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By Ma-le? Felicia Au

At the end of my junior year of high school, my godmother told me some surprising news; she had enrolled me in a weeklong summer camp in Maryland. This came as a total shock for me because I had never gone to a sleep-away camp before in my whole life.

When I received the letter of the list of items of what to and not to bring, I got even more nervous about going to this camp. I could not bring a cell phone, Ipod, DVD player or any electronics of that sort. My first thought about this was no way ... they must be joking.'

I asked exactly what kind of camp this was going to be and was told I would be going to the Senior High School West River Sign Language Camp with kids who were in ninth through 12th grades.

The campsite was in a secluded area by the water with log cabins, basketball and volleyball courts, pool area, and dining and recreation halls.

When I walked in the door to register, I immediately felt like I had entered into a whole new world that I neither belonged to nor even had a real understanding of. Everyone in the room was doing sign language to each other, even those who could hear.

The counselors immediately greeted me, we made introductions and I told them I knew no sign language whatsoever.

They just replied,'Do not worry about that, some of us do not know either, so we?ll just learn during the course of this week.'

When we went to dinner many hearing kids and deaf kids started to talk to me, wondering about what it?s like to live in New York, about my sport of figure skating and the rest of my life.

By the end of dinner I knew that I had made many new friends already. Also, for the first time in my life, I got to see prayer interpreted into sign language, which really was an interesting sight.

During the course of each day in the week we had pool time, religious education, sign language lessons in the evening, some relaxation time and many optional activities like canoeing, archery and other things.

I remember getting treated for a jellyfish sting after being dumped from a canoe. I also remember attending my first bonfire and eating my first s?more. At the talent show, everyone got a standing ovation.

The West River Senior High School Camp was a truly memorable experience. I learned that the deaf and hard of hearing people really aren?t any different from those of us who are hearing, we just communicate differently.

I first entered the camp feeling like I entered a whole new world completely foreign to me. However, I have left that camp with more of an understanding and appreciation of this world. Most importantly, I feel like I am now a part of this world so I hope to take part in it more.

Naturally, of course, I hope to go back to experience the wonders of the West River Senior High School camp again next summer. ?Til then, I will just start counting down the days with anticipation.

Ma-Le? Felicia Au lives in Jackson Heights, NY.