“Why Did I Become A Mediator?”

While seated in my high school classroom, aged sixteen, I was told by a teacher, “You should become a teacher.”

I felt pigeonholed. Becoming a Deaf educator of Deaf students is a common career path amongst my peers. I wanted to do something different. I wanted to fill a current gap.

Unintentionally, I stumbled into a career spanning more than a decade with the Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf. I worked with hundreds, if not thousands, of Deaf and hard of hearing students from all over the nation as well as Canada, the Caribbean, and other regions of the world.

I found great enjoyment in seeing students thrive in an environment designed for them. When I was considering a career step that was complementary to my background in higher education, academic counseling, career readiness, post-secondary transition, and Deafness, I came across mediation.

That was a lightbulb moment for me. I could bridge educational systems with my background in Deaf Education, fluency in American Sign Language, and function not solely as a traditional mediator, but also as a cultural mediator.

It is my desire to work with students, families, educators, administrators, and other stakeholders of differing backgrounds and to bring the lens of a Deaf and disabled person to situations of conflict and to facilitate a compassionate and empathetic journey towards resolution.