National Association of the Deaf

Submitted by Rachel Mazique on Mon, 03/21/2011 - 22:19

Hello my name is Rachel Maziaque, Miss Deaf America Ambassador of 2010-2012. I'm from Arilngton Heights, a suburb of Chicago, where John Hersey High School, with a deaf program is located. Academy-award winning actress/writer Marlee Matlin also graduated from the same high school.

I have three goals as Miss Deaf America Ambassador. First, I want to inspire and encourage people to learn foreign sign language, because it reflects the NAD mission to preserve, protect & promote our rights, to sign language. I recently flew to England and met Paddy Ladd, a professor from University of Bristol. Paddy wrote the book, "Understanding Deaf Culture: In Search for Deafhood". His concept has been shared and discussed as a popular topic among people across the United States. While in England, I enjoyed learning British Sign Language (BSL)! This is important because it will allow our deaf community to become more global.

My second goal is to maintain contact with other Miss Deaf Ambassadors of various states whom I met at the 50th Biennial NAD Conference in Philadelphia, PA. This past September, I went to Minnesota to visit with the Miss Deaf Minnesota Ambassador. We participated in a fundraising walk for a foundation fighting blindness. This relates to our community because of Usher's Syndrome.

Thirdly, I want to continue to help increase visibility of the NAD Miss Deaf America Ambassador Program (MDAAP). I will do vlogs, which you'll see more in the future. I will also put information on the NAD MDAAP website, as well as on Facebook & Twitter. I look forward to working with the deaf and hard of hearing community.