One of a Kind, The Search [Ryan/ Spencer]

Volunteer Work

 It didn't take long after first meeting Jordan for him and I to become friends. He was so full of life and optimism. We only talked about soulmates once and from that point on, he was as determined as I was to find Ryan.

He played piano and a few other instruments and had decided that we should keep practicing as soon as he learned I had tried to play drums a while back. After a few weeks of him encouraging me, I asked my Dad to start teaching me to play the drums once more.

Months turned into years and the more classes we had together, the closer we had gotten. Eventually I had spent most days after school at Jordan's. And he spent most of summer vacation and weekends at mine.

When we hit 10th grade we had to start getting volunteer hours so we could graduate. There was a plethora of choices offered and I decided to volunteer with a place that taught ASL. Jordan picked a soup kitchen for his volunteer work. Whenever we didn't have a volunteer shift after school, we would continue to hang out at his place. I learned ASL for about a year and a half while I was volunteering. I didn't really get to use it much outside of that. It was really interesting though, since each person would get a professional teacher who would bring them along to different events and shows where they were translating.

One of my favorites was for a kid's play. A group of youngsters who needed the translations were sat together in the front left side of the theater. They were sat there and excitedly bounced as they waited for the show to begin. Once it did, my teacher signed with such speed as to keep up with the characters on stage, but not so fast that the kids couldn't get the translations and watch the characters movements. It was that show that really showed me how important my teacher's job was. Without ASL translators, those kids wouldn't have been able to enjoy that show to the same extent that they did. I was sure in the future they would have subtitle options or something to that extent, but in the world at that moment, this was the best we had. The kids were very grateful and signed "thank you" a lot once the show was over.

I hadn't known it then, but my volunteer work would come in handy a lot in my future. If I could, I would go back and tell my younger self to keep at it. Keep learning ASL so I wouldn't be so rusty now when I really need it.