What Jose Prieto saw during his sister's graduation Saturday at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College shocked him. He thought she was receiving a nursing degree. Instead, Elizabeth Prieto-Gates left the stage, degree in hand, turned to Mr. Prieto in the audience and revealed her secret:

Elizabeth Prieto-Gates signs 'I love you' after getting her degree. | ZOOM |

Elizabeth (left) and her brother Jose Prieto after the graduation ceremony. (Ernest Coleman photos) | ZOOM |

        “Surprise, I love you,” she said in American Sign Language.

        Astonished, Mr. Prieto signed back, “I love you.”

        Mr. Prieto, 43, who is deaf, traveled from Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, to see his sister graduate.

        He didn't know that Ms. Prieto-Gates had deceived him, their sister and their mother so that she could surprise them at the ceremony.

        Instead of nursing, the Lebanon woman received her two-year degree from the deaf interpreter training program.

        “I wanted to give something back to him,” Ms. Prieto-Gates, 32, said of the older brother who was like a parent to her.

        “Clueless, completely clueless,” Mr. Prieto signed.

        Mr. Prieto, Mrs. Caballero and Mrs. Prieto were confused when they arrived at the ceremony and the printed program said Ms. Prieto-Gates was a part of the interpreter training program.

        “Oh, this is a mistake,” Mark Gates, Ms. Prieto-Gates' husband, assured them.

        They believed him.

        Mr. Prieto, another sister, Ofelia Caballero, and their mother, Maria Prieto, had no idea that Ms. Prieto-Gates had been studying to become a professional interpreter.

        And why not? Ms. Prieto-Gates is a superb secret-keeper. When she visited her family in the past two years, she wouldn't display her growing skills.

756 DEGREES

Cincinnati State Technical and Community College awarded 756 degrees Saturday.   Some graduates were awarded more than one degree.   The two-year school gave degrees in 57 programs, ranging from nursing technology to environmental engineering technology to turfgrass management technology.   Cincinnati State, 3520 Central Parkway, is in Clifton Heights. Its fall term begins Sept. 4.

        “All my life I never signed or knew a lot about deaf culture,” Ms. Prieto-Gates said. “Every time I went home, he (her brother) told me, "You're signing a little better.' I said, "I have a lot of deaf friends.' I just wanted to sign and say, "Look, I can communicate with you.'”

        It only made it tougher that their sister also was studying to be an interpreter for the deaf at El Paso Community College at Valle Verde in Texas.

        “It was really hard not to say, "You can do it. I understand what you're going through,' ” Ms. Prieto-Gates said.

        In retrospect, the family did get some clues.

        Mrs. Caballero said she was confused by books about interpreting from her sister in Ohio.

        “I'm like, where is she getting all this information from?” Mrs. Caballero said Saturday.

        Ms. Prieto-Gates sometimes slipped and began signing during visits home.

        Mr. Gates would nudge her, reminding her that the family still believed her signing skills were rudimentary.

        “She's ... good, she couldn't help it,” Mr. Gates said.

        In August, Ms. Prieto-Gates met her brother and six of his deaf friends in Florida and she could hardly contain herself. When her brother went to the restroom, she let the friends in on her secret.

        “They said, "You're signing great,' and I said, "Don't tell him!'” .

        Ms. Prieto-Gates is fluent in Spanish, English and American Sign Language and is searching for a job as an interpreter.

        Dawn Cartwright, chairwoman and instructor of the interpreter training program, is convinced Ms. Prieto-Gates will succeed.

        “You always knew she was going to give 110 percent,” Ms. Cartwright said. “She's never given up.”
       

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