Chippewa Valley Times

Elle Snesrud, a native of Farmington, Minnesota, will be signing the national anthem on stage during her commencement ceremony. She completed an American Sign Language (ASL) certificate alongside her bachelor's degree in psychology. "I will be signing the national anthem on stage, standing right next to the soloist," she stated. Two deaf families known to Snesrud will attend the event, adding personal significance to her role as interpreter. "It feels like sort of high stakes, but I’m honored and excited to serve as interpreter for the anthem at my ceremony," she said.

Snesrud began learning ASL in high school and completed her ASL certificate by her sophomore year at UW-Eau Claire. To maintain her skills, she has served as a teaching assistant in ASL classrooms and signed the national anthem at Blugold football games this fall.

Kristin Scheibe, a senior lecturer of ASL in the department of communication sciences and disorders, praised Snesrud's contributions: "I appreciate Elle’s dedication and openness to deaf culture and American Sign Language," Scheibe said. "Her understanding and support can significantly impact lives, mainly when communication barriers exist."

After graduation, Snesrud will join the Disney College Program at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. The program provides college students and recent graduates with internship experiences in public-facing roles within the parks. "I learned about this program during middle school, and have always been determined to apply," Snesrud explained.

Snesrud plans to work in retail merchandise at Disney but has not finalized any career plans post-internship. She hopes to pursue industrial organizational psychology—a field combining business and psychology—as it was the focus of her capstone project.

"The field is essentially the psychology of corporate operations," she described. "It takes the two things that I love — business and psychology — and combines them; that’s my ultimate goal."