Community Corner

Rose Float Princesses: Julianna Gough

The daughter of deaf parents hopes to one day be seen and heard in film, animation and books.

Julianna Gough's first word to her parents was said with her hands.

"The word was 'more' in sign language," said the 17-year-old South Hills High School student, who will be one of four Sierra Madre Rose Float princesses who'll be seen riding on the city's float for the 2012 Rose Parade. "My grandma taught me how to speak, while my parents taught me how to sign."

Julianna's parents are deaf, and her mother is a teacher for deaf and hard-of-hearing students at South Hills. She said she was originally going to attend Pasadena High School, but learned there were no interpreters for her parents.

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"That's when I realized that perhaps my life is a little different from other kids," she said.

At South Hills, Julianna has helped reach deaf and hard-of-hearing students and also takes down the stats for the girls basketball team. A lot of her energy is spent in the world of drama, theater and video production. She just wrapped up the first Christmas play with deaf students at the school, and is also working on a documentary about the inner workings of theater.

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"I figured, since I'm already in drama, why the heck don't I do a documentary about them?" she said. "A lot of people don't realize the work that they do, and that they don't get that many funds. They do a LOT of work … they practice every day after school, they have long hours, stuff like that."

Then there's the world of animation. An avid lover of cartoons and animated features, Julianna wants to one day do voicework on a Disney feature. She's taken a class on voiceovers, where she was taught how to do different things with her voice as well the finer points of emphasis on words. 

"I'll be reading out loud in the house, and do different voices, practice in front of the mirror, like a French accent or something like that," she said.

 She also points to the animated mega-hit "Avatar" as her inspiration to explore the animated film universe -- perhaps fitting, considering that the first sentence her grandmother ever heard her say was "I see you." She's thinking about heading to either Cal State Fullerton or Cal State Los Angeles to major in film.

Another dream of Julianna's is to one day write a children's book.

"I love reading books," she said. "I like the process of making a story. I want to make stories."

This is the first in a series of short profiles about Sierra Madre's four Rose Float Princesses. Check back for the others! 


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