HoC: Corninne Vallette
Humans of Chaffey
When people think of a school journey they typically think of books, teachers and socializing that comes with it. The sacrifices and personal challenges that come with pursuing higher education are often forgotten.
When I sat down with Corinne Vallette, a current Chaffey student, mother, wife, and a modern Renaissance- (Wo)man of art that mingles with everything from oil painting to sculpturing, I was reminded of a side of education that is not often talked about.
Walking into her impeccable home, her pride for neatness is evident from the two coasters waiting at her center table for the Starbucks I offered. Her love for learning is also apparent from the shelves of books displayed in her living room. There are self-made paintings adorning her walls and her two small children observe curious and excited to listen to their mother’s interview.
The interview begins with Valette sharing some of her early school experiences:
“I think I was born with the ability to absorb and process information, so things like school have always been easier for me."
She shares that a lot was expected from her as a child and as a result, she grew up to have a strong work ethic and tenacity. Valletes intelligence and sense of humor is gripping. One would never guess there is a part of her that has come to heavily influence every aspect of her life: her hearing impairment. Growing up, Vallette was unaware of her hearing impairment. She knew school made her feel gripping anxiety but she didn't understand where the feelings were coming from. There was no way to compare what she was feeling to other students. She states:
"I would always mishear things or misunderstand them or have communication problems. And I didn’t know why. I thought there was something mentally wrong with me as opposed to something physically wrong with me.”
Vallette did not find out she had a hearing impairment until she was 25. Even after she found out, she did not understand the severity of it or opt to wear hearing aids until she turned 30.
It seems surreal that a child not only went through her entire twelve years of school undiagnosed of her hearing impairment but she in fact thrived.
She attributes passing off as a hearing person to the pressure she felt to be successful in school. Vallette states:
“The pressure to do well in school was so strong that I went as far as cheating to pass the hearing test.”
At that point, she had taught herself to read lips and because she was smart and actively trying to hide any signs of a disability her hearing impairment was missed. She explains:
“I was able to get through everything without anyone realizing I had a problem.”
Before she was diagnosed, Vallette took classes at the California State University of Los Angeles while simultaneously caring for her elderly grandfather. Then towards the end of her time at the university, things took a turn for the worst. Vallette's grandfather got sicker and eventually passed away. Vallette states:
“Afterwards my hearing got worse so I took an academic leave and then when I came back, I couldn’t retain any information in my classes. I thought it was just really depressed and couldn’t focus because of issues with that, so I dropped out.”
It was not until an old boss noticed something was off, that she found out she had a hearing problem. When Vallete kept having a hard time with the incoming phone calls, one of her bosses stepped in and kindly offered to pay for her to have her hearing checked.
The results showed Corinne had lost her hearing. Discovering she was deaf and getting to the bottom of what was wrong offered no relief, in fact, the diagnosis was hard to accept. It took Vallette almost two years of proactively trying to do something about it to come to terms with it.
After the diagnosis, she decided to go back to school. This time, she signed up at Chaffey College. Vallette states:
“I took American Sign Language and deaf culture trying to educate myself."
What she found about herself during that time was that she didn’t fit in. About her experience with trying to blend into the deaf culture she states:
“If you’re not brought up in that [deaf] culture, it’s kind of like you’re being displaced like you don’t really belong in either world. So, I just had to make my peace with the fact I wasn’t adapting.”
She decided she fit in better with people that could hear. It is still not a perfect match; she shares that she has some sort of miscommunication probably every day. Vallette explains:
“Wherever I am I mishear something or I misunderstand something so I kind of just have to learn to be kind to myself and laugh about it. Try not to make it a soul-crushing I’m an idiot type of thing. Because I did that for a while, and I had to learn that it’s ok.”
She shared that her ultimate goal from her time in Chaffey is to be able to provide for her family financially. School always felt like a loose end, and she felt like going back would help her recover from that. About her future in school she shares:
“I thought I was gonna be there a couple of years and get my teaching credentials, but then I found for me getting into a trade would be better because I wouldn’t have to deal with all the debt and time investment of a degree. The trade still has the financial effect.”
Vallette is honest, she still struggles with wishing she had her bachelors and is resentful of the fact she was raised believing that obtaining one was the only way to be successful. Vallette states:
“I still kinda wish I had it, but the stress and logistics of trying to pull it off kind of makes it not worth it no matter how close I feel to it.”
Along the way, she found drafting and mechanical engineering, and thankfully that made her feel like she redeemed herself after dropping out.
Vallette's experience can be applied to anyone. She managed to turn her situation around. Vallette explains:
“I turned it around and found ways to turn in into an advantage for myself.”
She has remained proactive throughout all of her emotions and was able to get help through state rehabilitation. Vallete further explains:
“They helped me get through school, they’ve helped me replace my hearing aids and with other things like job placement. I try to look at it that way in that there is a lot of programs for disabled people.”
When asked if there was something she could not do, she jokingly answered with:
“I can do anything but hear. I think if I didn’t have a hearing problem, I would have taken over the world by now.”
The interview ended with her giving advice to current students:
“Take advantage of the time you have in college. Talk to everyone. If you can work on campus do it. If you’re not sure of what you want to do in life, just take a bunch of classes. I always wanted to take drafting, and I finally took it and found out I have a natural talent for it. So take a lot of classes and be open-minded.”