[VIDEO DESC & TRANSCRIPT: Kristine is standing. The NAD logo appears on the bottom right corner as a watermark.

KRISTINE: Growing up my dream was to be a teacher because I love to teach! I never expected to be on this journey as an administrative officer at the Disability and Communication Access Board (DCAB). I mean, never would I have thought I’d be a supervisor. When I was teaching, I thought about being a lawyer because Hawaii lacks legal services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, it’s difficult to live here without legal support. I taught ASL at a Catholic high school for four years then I heard about the DCAB Communication Access Specialist position. I applied, got the job, and worked for 13 years as the Communication Access Specialist then received a promotion as the Administrative Officer.

Black and white clip of Kristine meeting with a co-worker. In the center, a white border surrounds white text “KRISTINE” underneath, appears in white text “ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER.”

KRISTINE: Aloha! My name is Kristine Pagano and I work for the Disability and Communication Access Board (DCAB). DCAB is a state agency under the Department of Health.

Black and white clip of Kristine walking through the cubicle area.

KRISTINE: Born and raised in Hawaii, I’m a fifth generation Japanese. I went to mainstream school with no special education services, it was very tough. After I graduated from high school, I attended a community college for three years and received an Associate of Arts degree. I continued and went to University of Hawaii (UH). I received a Bachelor’s degree in Communicology and Master’s in Public Administration.

Black and white clip of Kristine in a meeting.

KRISTINE: DCAB has four units in our office: Facility Access, Program and Policy Development, ADA Coordination, and Administrative Services. Administrative Services is the unit where I work as the supervisor. I supervise one clerk and oversee her work. The two of us work on the office budget, accounts payable and receivable (i.e. invoices, expenditures) and coordinate office management.

Black and white clip of a door with a DCAB sign.

KRISTINE: I do a lot of work on the computer and email correspondence. I work closely with the clerk. We communicate daily about invoices and bill payment. I also meet with my boss about the budget and hiring staff. If we need to hire new staff, I take care of the personnel paperwork. I also update position descriptions (PD). That’s basically what my workday looks like, there’s no time off! I’m always busy.

Black and white clip of Kristine working at their computer in their cubicle.

KRISTINE: When you are looking for work, please try to apply for any job and don’t fixate on one specific job. Try to gain a variety of experiences and take on new challenges even though that may not be the ideal job for you right now. But go for it, because you never know where that may lead to. You’ll gain new experiences and learn new skills that will help you in your future jobs. Have patience and perseverance. Stay in your job as long as you can, try a minimum of over a year because it looks good on your resume. Maybe you are lucky and find that one job that you stay for a very long time because you love it! Or maybe not, you try five different jobs and finally, you found the job that makes you very happy.

Black and white clip of Kristine signing on a videophone in their office. White text appears at the bottom center, “You must be assertive with your co-workers, ask them to repeat what you missed. Build a support system with your hearing peers!” Light blue text “- Kristine” and a light blue line outlines the left side of the text.

KRISTINE: We all only live once. The best part of life is contributing back to your community. Look for a job or find what you really enjoy doing. If you enjoy sports, try asking a high school sports team if there is a job vacancy available for hire. If you enjoy cleaning houses, there are many cleaning companies who are looking for workers or as exterminators, if you enjoy doing that type of work. Or if you like working in an office, keep looking for a job, don’t give up, and try your best because you only live once.

Black and white clip of Kristine walking through a doorway.

KRISTINE: When you start your job, you can teach your co-workers sign language. Find one coworker to start with or suggest to your supervisor or boss, that you teach ASL for 15 minutes every day. Then you’ve taught more people to communicate using sign in your workplace.

Black and white clip of Kristine signing to someone off screen. Next clip, Kristine is typing on their computer. Video cuts to a dark blue background. Red alphabet letters of "N-A-D" in American Sign Language appear one by one in the center of the video. The copyright text appears in white underneath, "National Association of the Deaf, Copyright 2020, All Rights Reserved".]