Last month, I was invited to attend Braidwood School as a deaf role model at their Career Day, to give a short presentation and run workshops.
Stepping outside of my comfort zone
I have to admit, initially I was going to say no, because I’m not good with children and I had never hosted a workshop before! I was very nervous but I wanted to give it a try.
Sharing my business journey and inspiration
I gave a talk to about 50 deaf pupils, split into a few groups. I had a presentation slideshow and brought my product samples with me to show to the pupils.
Showing them how to paint with watercolour
I had made the cardboard shapes of flower and plant shapes in advance, so that they could trace them onto their pictures if they struggled with drawing. It was lovely seeing them working hard on their paintings, and being inspired by my art. I was shattered at the end of the day! But it was really wonderful to see children looking up to me and other deaf role models. It was also great to meet other professionals who are deaf like me.
Looking forward to future opportunities
Giving presentations and running workshops was challenging but actually fun! Hopefully I’ll get more opportunities to do this kind of thing again, and it will become easier to do from practice.
I also hope that the pupils are encouraged to dream big, and understand that being deaf doesn’t limit what they can achieve!