What a journey getting to this point in my life. I was born two months early in Coos Bay, Oregon. I was administered pure oxygen at birth, which may have caused my nerve deafness. I have a 90% hearing loss in my right ear and a 95% hearing loss in my left ear which is classified as being profoundly deaf. I attended Oregon State school for the Deaf when I was 4 years old. My parents, Jamie and Judy, lived in Eugene, Oregon, and the deaf school was in Salem, Oregon. I rode a Greyhound bus weekly, to and from, the deaf school and my home in Eugene. I was at the deaf school for four years, and by the time I was nearly 8 years old, it was getting to the point where it was my home. My parents looked around for a solution and decided to see if I could mainstream into public schools.

As a result, I attended Condon Transitional school in Eugene, Oregon, for a year. There were 23 deaf kids who enrolled and all wanted a chance to integrate into the hearing world. We all went through a battery of testing over the course of the year, such as psychological, IQ, spelling, speech, and math. At the end of the year, only two deaf kids (me and another boy) were given the approval to mainstream, and the rest of the kids had to go back to the deaf school. I was told to ‘forget’ sign language and to speak orally from there on. I was told that if I failed any classes, I would be sent back to the Oregon School for the Deaf, which was not a prospect that I liked!

The years went by, with lots of speech therapy, since I could not hear my own speech very well. I improved my language and lip-reading skills considerably to the point that many of my friends forget that I am deaf. Mainstreaming was a challenge, but it was something I enjoyed taking on because that meant that I was able to be with my family and friends every day. A year later, my father received a promotion as a Store Manager at Safeway, in Portland, Oregon. We moved to S.E. Portland which was so different, since there were lots more people, and we had to lock our doors every night!

We ended up moving again, a year later, to be closer to the David Douglas school district. My sister, Kerry, and I joined the David Douglas swim team when I was 9 years old. It was truly a life-changing decision since I met some of my best friends on the swim team, and I’m still in contact with them today. My high school years were wonderful and busy! I was on the Varsity Swim, Water Polo, and Golf teams. I’d go swim team workouts at 4 am and swim for two hours in a cold pool. What an alternative to coffee in the mornings! Then I’d attend classes all day and afterward swim for two more hours. Then it was off for home, for some dinner, homework, and sleep. I think that my parents put us on the swim team to make us tired and keep us out of trouble! All the hard work paid off for our Swimming and Water Polo teams. We won six State championships (four in swimming and two in Water Polo) in the four years I was there. It was a wonderful and fun experience as we traveled all over the Pacific Northwest as a team.

I went to Portland State University on complete funding from the State, via Vocational Rehabilitation. I was truly grateful for the opportunity for an excellent education in Engineering and Business Administration. I also joined the Portland State Swim and Water Polo teams, and we won two Northwest Championships in Water Polo. One of the most wonderful memories was training with the swim team in Hawaii for a month! We’d swim for two hours in the morning at the Navy base pool in the middle of Pearl Harbor. Then two more hours of swimming later that afternoon, in the ocean at Waikiki Beach. It wasn’t easy with the choppy waves and the stinging jellyfish that we’d have to watch out for. After our workouts for the day, we were free to sight-see, go sailing, body-surfing, or do whatever we wanted to do. Hawaii is a beautiful paradise and I’d love to go back there again someday!

Fast forward ten years later, I’m working as a Robotics technician at Hewlett Packard, and married with two wonderful sons TJ and Michael. We’d bought our third house which was in Camas, Washington, several blocks away from beautiful Lacamas Lake. It was like being on vacation every day. My sons and I would often go to Lacamas Lake Park, so we can go swimming and/or explore around on the numerous trails there. We lived in the Camas area for 20 years until my sons graduated from Camas High school. My oldest son TJ is now a WalMart Store manager in Portland, Oregon, and also a professional MMA fighter (MMA Video) (Pro Debut). He hopes to fight for Bellator within the next two years. My youngest son Michael is a Finish Carpenter, also co-owns his own business (Koehler-Customs) with his good friend Scott Lè. Michael recently bought a waterfront home in Washougal. It was truly a wonderful journey over the years with my family, friends, career changes, and here I am, attending Clark College, writing my ePortfolio!

Eagle Scout Project

My son, Michael, chose to do his Eagle Scout project by building a deck for the community at Camp Curry, near Camas, Washington. This was a four-month project, with lots of his friends and family helping out. The deck turned out wonderful and kids love to fish from the deck. I’m really proud of my son Michael for achieving his Eagle Scout rank! I was also in Boy Scouts for years and achieved Life Scout rank. Shortly after I received the Life Scout ranking, I was recruited to join the Explorer Scouts, and represent Oregon in the Explorer Scout Olympics in Denver, Colorado. Our team won the Gold medal in Water Polo, and we had a wonderful opportunity to meet the legendary Jesse Owens who won four Olympic gold medals in the 1936 Games. I’ve had lots of wonderful memories from camp-outs, jamborees, and Scout Capades over the years.