Brighton Sign Language Society’s Jordi Crowther on pushing her comfort zone and meeting like-minded people.
Whilst I was at school, the idea of University was a lot for me to take in. For a while I was adamant that I wasn’t going to go however, when I decided that I wanted to become a teacher, it then seemed like the best place for me to be.
It was quite late in the day that I posted my application and so I didn’t get the opportunity to visit many universities. One I did visit was the University of Brighton and I knew it was where I wanted to be.
When the first week came around, I was excited, nervous and honestly very confused. University is a whole new setup from anything I’d ever known before. I was receiving so many emails of things I had to get done already and that was before the course had even started.
When I first walked into my seminar group to meet my course for the first time, I was determined not to be shy but to be more outgoing. Thank goodness I did, because now I have the greatest group of friends I could ask for.
Then came Freshers Fair. An overwhelming parade of people and noise. I had been at University for less than a week, only knowing a handful of people. It was scary, getting up and going to an event as big as that, but to have gone along and put myself in a new situation was an accomplishment, at least it was for me.
I didn’t join any societies in my first year because there didn’t seem to be one that I really took a fancy to. Although I loved my course and the people in it, I still wanted to join a society.
About October time last year, a new society emerged called BSL (British Sign Language) and that definitely was one I wanted to sign up for. It was ideal for my course and seemed like a great opportunity to learn a new and very important skill, as well as getting the chance to meet people with a common interest.
I’m very glad I did because now I can sign basic BSL, which is a skill for life, and I have met some amazing people too. I am now part of the committee and I love putting my time into helping others learn.
Find the BSL Society on Facebook
Or contact the BSL committee at: brightonbslsociety@gmail.com
