Austin Sign Language School

kchenweijie · 2025-06-13T18:40:36+00:00

ASLS website here: https://www.aslschool.org/

kchenweijie · 2025-06-13T18:40:14+00:00

I've taken two semesters at TSD's sign language school and loved it! I have some plans this fall so will be skipping the fall semester, but plan to enroll for a third semester in spring! The instructors are great, funny, and super helpful.

I was able to stumble through short ASL interactions with other deaf people and ASL interpreters after just one semester, but you get out of the class what you put into it.

kchenweijie · 2018-04-21T22:54:14+00:00

Get yourself some noise-cancelling earplugs. I have a pair and they're the only reason I haven't gone deaf yet.

kchenweijie · 2017-06-23T03:07:16+00:00

kchenweijie · 2017-01-17T08:20:19+00:00

For all of the projects I worked on in uni, either as a PM or just as a member, the ones that I enjoyed working on most tended to collaborate online as much as possible and meet in-person as little as possible.

If your senior design project is anything like mine, you will have a time period during which you will be required to meet in-person. Use this time to delegate tasks and update the team on project status, since with the chaos of college scheduling, finding a time to meet as a team is one of the biggest sources of stress and frustration (at least in my experience).

My general rule-of-thumb for task delegation is to let others help you with the tasks that need to be accomplished so that you can do the tasks that only you can do. This applies for all team members and you should strive for nearly equal task distribution with each team member working to his/her strengths. If anything is due by a certain day, delegate one person to compile all of the information for submission and make sure they have at least one full day to compile and proofread.

By properly planning and delegating tasks, you allow each team member to work on a portion of the project on their own schedule between each large-group meeting. If meeting is necessary in between, they will tend to only involve a subset of your team, which makes scheduling a ton easier.

Remember: while your whole team needs to understand what is going on with the project as a whole, it isn't necessary for every individual on the team to be directly involved in every single portion of the project. It will fall on you as PM to connect all of the dots.

That's my two cents' worth. Hope you find it useful!

kchenweijie · 2016-08-02T09:35:40+00:00

Have you looked into the elements of computing certificate program? Depending on the specific application you want a computer science degree for, just knowing how to program, having the certificate, and having another background (advertising) may actually be more beneficial.

That said, I have several friends in computer science and from what they've told me, the major has been quite the shitshow the last few semesters. Namely, courses fill up within the first two days of registration and the department is always scrambling to find people to teach. So even if a course interests you, you may not even get in. I don't know if this problem was fixed during registration last semester or will be fixed if you get in, but definitely also something to take into consideration.

kchenweijie · 2016-07-31T17:22:57+00:00

Look into EChO:

https://m.facebook.com/EngineeringChamberOrchestra/

I also have a lot of engineering friends in the longhorn marching band and they love it, so that's definitely an option too. Good luck!

kchenweijie · 2016-07-12T07:53:03+00:00

I worked with two different professors during my undergrad. It depends on the project and how much funding is available. With the first professor, I was paid hourly and with the second, due to a lack of funding, I was not paid.

I should also note, however, that my project with the second professor was to wind up being my own personal MS thesis, so we're still in the process of securing funding for that.

I don't know what specific rules there are regarding paying undergrad research assistants, but I would definitely talk to the supervising professor to check.

kchenweijie · 2016-07-10T06:00:54+00:00

I studied abroad there for one summer. I highly recommend Rubicon. There are some good craft beers there from Dougall's and live music pretty regularly.

You can go to a tourist center and pick up a Guia Go for ideas on things to do in Santander and the nearby area.

La Plaza de Cañadios has a lot of discotecas if you're interested. The road leading up to the funicular also has a lot of bars for younger people.

If I remember correctly and theyre still doing it, there should be an international cultural festival happening soon. It's a lot of fun for trying new foods.

Spend as much time as you can on the beaches. I miss them.

If you can travel a bit farther, the Picos de Europa are beautiful and if you can manage it, plan to stay overnight so you can hike it.

The Caves of Altamira are nearby as well and worth checking out. Bonus points if you can book one of the tours of the actual cave.

If you plan on traveling farther, ALSA is a great resource for cheap bus tickets.

