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ISU-Meridian DACA student graduates in sign language interpreting
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<li><time datetime="2018-04-27T16:45:00-06:00" class="gmail-asset-date gmail-text-muted">
Apr 27, 2018
</time><span class="gmail-text-muted">Updated </span><time datetime="2018-04-27T17:09:21-06:00" class="gmail-asset-date gmail-text-muted">15 hrs ago</time>
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<p>Giovanna Marquez Napoles is a
first-generation college student and DACA recipient. She will be
graduating on May 7 with her degree in sign language interpreting from
Idaho State University-Meridian. </p>
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<span>COURTESY ISU-MERIDIAN</span>
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<p>Soon-to-be-graduate Giovanna Marquez
Napoles is a first-generation college student fluent in three languages —
English, Spanish and American Sign Language.</p><p>Napoles is
graduating from Idaho State University-Meridian on May 7, where she will
receive her degree in sign language interpreting. The ceremony will
take place at 6 p.m. at the Boise Centre, 850 W. Front St., Boise.</p><p>Napoles is one of several students at ISU-Meridian nominated for the ISU-Meridian Student Excellence Award.</p>
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</div></div><div id="gmail-tncms-region-article_instory_top" class="gmail-tncms-region gmail-hidden-print"></div><h4>Experience as a DACA student</h4><p>Napoles
was born in Mexico and moved to Emmett, Idaho, when she was 3 years
old. Growing up she said her parents pushed her to do her best in school
and hid some of the factors that would affect her future as a someone
who was born outside the United States.</p><p>One of the facts they
withheld was Napoles inability to go to college if the Deferred Action
for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy didn’t pass. During Napoles senior
year in high school in 2012, DACA was enacted as a policy, and Napoles
parents’ were ecstatic.</p><p>“DACA has become very important in being
able to achieve all my goals," Napoles said. "Without it I wouldn’t have
been able to apply for scholarships or get my license, as well as being
able to get jobs."</p><p>Even with the opportunities DACA provided, Napoles still had disadvantages she had to overcome.</p><p>Neither
of Napoles parents could co-sign student loans. In order to make
student payments, during the summers between school years Napoles worked
as a bus driver for a rafting company in Wyoming.</p><p>Napoles said she lived out of her car during these months. </p><h4>Sign Language</h4><p>Napoles was first introduced to sign language her senior year of high school when a deaf student came to Emmett High School.</p><p>“I
was so eager to meet them, before I met them I started learning the
ABCs and when I finished … I tried to say hi and spell everything,”
Napoles said. “Then that person took out their cell phone, basically
telling me I was taking too long.”</p>
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<p>While getting her associates degree at College of Southern Idaho in
Twin Falls, Napoles took a sign language class to fill a required
credit.</p><p>“After the first semester I was just drawn to the language and culture,” Napoles said.</p><p>She
said ISU-Meridian was only colleges in Idaho that offered a sign
language interpreting major, so she applied there after getting her
associates degree in sign language.</p><div id="gmail-tncms-region-article_instory_middle" class="gmail-tncms-region gmail-hidden-print"></div><h4>After graduation</h4><p>Napoles continued to stay friends with this individual and occasionally they chat video chat.</p><p>“Every
year when I see her or talk to her, we can talk about more things,”
Napoles said. “As my skill improves, it opens up more conversations
between us.”</p><p>Napoles said each region of the U.S. has different
regional signs, similar to dialects, and after graduating Napoles hopes
to find a job out of Idaho so she can keep growing her vocabulary.</p><p>Because of sign language’s visual quality, Napoles said any story comes to life.</p><p>“It’s a very beautiful language,” Napoles said.</p><p>Napoles
has spent the last several months in Houston, Texas, doing an
internship with a company that does sign language interpretation.</p><p>Napoles encouraged readers to take a sign language class to learn the language and more about the deaf community. </p><p>“Currently
we are having a harder time really allowing ourselves to be open to
different types of people,” Napoles said. “That is what has drawn me to
learning this language is having to be very tolerant and open minded to
all different types of people.”</p>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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