I AM UAA: Rhonda Easley

B.A. Human Services '11
Independent Living Advocate, Access Alaska
Hometown: New Boston, TX
Fun Fact: Has been a photographer since age 15 and just got her first digital camera this Christmas

"My dream growing up was to go to New York for a photography degree and then travel the world as a photographer," says UAA alumna Rhonda Easley. "I wanted to get married, go to college and visit Europe."

She was a jazz dancer and a cheerleader as a young adult. She dreamed of being an exchange student to Italy. And although the photography degree didn't pan out, she did get married with a year of college under her belt and moved to Germany with her husband who was stationed there with the U.S. Air Force.

Deaf since infancy from spinal meningitis, Rhonda learned to sign at the age of 4. And despite going to seven different schools growing up, she thrived in situations where she was able to meet people and practice her leadership skills.

"When I was at the School for the Deaf, I was able to participate in a lot of extracurricular activities," says the New Boston, Texas, native. "At the hearing public school I wasn't allowed to. It was at the Oklahoma School for the Deaf (OSD) where I became more involved and started to learn a little bit of leadership."

She originally attended OSD from age 5 to 11. Bouncing back to public school for a while as her parents sorted out the best place for her, Rhonda quickly recognized that the education that was offered in the public school setting for a deaf student was very different than the education she could get at a school for the deaf. She was back at OSD at age 15 and by the time she graduated in 1989, she was president of the Junior National Association of the Deaf.

Entering community college right after graduation, one of the classes Rhonda took was human development.

"That class is where I really started to learn about the deaf community and culture and my own identity," she says. "Going to so many different schools growing up, I wasn't able to really figure out who I was as a deaf person. And even though I spent a lot of time at the School for the Deaf, I hadn't had a lot of formal training in the deaf culture. That college class was my first exposure to self-analysis and self-identification."

It was 1990 when, newly married, she moved to Germany and had to put school on hold. The Berlin Wall was just starting to come down and Rhonda made the most of traveling the continent. She dabbled in international sign language, indulged in local food, volunteered with the Red Cross and even held a part-time job at a photography studio.

Unfortunately, her photography job ended in blows with her boss when she discovered she was being paid far less than normal due to her deafness, and it was hard to communicate with the deaf community due to the differences in German and American sign language. But despite those isolated challenges, she remembers her time overseas fondly.

"I loved Germany," she says. "Looking back it was a really great time of my life. I miss the food and I really enjoyed getting to know such diverse people. The photography job was a hard experience, but it was good for me to live through that prejudice and learn from it."

After a tour of four years in Germany, Rhonda and her husband moved back to Texas, but the marriage didn't last much longer. It was a very challenging time, she admits, as she attempted to find her own path, including taking classes from four different colleges to find a good fit. It was her adventurous spirit and subsequent decision to move to Alaska that turned her outlook around again.

"I had always wanted to visit Alaska at some point," she says. "A close friend from the Air Force whom I met in Germany finally convinced me to just move here."

The two drove up in an RV from Texas in 2004 and Rhonda has embraced Alaska living ever since. Since returning from Germany she had bounced from majoring in graphic arts to photography to psychology. Once she picked school up again in Alaska, she met with the Alaska Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and settled on studying human services as she embarked on finishing her bachelor's at UAA.

"I really enjoy the diversity I get working in human services," she says, describing her current role as an Independent Living Advocate at Access Alaska, where she has worked for two years. "I provide community resources and outreach for deaf and hard of hearing consumers to help them live independently. I'm part facilitator and part educator."

Rhonda's leadership skills from her younger days definitely shine through to her life in Alaska. From 2004-2009 she hosted Deaf Coffee events in Anchorage, providing an opportunity for the deaf community (including hearing ASL students) to meet once a month to connect and converse. From 2006-2010 she was a member of the board for the Alaska Deaf Council. While at UAA she participated in the Human Services Club, the American Sign Language Club and the Diversity Action Council. And more recently she became a part of the 2012 cohort of Leadership Anchorage, a leadership training program through the Alaska Humanities Forum.

Rhonda does note that the deaf community in Alaska is quite small and she constantly strives to find balance between living in a hearing world and a deaf world. Her past struggles with her own deaf identity has got her thinking about pursuing a master's degree in mental health for other deaf people struggling with the same issue. And whether she stays in Alaska to eventually earn that master's or goes Outside, in the meantime, Rhonda's leadership skills, sense of adventure and love of people and community will continue to serve her and the Anchorage community well, right where she is.