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 Ïã½¶ÊÓÆµ¹ÙÍø and pursuing a degree in American Sign Language/English interpreting,â€� 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.â€� 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.â€� 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.