The American Sign Language Club of PNC held their monthly Silent Coffee at Evelyn Bay Coffee Company this past Friday night. A mixture of ASL students, local community members, and people from as far away as Michigan came out for this event. Overall, around 40 people participated in this night of socializing and fun.
The night started off with casual conversations at 6 pm. Despite the fact the parking lot was full, when you walked into Evelyn Bay, you were met with a very quiet atmosphere, due to the silent conversations occurring all over the coffee house. For many of the PNC students, this event offers an opportunity to put their skills to use, aiding in their learning outside of the classroom.
Caitlyn Hasek, a first semester ASL student at PNC, talks about learning sign language: “I thought it would be pretty hard, but it’s actually pretty fun. I like learning all the different signs and communicating with other people using sign language. It’s pretty interesting.” Not only have the students learned sign language, they’ve also learned a lot about the way of life for many of these people. “It’s definitely given me more respect for the deaf culture,” Caitlyn states, “I now understand how difficult it is to talk on the phone or try to order something even would be really hard for a deaf person using their own kind of signs. It’s definitely given me a lot more respect for people who are deaf.” 
After the “meet and greet” part of the evening, the games began. The group started out with a holiday themed “elephant” game, only this time using a “reindeer” theme. A leader stood in the middle of a circle and would randomly point to a person. That person would have to simulate a reindeer “nose” while the people on either side of them would simulate the “antlers.” If someone messed up, they were out for that round. After that game, the group played their version of bingo. The leader would sign out a letter and the players would mark their cards if they had that letter.
This coffeehouse was the ASL Club’s last event of the year. For more information on the ASL Club of PNC, or to see when their next event will be held, click here.
To view photos from the event, click here.
To view a video of the event, click here.
