Prizes galore despite deafness disadvantage

When Whangarei teenager Alana Best has an argument with her older sister Nadia, they use their hands to sort their problems out.
Frantic hand signing is the only way the two can communicate because 17-year-old Alana is deaf. She was born profoundly deaf and has had to work hard to get through her schooling years. But her disability has not stopped her achieving - she has won a prize for being top year-13 deaf or hearing-impaired student in the country; a $12,000 Auckland University of Technology scholarship for being top deaf or hearing-impaired student in the country for consistent achievement over five years at high school; and Whangarei Girls' High School's Rosebowl Cup for best all-round geography student. And you can add to that scores of "excellents" in most of her subjects.
Alana says she studied as hard as her hearing friends but no harder. Next year she will move in with an Auckland family and study for a two-year Diploma in Sign Language Interpreting. "I'm very happy. I've got no money so this will be great," she interpreted through her mum, referring to her $750 cash award.
Alana said it was frustrating not being able to hear her teachers but she simply got on with life. "Sometimes I had to remind people that I'm deaf, because they just start talking," Alana said. Like many teenagers, Alana uses a cellphone, drives a car and watches movies. Her inability to hear has not hindered her thirst for life and she advises other young deaf people to aim for the sky.
"Have goals and never, never give up. You'll feel really good when you achieve those goals."
Her mother Leah Petersen was immensely proud of Alana and said she had to put in more hours than her peers to get the same grades, despite Alana's denials.
Mrs Petersen, who helps run the National Foundation for the Deaf, said most deaf teenagers did not achieve good school results because their language skills were not sufficient. Alana's secret was that her parents and siblings used sign language and pushed her to do well at school. As well she had a great interpreter, Sabine Muller, to help her at school.
"She works so hard she comes home to bed after school because she's so exhausted," Mrs Petersen said. That tiredness didn't help if her daughters start bickering. But Alana could always make sure she was heard with a slam of her bedroom door, her mother joked.