"I want to be an audiologist." I often get the response: "What?" It's a 50/50 split on whether people are making a joke about not being able to hear or not knowing what an audiologist is. An audiologist is a doctor that addresses vestibular and balance issues, hearing concerns and counsels on rehabilitation strategies for improved communication. My greatest inspiration in pursuing audiology came from the speech language pathologist (SLP) I had in high school who coordinated my accommodations for my hearing loss. The SLP was the person that coordinated the microphone that helped me hear the teachers and supported me in becoming the self-advocate I am today. She was my biggest cheerleader and knew I could do more than I ever believed. Not every student has such a wonderful support person on their side or even the access to the technology that got me through school. What makes things more challenging is that there is very little community for teens and young adults when it comes to hearing loss. Hearing loss can be quite isolating as it can be more challenging to communicate with others, so knowing that there are kids your age that have similar life experiences can be valuable. This isolation is something that greatly impacted me and I felt as if I were the only student who was struggling with participating in conversations. I looked online, on social media and even within my own school community for others with hearing loss to talk with and share similar experiences. I found virtually no-one and was defeated. I aspire to bridge the gap in support and community that impacts may students with hearing loss, especially in transitions like that of high school to college. I aim to create a mentorship and peer support group for teens and young adults who are d/Deaf or hard-of-hearing. I have had the honor of starting an affinity group for students at my university that are d/Deaf or hard-of-hearing. The club also will run events to educate about hearing loss and essential accommodations. In creating the affinity group and future mentorship group, I hope to provide a space for those with hearing loss where a variety of experiences, struggles and helpful tips can be shared. Becoming an audiologist, I desire to work with a pediatric population that will allow me to hopefully impact the lives of kids with hearing loss in ways like my SLP did, making life easier by having a person you know is always on your side. In order to make this dream a reality, I have at least 5 more years of undergrad and then graduate education. I will get the opportunity to learn and enhance my counseling and clinical skills in my audiology doctorate program that I am currently applying to. This scholarship would aid me in paying my own way through school. Thank you so much for your consideration of my application and hope that you will support me in making my goals a reality.

I am a student, a sister, a mentor, a theater technician and amongst everything else, a person with hearing loss. All have shaped me into who I am today and who I aspire to become: an audiologist (that does theater on the side of course). An audiologist is a doctor that addresses vestibular and balance issues, hearing concerns and counsels on rehabilitation strategies for improved communication. My greatest inspiration in pursuing audiology came from the speech language pathologist (SLP) I had in high school. The SLP was the person that coordinated the microphone that helped me hear the teachers and supported me in becoming the self-advocate I am today. She was my biggest cheerleader and knew I could do more than I ever believed. Not every student has such a wonderful support person on their side or even the access to the technology that got me through school. What makes things more challenging is that there is very little community for teens and young adults when it comes to hearing loss. Hearing loss can be quite isolating as it can be more challenging to communicate with others, so knowing that there are kids your age that have similar life experiences can be valuable. This isolation is something that greatly impacted me and I felt as if I were the only student who was struggling with participating in conversations. I looked online, on social media and even within my own school community for others with hearing loss to talk with and share similar experiences. I found virtually no-one and was defeated. In college, I set out to create that community. I have had the honor of starting an affinity group for students at my university that are d/Deaf or hard-of-hearing and the club also will run events to educate the school community about hearing loss and essential accommodations. I aspire to bridge the gap in support and community that impacts may students with hearing loss, especially in transitions like that of high school to college. I aim to create a mentorship and peer support group for teens and young adults who are d/Deaf or hard-of-hearing when an audiologist. In building the affinity group and my future mentorship group, I will build upon my own experiences by listening to others' struggles and successes with their own lives and disabilities. Becoming an audiologist, I desire to work with a pediatric population that will allow me to hopefully impact the lives of kids with hearing loss in ways like my SLP did, making life easier by having a person you know is on your side always. In order to make this dream a reality, at least 5 more years of undergrad and then graduate education is required. I will get the opportunity to learn and enhance my counseling and clinical skills in my audiology doctorate program that I am in the process of applying to right now. This scholarship would aid me in paying my own way through school. Thank you so much for your consideration of my application and hope that you will support me in making my goals a reality

A passion for something may spur you in directions you did not anticipate. I have loved being in theater as a sound technician and designer since high school. As I thought about careers, I dreamed of sound engineering. Throughout my experiences in technical theater with hearing loss, I created workarounds like relying on visual cues or captions to follow along during the shows. Recently my hearing loss progressed and I realized I could not pursue a career as a sound technician. During the process of reconsidering my career aspirations, I met with an audiologist and professor at my university who leads the Speech and Audiology Research (SpAR) Lab. My professor’s passion and interest in the effects of hearing loss and speech perception were just what I needed to get me fully on board with changing my major to Communication Sciences and Disorders and joining the lab. I wanted to be a part of a community that focused on improving the quality of life for those with auditory communication difficulties, like myself. With my own hearing loss, I am excited to bring a personal perspective to the field. None of the audiologists I have worked with have worn a hearing aid or identified as hearing impaired. I feel that hearing loss cannot be fully understood without experiencing it firsthand. This is especially true when it comes to academics because of the intricacies of hearing loss for each student and the various accommodations that are actually needed. When entering college, I applied for disability services and advocated for my accommodations. With my hearing loss, background noise and distance are my biggest challenges in an academic setting. I had used the Phonak Roger system throughout my education, but the university had an old system that was not compatible with my hearing aid. Fortunately, with my determination and direct communication about my needs, disability services provided the Phonak system. This system doesn't solve everything though since group settings are still challenging. One such group encounter was in CWRU's lecture auditorium. The Roger microphone was unable to connect due to interference. Disability Services provided CART services that provided captions of what is being said in the class. This seemed like a good solution but there were other challenges due to needing to divide my attention to focus on the chalkboard, the professor, and the transcription on my computer (which often lagged behind the lecture drastically). This experience was exhausting and made it difficult to keep up with the lecture. Consequently, it required much more effort and out-of-class time to learn the material. My drive to succeed with hearing loss has shaped me into my own advocate. If the classroom is too loud and I am working in a group, I will ask my groupmates and professor to find a quieter place to work. If there is a video playing, I make sure the captions are turned on. If I miss something in a group discussion, I ask for repetition or figure it out through context clues. When I need my professor to wear the Phonak microphone, I will go up in front of the entire class, sometimes 400+ person lectures, to hand over the microphone. I have learned that to overcome challenges, I must be patient yet persistent. Patience and persistence are how I hope to approach being an audiologist. I aspire to go to graduate school for an AuD and open my own audiology practice. I also hope to continue theatrical sound design for as long as my hearing will allow.