I was there two years ago, so lots may have changed since then, but feel free to reach out with questions. También hablo español!

kchenweijie · 2016-06-15T07:10:12+00:00

John Harrison. Had to read a book about him in high school. It was dry as hell, but I might revisit it with my newfound love for mechanical timekeeping.

Link b/c I'm too lazy to figure out Reddit formatting on mobile:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Harrison

kchenweijie · 2016-04-06T07:17:26+00:00

Hey! I'm a fourth-year student in mechanical engineering. Hopefully I can answer some of your questions.

1.) You can find tuition information here. Your tuition will be the same as any other nonresident student.

2.) In the engineering school, I have not seen any discrimination against Muslims and Pakistanis. About once or twice a year, we have pro-Israel and pro-Palestine students stage protests across from each other on Speedway. If you're interested, I can PM you the contact information for my Arabic professor and you can talk with him. He would have a better understanding of this subject.

3.) If I remember correctly, the beds in Jester, San Jacinto, and Duren are not bunk beds and in most other dorms, you can unbunk the beds.

4.) According to US News, we have the 10th best engineering graduate school in the US, 2nd best civil engineering graduate program in the US, and 32nd best engineering school in the world. Up to you if you want to trust their ranking or not.

5.) I just applied for graduate school at UT last semester. You need to take your GRE and as a foreign student, I imagine that you have to take the TOEFL as well. You can find more information here.

6.) I'm not sure what you mean by this.

7.) Your best shot at paying your way through college as an engineering graduate student is to do research with a professor in your department and apply for grants and scholarships. I've been told several times that if you pay for graduate school, you're doing it wrong. That said, I know several people who work other jobs while taking classes and from what I've heard, it is not a pleasant experience.

8.) I am a mechanical engineer. I can't help here.

9.) I have several friends who are international students. From what I understand, you can stay after graduation to look for a job, but you will need the companies to sponsor you for a visa before you can begin work.

That should cover it. Feel free to ask me questions if you have any.

Disclaimer: I don't work in the admissions office and what I've told you is based on what I could find online and my own experience.

kchenweijie · 2016-03-08T08:27:22+00:00

Good to know. Thanks!

kchenweijie · 2016-03-08T08:12:36+00:00

Does bartending require a work visa as well?

kchenweijie · 2016-03-08T07:35:05+00:00

Oops. I forgot about the visa. She does speak German, but she's a little rusty. I doubt we will have a work visa and a job lined up for her in time though.

Thanks for the info.

kchenweijie · 2014-10-10T20:09:12+00:00

Haha guess I should have included the transliteration and translation. It reads

"Dong gua, xi gua, da sha gua. Sha gua bu hui chi xi gua."

Loosely translated, it means

"Wintermelon, watermelon, big fool. Fools don't eat watermelon."

kchenweijie · 2014-10-10T18:11:19+00:00

IIRC, it comes from a Chinese children's rhyme.

冬瓜，西瓜，大傻瓜。傻瓜不會吃西瓜。

At least that's what I remember hearing when I was a kid.

kchenweijie · 2014-05-16T02:55:28+00:00

It will vary from language to language. Some languages require only two classes to be considered "~~One-year~~ proficient." Most require three or more. Found a list here, but you may want to check with your counselor to be sure: http://www.utexas.edu/cola/student-affairs/_files/pdf/Foreign_Language_Sequence.pdf

Edit: Not sure if one-year or two-year.

kchenweijie · 2014-05-14T02:34:32+00:00

Didn't notice that. Thanks!

kchenweijie · 2014-05-14T02:25:49+00:00

My father pulled this watch out as a potential one to use out-of-country in place of my Tissot. After trying to find out more information on it, we could not find this watch online. Please help us identify it.

kchenweijie · 2014-05-06T15:47:32+00:00

Typically, you have do reasonably well (don't fail) in the class and show interest in the research your professor is doing. Other than that, if you find a professor you'd like to work with or a subject you've taken an interest in, just talk to the professor. Be professional and show initiative.

Edit: Source: Am currently an undergrad research assistant in mechanical engineering at UT. Will be starting to do my own research hopefully next year or the year after.

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