190 Deaf Epistemologies, Identity, and Learning
development and identity. Similarly, Leticia Arellano, a young woman from Mexico
who was studying at Gallaudet, made the following statement:Gallaudet guided me—how to recognize, open up, and see who I am. Gallau-
det changed me... no... led me. I took small steps, and doors opened and
opened. yes, I had some doors slam that made me fall down, but then I would
ask myself, “What do I do?” I found different ways to open these doors, and
when they opened, I would say, “Ohh... yeah.” Sometimes I had to endure
hard lessons and remind myself that my life was not insignificant. My family
supported me fully—and I’d remind myself that if my family thought I could,
then that meant I could do it. So my family was also a factor, not only Gallaudet.In some ways, I was fortunate to experience a lot of obstacles during my doctoral
studies while I was in the United States. I had the opportunity to learn to “think
positive” and to act in terms of possibilities and challenges, and this new vocabu-
lary and practice have become part of my person and my work. In my first weeks at
Gallaudet, when I was concerned about financial issues and looking for funding to
continue my research stay there, my Congolese friend told me that I was “thinking
negative.” I didn’t understand what he meant, but I thought a lot about it. When I
was trying to overcome a barrier, an African American friend asked how he could
support me. I had never been asked, “What do you need?” and it took some time
before I was able to respond.
In addition, when I was first presenting my research, professor Stephen Chough,
a Korean deaf professor who taught in the English Language Institute and in the
Deaf Studies Department, offered to coach me on my presenting style and attended
the presentation to support me. An American deaf friend offered to share her room
in the period when I was looking for funding. I found a generous network of guid-
ance at Gallaudet, as well as in the United States in general; I learned that people
are happy to support you in being successful and that, when you succeed, they are
proud of you and happy to have contributed.
These practices of support and solidarity, which have cultural meaning, are often
mentioned as one of the differences between the United States and Europe when
deaf Flemish graduates of U.S. schools who have returned to Flanders look back on
their American experience. Flemish cultural practices are illustrated by the Dutch
proverb, “Don’t stick your head above the mowing field, or else it will get chopped
off.” This culturally different conception of the self in relation to others was one of
the things I often talked about with yerker Andersson.
In my study, international deaf people at Gallaudet talked about “creating a rip-
ple effect of empowerment.” This practice of empowerment inspired me to docu-
ment these dynamics through research and to encourage other deaf people’s devel-
opment. (And, looking back on the support I have received from so many people,
I think it will take a lifetime to reciprocate.)
However, I still had to deal with other major challenges first. Being confronted
with new barriers after my return to Belgium taught me to look at my research with
new eyes and find new treasures in the life stories I had collected. In the next two