Cynthia (Cindy) Freeman

Yes

I graduated from UW-Whitewater with a Bachelor's degree in print journalism. I have worked for Community Newspapers (CNI) covering Germantown area, then went to the then Milwaukee Sentinel covering any of area counties, then went back to CNI to cover the Sussex Area. I helped launch and name the Sussex area paper for Hometown Publications. After about a dozen years in the business, like many journalists, I got burned out from working 60-80 hours every week. I then went to work in several offices in administrative positions including administrative assistant, office manager, and bookkeeper. I also worked in food service at a nursing home while starting to pursue a second career in sign language interpreting.

I started learning sign language while in high school, and belonged to a group called The Silent Singers for about 20 years. I only wanted to sign so I could perform to recorded music with the group. About a dozen years ago, I felt drawn to create a deaf ministry where I was going to church. To do that effectively, I realized I had to go back to school to find out about the profession of interpreters and actually learned American Sign Language. Part way through the program, I became legally blind from a combination of cataracts, glaucoma and myopic degeneration which meant I had to withdraw. Instead, I learned to read braille, travel with a cane, take care of myself without sight and decide what would be next for my career. Fortunately, after three years of the training, my eye doctor decided to risk my having cataract surgery (he had feared it would cause me to become totally blind) because they could not see the back of my eye and the eyesight continued to deteriorate. The surgery gave me enough eyesight to be able to return to my education to be an interpreter, a journey that continues now. Additionally, I am still on disability because my doctors believe I may lose the eyesight again. Essentially, I went from near-sighted to far-sighted and now am learning to live a life not being able to read for very long which always had been a passion of mine.

My interpreting program started at UW-Milwaukee. I transferred to Milwaukee Area Technical College in the fall 2014 and was there for a year-and-a-half. Because of a suggestion of one of my instructors, I have changed career paths again. I now am attending the graduate program in clinical rehabilitation counseling at Mount Mary University. I hope to graduate in May 2020 with a goal to become a vocational counselor.

While writing for a Facebook magazine in 2012, I discovered that March 26 was "Create Your Own Holiday Day." With tongue in cheek, I created July 15 to be Positive News Day and July to be Positive News Month. It has been growing in the number of media organizations and people who are participating each year. In July 2015, I fulfilled a long-time dream of starting an online positive news magazine.

For now, I am going to school and doing some freelance work in writing, graphic design, editing/proofreading, social media coaching/consulting, web design, and photography. Additionally, I run a travel agency called True Visions Travel. I love my computer because it allows me to "travel" without leaving home and I get to do a lot of projects that I might not otherwise be able to do. My biggest project has been working with the nonprofit Chix 4 a Cause (meaning Cancer Has Its eXtras), based out of West Bend. I also have a weekly internet radio show called Purpose Talk Radio that airs on Fridays, 2 p.m. CT. At first, it was hosted by two women and I got involved because I friended one of the hosts who saw I was a songwriter so I was invited to enter the theme song writing contest for the show. Two friends and I (one I met as the CEO of Chix 4 a Cause and the other one the two of us met about four years ago when we attended the Posi Music Awards in Florida where I was interpreting the concerts) wrote the song "I Am Who I Am" which was chosen to be the theme song. We created the group True Trinity for songwriting purposes and have a few other songs that we have written together. I also have co-written with others. I continue to play guitar, write music and sing (mainly at church). Other hobbies include writing, photography, playing cribbage, church activities, and hanging out with friends. Because of the eyesight issues, I do not drive, so I do a lot with the bus system and stay mostly in Milwaukee county.

I moved out of my parents' home in Menomonee Falls where they still live into an apartment with a friend from college (the first time). We remained roommates for a couple of years until she moved out. As of May this year, I have been in the same place for 27 years.

In 1999, I became engaged to a man I had been in a long distance relationship for 10 years. He was killed in a car accident on Sept. 1, 1999, before we were married. We did not have any children, but I did inherit his four-legged son—a black lab names Jake who was with me for five years. I also have had a couple of birds, several rabbits, and a guinea pig. I also "inherited" two cats (currently they are being fostered by someone else) from a dear friend who died December 2012.

The story that stands out for me is very personal and had a few people a bit scared. I was at Turnabout. I was cleaning my contacts when I noticed that the solution bottle looked like it was under water. I had to have someone find a friend of mine who was at the dance with me come to the bathroom. We then had to find a teacher in charge so I could get to a phone to call my parents who had to call the eye doctor. The doctor said he couldn't do anything until Monday and that Community Memorial Hospital couldn't do anything that night. (This was a second serious eye problem for me.) So, I ended up staying at the dance, but could only do slow dances (I know, what an excuse, huh?).

I remember the day I introduced my English class to the hearing person who became my first sign language instructor, a person from an organization that helped deaf people, and a deaf man. It is one of the things that sparked my interest in sign language.

I also remember all of the activities in Mrs. Boehner's Latin class, Mrs. Dixon's English class, the home ec teacher (can't remember her name) who with whom I had Child Rearing class (and who gave me an A on a paper of "why did I want children" and I said I didn't know if I did), D&D, Math Club, Future Business Leaders of America and the competitions, and Mrs. Baake in the library.

I loved hanging out in the newspaper room, an interest that continued into my college years and professional life. We often had paper fights and food there.