everything that you could want in a daughter,” she wrote via text. “He gave that to me in Dawn Marie. She has always had such a way with being in front of a crowd and has nerves of steel, which amazes me, because her father and I are the complete opposite. The career field she has chosen really does not surprise me because I always knew she would do something special where she could make a difference and help people.”
She continued, “She has truly embraced the deaf community and formed numerous relationships just in the last couple of years with many different people that I’m sure she will be lifelong friends with.”
For Dawn Moore, her career is a way to focus on others.
“Anyone who is trying to learn even just a little bit of ASL or if they’re just trying to just converse with their deaf neighbor, if they happen to have a deaf neighbor, don’t get discouraged,” she said.