University freshman Genista Richie had sunshine on a cloudy day. When it was cold outside, she had the month of May. She guesses she’ll say, what can make her feel this way? Richie didn’t actually say anything vocally, but she did perform The Temptations’ classic “My Girl” in American Sign Language for a room filled with her classmates.
As the ASL class’ inaugural year – up until fall 2007, ASL was only offered as an elective at the University and did not count toward students’ language requirements – comes to a close, the 120 students enrolled signed songs as part of their final project.
“These are hearing students. One thing I see around campus is everyone listening to music, listening to their iPods,” said ASL instructor Jo Larson, the daughter of two deaf parents, whose first language is ASL. “I wanted to challenge them to think outside the box, to really think about the syntax of ASL.”
Richie, who started studying ASL in high school while working with deaf children, chose to perform “My Girl” for its popularity and recognizability.
“Everyone knows that song so you see people in the audience mouthing the words for it,” she said.

The program took place Wednesday morning in the EMU’s Ben Linder Room, located on the ground level next to the ASUO office. ASL students will perform again in the same location today at 9 a.m., 10 a.m., and 12 p.m. Because there are so many students, each set has different performers signing different songs.
Songs performed Wednesday include “Irreplaceable” by Beyoncé, “Dig” by Incubus, “(Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding, Edwin Starr’s “War (What Is It Good For?), and the famous Justin Timberlake “Saturday Night Live” parody, “Dick In A Box.”
Christy Austin, a junior who has been studying ASL for two years at the University, signed country star Carrie Underwood’s new song, “Last Name,” because it tells a story.
Austin said the hardest lyric to sign was “Today I woke up thinkin’ about Elvis somewhere in Vegas” because she had to spell out the letters for “Elvis” and “Vegas.” Underwood blamed her waking up in Vegas on the Cuervo, which was less complicated to sign.
“If I did Cuervo, I’d have to finger-spell it,” she said. “So I just did tequila: T.Q.”
A math major, Austin, who said ASL is a perfect language for people who consider themselves more visual learners, took ASL just for the fun of it.
“I’m done (with my language requirement),” she said. “I don’t even need to be taking this. It’s just fun and I love Jo.”
Sophomore Jordan Shively – who performed Johnny Cash’s “Cocaine Blues” with his friend, Robert Mason – agreed, saying, “It’s good to get some exposure for sign language and have some fun while learning.”
Shively enjoyed watching his classmates perform, as did Larson, who said it’s interesting how people’s signs tend to match their personalities and speaking voices.
“When people have very soft voices, they have very gentle signs,” she said. “When people are very excitable, it shows in their signs. When people have very big voices, it shows in their signs.”
She added that the show was “fabulous – so far, so good. It’s exactly what I was hoping for.”
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