December 20, 2022 - David Uzzell was born and raised in Evanston, Illinois. Born hearing to a hearing family, David’s hearing loss was discovered at age one when his parents noticed that their son wasn’t responding to sounds anymore. A follow-up visit with the doctor confirmed their suspicions - their son was indeed Deaf. The cause of his deafness is unknown - “Maybe it was from a high fever? Chicken pox? Who knows?” David spent his educational journey mainstreamed among hearing peers before joining the Deaf and hard of hearing program at John Hersey High School where there was a larger number of D/HH peers at his side. “Several schools in the area had D/HH students, but oftentimes I was the only one in my year until I entered high school.” His main mode of communication growing up was Signed Exact English (SEE), which gradually transitioned to Pidgin Signed English (PSE) and finally to full use of American Sign Language (ASL). David identifies as Deaf.
Upon graduation from high school, David attended Gallaudet University and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in History. He looked for a job post-graduation, without much luck. He sent out queries regarding jobs in the teaching field - as a teacher or a teaching assistant, as well as opportunities working for the federal government or the private sector - with no luck. In the summer of 2012, a well-known location near Gallaudet University, named Union Market opened. A friend of his invited David to join the staff of a restaurant in the market that houses several restaurants under one roof. “I couldn’t say no, you know?” So, he joined his friend at work and found that he enjoyed cooking, “It was a very hands-on job. It was an honest job. You can’t hide bad food.” This kind of job was not what David had in mind, but he decided it would be good for a year or two, to get his foot in the door. This would give him the time and space to figure out what he wanted to do next in his life. Options such as graduate school continuing in the culinary arts, and other options were all on the horizon for him.
“I reached a crossroads, so to say. I had the choice to go with fine dining. I took the opportunity and ran off with it, and the rest is history.” He found himself working at an elegant French restaurant, catering for meals at the White House, a journey to Sweden to work at Fäviken, one of the best restaurants in the world, and working at the side of several well-known chefs. He eventually found himself working at Mozzeria, a Deaf-owned and Deaf-operated pizza restaurant near Gallaudet University in Washington, DC.
Eventually, David moved to Minnesota with his girlfriend, whose parents live just across the border in Wisconsin. “I’m a Midwesterner at heart - my parents still live in Evanston, which is just a few hours drive from Minnesota.” They decided to put their roots down in Minnesota to be close to both families.
David currently works at the Virtual ASL Academy (VASLA), where he is one of the three co-founders. He is appreciative of his experience in the mainstream, the quality of education he received, and especially the support he received from his teachers, interpreters, and mentors. The desire to give back and pay it forward was one of the motivations for starting VASLA. As one of the co-founders he has multiple responsibilities, including responding to clients, negotiating with state VR agencies, meeting with clients, researching for potential tutors, transcribing and organizing notes, “and that’s just the top of my head! Like I said, I do a bit of everything!”
“What I enjoy the most is seeing the positive impact that we have on our students. They come to us seeking help with a variety of topics including math, writing, and so on. We’ve gotten feedback from parents and teachers who have remarked on how their students have built up confidence and have shown improvement in the area of study. That’s how we measure success.”
David shares the challenges of starting a new venture: “As we are a young one, and still scaling up with passing time and increased resources.” He names several challenges they face daily, from recruiting tutors to following procedures set by the state. “Each state has their own set of requirements and we need to follow them, so that in turn has been a bit tricky. One state will ask us to do this, and another state will ask us to do that instead.”
David shares some words of wisdom from his days as a chef, and as an entrepreneur: “Be patient,” because “what you get back is determined by what you put into it.” He also emphasizes that “you as a Deaf person are already memorable. It is far better to be remembered as a kind person rather than an asshole.”
When not working, David can be found playing video games and board games. He also enjoys running, biking, and scouting out restaurants for great food and drink.
The #CanDoAnything campaign showcases people who are deaf, deafblind, or hard of hearing at work, giving them an opportunity to share what they do at their jobs and explain how communication access works for them. This campaign shows what our community can do, which is anything!
