Personal Discovery program celebrates 45 years of service to Gallaudet and the world

Thousands of Gallaudet University students have participated in the Personal Discovery program since its founding in 1979. The lessons learned in the program have stayed with them to this day.

Personal Discovery, created and nurtured by retired physical education professor Jean Berube, is described on the program website as "a series of workshops, activities, and events dedicated to self-improvement and fulfillment…The curriculum helps participants better understand themselves and their peers, and in doing so, builds self-esteem, leadership qualities, and the ability to solve problems through teamwork."

The Personal Discovery program celebrated its 45th anniversary on July 27 at Denizen's Brewing Company in Riverdale Park, Maryland. This event drew nearly 100 people from all over the United States. Through admission, donations, and a raffle of program apparel, memorabilia, and gift cards, it raised nearly $10,000 for the program and for a planned documentary film.

Berube attended with her husband and family, as did Sarah Burton Doleac, '82, who led the program for 22 years after Berube retired, until this summer, when she, too, retired. Jesse Saunders, '02, a newly-hired faculty member in the Physical Education and Recreation program in the School of Human Services and Sciences, has been named the program's third director and will begin this fall.

Nearly everyone in attendance had experienced Personal Discovery, which is open not just to students, but to Gallaudet staff and faculty. They spent the evening reconnecting, reminiscing about their time at Gallaudet, and sharing the role Personal Discovery played in their lives then and now.

(This writer remembers participating as a graduate student and again as a member of a staff leadership development program in 1991 that included a two-day crash course. He also had members of the university's College Bowl team participate in the 2000s.)

Laura Cook, the evening's host, remembers coming to Gallaudet in 1989 as a new, non-signing student. She was overwhelmed, discouraged, and ready to go home, but Personal Discovery gave her the tools she needed to develop a stronger sense of self and to persevere to graduation. Today, she is such a passionate believer in Personal Discovery and what it does for the human psyche that for the last three years, with her film production company, TB8 Films LLC, she has begun to conceptualize Journeys of Discovery: A Documentary. Cook has been raising money and has begun the script-writing process. She estimates that the film will cost upwards of $250,000 to bring to fruition.

Several other program alumni, including clinical psychology doctoral student Lisa Swanson, shared their experiences. Berube and Doleac also reflected on their time with the program, and gave a warm welcome to Saunders.

Donations to the Personal Discovery program may be made at giving.gallaudet.edu, and to the documentary film at the Zeffy fundraising site.

About Personal Discovery

Founded in 1979 by retired Physical education professor Jean Berube, Personal Discovery is one of the most enduring academic programs at Gallaudet. Thousands of students, staff, faculty, and alumni have participated in the program.

Personal Discovery staff, students, and alumni also have traveled abroad, to Russia, Guatemala, and other countries. In Russia and Guatemala, they taught deaf children at deaf schools. They also taught hearing people in diverse communities, including prison-based schools, communities and organizational leaders, psychology graduate students, etc. In the words of program alumna and former staff member Laura Cook, "It was a shock for some hearing folks to be taught by deaf people - something they did not believe possible and sometimes felt was not even 'appropriate.' So, we were unique in that we were breaking cultural norms and perspectives as we traveled."

Discovery Philosophy

The Personal Discovery Program believes that all people and all life are interconnected. What happens to one happens in some way to all other aspects of life. The more we learn to understand, appreciate, and respect each other and all life and to understand the interconnectedness of life, the easier it will be to become a unit of oneness. Each has been given special talents that give each a uniqueness. The real growth and strength come when all are open to each other and learn to share and use each other's "gifts" and abilities for the betterment of the whole. As we, the world, learn to cherish and respect all life, we will rise to a higher state of living and being. This journey must be based on respect, truth, trust, openness, caring, accepting responsibility, valuing, and the giving, and accepting of support.

Discovery Goal

Discovery staff help build bridges that make it possible for people to travel inward as well as outward. The outward bridges are meant to help individuals connect to individuals as well as to groups and to communities. People can learn to travel within to find answers and understanding about themselves by finding quiet times to do introspective thinking and find personal truths. Truths are found within oneself as well as from those around us and from nature. Bridges are built between people and communities when truth, respect, and understanding exist between individuals and communities and with nature.

Personal Discovery Program

The Personal Discovery Program is about learning. Using stories, quotes, sharing personal experiences, problem solving, facing physical challenges, and creating new events and new solutions learning takes place. Participants learn about themselves, each other, the importance of respect and valuing, sharing ideas and listening, experimenting, compromising, trusting, giving support, leading and following, and appreciating and cherishing. The program takes place within a physically and emotionally safe environment which is created by the staff and students together. Having fun and recognizing the contributions each person brings to the group enhances the learning process and the bonding that occurs within each group. The participating staff not only lead, mediate, and provide safety, but they also participate and learn. An environment where everyone is respected, and all are learning is the ideal environment in which growth and the development of self-sufficiency can take place.

No activity is ever forced on an individual. All Discovery programs are based on a "challenge by choice" concept. A person will try when ready. The experience must be the individual's not the groups or the facilitators. By respecting where each person is physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually, the group grows and becomes empowered. By truly caring about everyone in the group and making every effort to meet the needs of each individual and the needs of the group, the facilitator/teacher also grows. The Discovery programs are an adventure in growing, trusting, living, learning, and appreciating life.