1. April 18, 2012
Judges, Senior Project
Creekview High School
1550 Owens Store Road
Canton, GA 30115
Dear Judges:
Hello! My name is Maida Ahmad and for my senior project, I chose to learn American
Sign Language (ASL) and teach what I learned to Ashley Bridges, a student who was interested
in learning the language. I am already fluent in two languages, English and Urdu, and partially
fluent in Spanish. Therefore, I figured learning another language wouldn’t be too difficult.
Nevertheless, this goal revealed itself to be quite lofty, but I worked tirelessly throughout the
year to make sure I successfully completed this project. Although I am currently undecided on
what career I would like to pursue in the future, I know without a doubt that I would love to have
a career in the medical field. I have a passion for helping people and I love the idea of devoting
all my time and effort into saving lives on a daily basis.
For my final product, I created a scrapbook to document the sign language lessons I gave
Ashley Bridges. In my scrapbook, I included the abundant amount of pictures we took during our
lessons and some of Ashley’s personal opinions about sign language. Since my research paper
discussed the many reasons people choose to learn sign language and the many aspects of
learning sign language, my product relates to my research paper because they both highlight the
major elements of learning sign language, including both the difficult and highly enjoyable parts
of the process. Therefore, the information I read through when I was writing my research paper
benefitted me in understanding some of the simple techniques I could use to easily teach sign
language to Ashley. An obstacle I faced during the process of creating a scrapbook was my
inability to draw intricate pictures. Nevertheless, I loved being creative while making my
scrapbook. Also, the best part of creating a scrapbook was that drawing wasn’t a necessity. I
worked around the obstacle and achieved success by incorporating ribbons, stickers, printed
pictures, and more!
My topic revolves around sign language, but my research, in addition to sign language,
also explores hearing impairment, the lifestyle the hearing impaired experience, and the rapid
growth in the deaf population. Since one of my career options is to become a hearing specialist,
my topic and research relate to my career choice quite accurately. I chose to learn sign language
because I believe that I must first understand how my patients communicate before I can attempt
to help them. Sign language is one of the most important elements to the deaf and hearing
impaired. Therefore, by choosing to learn sign language for my senior project, I believe I have
taken the first step towards my potential future career. Throughout the process of completing my

2. senior project, I realized two things about myself. One, I have an unbreakable drive to become a
respected doctor in the medical field. One of my biggest and most ambitious goals is to become a
successful doctor and make an impact on lives all around me. This project illuminated the fact
that I am highly motivated to pursue a career in the medical field. Two, although I am
determined to have a career in the medical field, I am no longer fascinated in becoming a hearing
specialist. Although I no longer want to become a hearing specialist, my interest in sign language
has not declined and I still desire to become fluent in the language.
All in all, my senior project has significantly influenced me, both positively and
negatively. When I chose my topic in the beginning of the year, I didn’t realize how demanding
and arduous learning a new language would be. I decided that I would put in the extra effort and
become fluent by the end of the year. However, the grueling workload from three AP courses
and the process of applying to various colleges and scholarship programs began to take a toll on
me. Learning an entire language in just a couple of months is no easy feat and although I chose
quite a complicated topic for my senior project, my desire to become fluent in sign language
pushed me continuously throughout the year. There were moments throughout the year when I
believed that the senior project had only been created to stress me out more than I already was.
Now that the project is over, however, I realize that without the senior project, I would still be on
the track to becoming a hearing specialist. The senior project was extremely stressful and
demanding, but it might have saved me thousands of dollars on college courses. Instead of
realizing I wasn’t meant to be a hearing specialist in the middle of my college years, I am glad
that I found out before I spent an abundant amount of money on a career choice I wouldn’t
enjoy. In conclusion, the senior project has been highly beneficial to me throughout my
exploration of career options. Thank you very much for your time!
Sincerely,
_______________________________
Maida Ahmad