President Obama surprises deaf student by signing to him President Obama took a deaf student by surprise last week by speaking to him in sign language. President Obama signs "Thank you." (YouTube) Stephon Williams, a 26-year-old student from Prince George's Community College, was standing in line after an event on energy policy in Maryland when he managed to catch the president's attention, D.C.-based blog Distriction reports. Obama, who had been busy shaking hands, looked directly at the student. "I am proud of you," Williams signed. Obama, without skipping a beat, signed back: "Thank you." "When I shook his hand it did not feel like he was superior to me," Williams told Distriction later. He was just a humble man. Obama's Twitter account shared the encounter on its feed Tuesday: And Williams later made a video about his experience. "It was like he was waiting for me to say something," Williams says on the video, which is in sign language. He understood me after I said I was proud of him. It was so amazing. In the video, Williams also revealed that immediately after his interaction, a woman signed "I love you" to Obama. This time, the president simply smiled.