In this article, the author tells her professional journey as an educator of students who are deaf and hard of hearing. The author started her career in 1991, fresh out of college with her bachelor's degree in education of the deaf K-12. She took a job at the Delaware School for the Deaf (DSD) as a resident advisor in the dorm program. Here she is in 2012, 21 years after that first experience in the dorm when she formed the question that began her journey. Her bright students' struggle with reading led to her gut feeling about the importance of direct experiences, keeping instruction meaningful to students, allowing social interaction, and using students' first languages--all part of the seven principles for student success outlined in "ESL/EFL Teaching: Principles for Success."