While walking to her classes, Jennifer Lico likes to fingerspell the lyrics of the song she listens to. Fingerspelling, the signing of individual letters in American Sign Language, or ASL, was one of the first practices Lico learned after joining ASL at Berkeley at the beginning of the semester.

She had noticed her roommate learning the alphabet through a video and decided she wanted to try learning herself. Wanting to step out of her comfort zone and learn something new, she joined the student organization — one of the first clubs she joined as a freshman.

“I’ve always wanted to learn sign. It’s always been in the back of my mind,” Lico said. “Now when I’m walking to class and I’m listening to music, my hand’s on the side signing.”

Created by Erin Chang and now in its second year, ASL at Berkeley is a club meant to form a community of people learning ASL and those who want to learn more about deaf culture. Club meetings mainly focus on ASL lessons and activities that inform members about the deaf community.

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