On Moving and Maryland School for the Deaf

Moving is a life-changing experience and it is much more complex for Neva than it was two years ago when we embarked to Delaware from Washington, DC.  She was 5 years old at the time and I'm glad she remembered the move but of course vaguely.  Transition is crucial to all children and their involvement in the process is extremely important. 

Moving to Frederick, Maryland had been quite an experience not only for Neva but for myself as well.  Delaware treated us very well and I truly miss living there and the students and staff  I worked with were so amazing, warm, and loving.  Neva missed DSD because it was the place she was familiar with along with the people at the school.  However, at the same time, we are liking what we are seeing here in Frederick.  I am seeing that things are happening for Neva.  At the same time, we are overwhelmed with how stimulating and welcoming the community has been.  I am grateful and thankful that we have come to the right place.  It is a transition that involves different feelings, experiences, and perceptions within myself as well as for Neva and others.

When we came for a visit back in the spring, we had a forum for potential MSD parents to come and talk with current students' parents, administrators and such to discuss options.  Jennifer Yost-Oritz, our principal at Columbia campus presented an experience of her own that was really reviving about the community support in Frederick.  I was holding back tears when she told the story because, at that time, I was so much looking for community support and helping hands. I didn't have family living nearby and Delaware community was so small that help isn't always available.   I was going back and forth about staying in Delaware or making a change and she helped me make that decision easy.   She convinced me that, YES, the move was necessary.

I am a full time working single mother that is working to make ends meet and the support from the community is a luxury to me.  Although I have not yet befriended a lot of people in town or in the community whoever I met already are just fabulous.  Neva was on the flag football team and the staff there were very engaged and helpful - totally amazing and exactly what I am looking for!  MSD gave me a whiff of some memories and felt old sentiments I had while growing up.  Ever since I was 7 years old just the same age as Neva, I was enrolled at the Wisconsin School for the Deaf and on the first Sunday of every school year, we were ushered into the gymnasium to complete the registration process and all that.  That first Sunday, I was nostalgic because of the experience that I had growing for 10 was happening again for Neva and myself.  To be honest, that day was one of my favorite days of the year!  The point is that the experience was just familiar to me and I never had that before with Neva.  It felt so grand even to the point of my saying it was like a "homecoming".   

Neva met with several other children throughout the week with her sitter, who by the way is awesome.  It was strange for me that Neva was meeting kids and parents and I was not there to do "meet and greet" thing :).  However, we came to MSD that Sunday for our family orientation and Neva exclaimed she knew this student and that student and it was awkward because I wasn't there for those meet and greet times because I was at work:)  It was the first year MSD have done orientation and I think it was a wonderful thing to do!  Once she told me their names, Neva became shy and nervous, she couldn't smile, aww!  She was definitely out of her comfort zone.  It was painful to see yet I know next year will be different.  She met with a couple of other girls in her class and one was new.  Neva commented on how many more girls are in her class than ever and yes, her observation was just keen. Peer-wise and academically-wise, there are a lot of girls here and this was what I was looking for.  I have no idea how the dynamics of that group are becoming but I am on board!

Emotionally, the move was much more of a challenge than it was with the move to Delaware when Neva was 5 years old.  I suspect it is because of the age thing and the relationships she developed with teachers, staff, and peers in Delaware had much more depth.  She especially missed her friends there but I'm grateful she was good at coping and making friends at MSD.  My heart breaks from time to time to see her experience new things but yes, it is a good thing.  It only means she is learning and growing to be a girl she is meant to be.

One night, I took her to go to watch varsity volleyball game and she was awestruck and commented on the fact (quite an observant gal, by the way) that the players were like the Olympics players we watched on TV last summer.  She was right because of the speed, power, and movement of the games were similar in the eyes of 7 years old.  MSD is well known for the excellent athletic program and the team definitely represented.   Although they lost, it was one of the best games I have ever seen to date in a deaf residential school setting.  So in the eyes of a mother of a daughter whose future is hopeful and bright, MSD has provided us the place to remember why we are here and the choices that we have made to bring us here to ensure our child's success in the future.  Like any parent, we should always be supportive and encouraging of our children including others to be as successful.  That is what a positive community is all about and I am sensing that among Neva's friends' parents - so thrilled to be part of that experience!