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Aaron Delbruegge, hails from St. Louis, Missouri, a big town with an unique flavor to it. He attended an oral-based deaf school, and was mainstreamed up to his second year of college. Yet that did not stop Aaron from interacting with all deaf and Deaf people throughout his life -- he gives kudos to his mother and other people in his life. On that same note, Aaron joined many Deaf organizations and clubs such as teen clubs and summer camps around St. Louis and Missouri allowing him to embrace his identity as a Deaf individual and familiarity to sign language early on. That same passion translated into a social awareness for the advancement of his fellow Deaf citizens whether it was communication access issues or job-related discrimination. Aaron started by joining the Missouri/Kansas Teen Institute for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing at 12 years old, a camp promoting education of relationships, drug/alcohol, and Deaf issues. He stayed with that program for the next twelve years, working his way up from intern to Activities Coordinator. After searching for the right college environment, Aaron settled on RIT after three other schools. There were numerous majors tacked on to his transcript reflecting his myriad interests such as Biology and History. Aaron graduated May 2008 with a B.S. in Food Management. So, as you might guess, he is currently employed in the culinary field at home in Missouri. RIT allowed him an opportunity he could not pass up--GRO and international travel! Aaron was one of the delegates to INDIA 2007, and boy, what an experience that was for him! To sum it all, he was changed down to his core. He realized many things such as how each individual on this planet does have an impact on others on the other side of the globe. He looks forward to learning the Deaf Experience in another region of the world--Africa and Kenya, in this case. It is important for American Deaf citizens to realize that they do hold the torch for the rest of the world in terms of how we achieved our present status of ACCESS, though it could still be improved. It is a social obligation for those educated and experienced to go out in the world and spread EMPOWERMENT to those who previously thought their dreams and hopes unreachable. Aaron feels up to that task, and he is optimistic about Kenya 2009. |