Once we got up and went to NTID, we met with Dr. Hurwitz, a long-time family friend of mine from the days I lived in Rochester. There, we had an opportunity to meet and chat with him. Dr. Hurwitz has been with NTID since 1970, giving him 34 years of service. As the vice-president of a university with more than 20,000 students, he is certainly a great example of what a Deaf person is capable of achieving. When asked about the Deaf Dean Now rally at Ohlone College in California, Hurwitz shared his sentiments that the bottom line was, the most qualified person should get the job, and there are many qualified Deaf people out there. Hurwitz worked his way up to the top at RIT and has plenty of experience to accompany him. He describes NTID as a Deaf mecca with plenty to offer. For instance, the city of Rochester has many very “deaf-friendly” people who know how to interact with deaf clients and customers.

After we enjoyed chatting with Dr. Hurwitz, we met with Sprint representative Mary Beth Barber Mothersell (I know!), and former Miss Deaf America 1980, and she joined us on our tour of NTID/RIT. We were shown the tech-savvy school’s computer lab and video relay room which is sponsored by Sprint. We were introduced to an English class taught by a Deaf professor who is currently working on her Ph.D, Katherine Schmitz. We were also shown a BioTech class where we saw students analyzing DNA. We were extremely fortunate to also meet with Thomas Warfield, the director of the RIT Dance Company. He is currently producing a dance show with both deaf and hearing cast members, and it most certainly wasn’t the first of these dance shows at NTID. We enjoyed chatting with him for a while before leaving.

Mary Beth joined us for the 30 minute drive to the Rochester School for the Deaf where my uncle Dr. Harold Mowl Jr. has been superintendent for 14 years. I received my first formal education at the Rochester School for the Deaf where I went to kindergarten, and it was nice seeing the school I had gotten my beginnings at.

Pulling into the Rochester School for the Deaf, you can immediately notice the very classy and well-kept feel of a school nestled away in seven acres in the city of Rochester. This was a major pay-off of a major school-wide facelift in which every single window on campus was replaced, most of the roofs repaired, and the landscaping re-designed. The campus is a simple, matured beauty, and is a delightful treat for the Deaf community.

We met our tour guide in Perkins Hall, one of the oldest buildings on campus named for the founders of the school, where the administrative offices are at. I was eager to see my Aunt and Uncle, but unfortunately, only my Aunt Mary could greet me because my Uncle was in a meeting. We took a tour of the campus and met 5th and 7th graders in the library and explained to them the purpose of our tour and answered their questions. We visited their brand new TV studio which is used by many different classes for many purposes. We then met for lunch with my Uncle and several high school students in a private dining room and we all enjoyed chatting with each other. They learned about our road trip and we learned more about the Rochester School for the Deaf. There, more than 26% of the students have a Deaf family. It was also interesting to know that although they have a small graduating class of just six seniors, five of them are college-bound in the fall. This is an extremely successful proportion for any school.

After that, we visited the pre-school and there, I bumped into my old kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Loysen! We had a nice reunion and there, she told me some of her most memorable stories of me. For instance, she recalled how I would call butterflies “flutter-bys.” She also explained to me time she was teaching my class about the things that you could or could not share. When asked what one thing that we could not share was, I replied, “underwear!”

After we finished with the tours, Jed and Branic went to Borders Bookstore where there was high speed internet accessibility, and they worked on updating the website and uploading the new videos and articles. Since Kevin and I weren’t needed, we went across the street and went shopping at the Marketplace Mall. After we all finished what we wanted to do, we said good bye to the great city of Rochester and hit the road.

We decided that since we were so close to Canada, to go ahead and cross the border and see Niagara Falls from the Canadian side as well as spend the night there. We stayed at this really nice KOA campground with the best shower facilities we’ve had on the entire trip. You Canadians really know your stuff!

We all had an excellent time in Rochester, and everyone we met was very friendly accommodating. Well, except for that professor who slammed the door in our tour guide’s face at RIT!