Audiology Personal Statement

At a young age, I witnessed my younger brother lodge an eraser in his ear and later have it removed by a doctor. A year later he had tubes inserted and a year or so after that, I saw those tubes fall out of his head. Besides thinking that my younger brother was really a robot with metal parts falling out of his brain, it was where my fascination of the human ear began. Since then I’ve helped my grandfather and father with their hearing aids, especially replacing the small batteries which was difficult for their large farmers’ hands. I’ve also observed my older sister, an Audiologist in California, for two weeks as she worked with patients, letting me do hearing aid cleanings, help with sales, file patient records, observe ear molds being

taken and hearing aid fittings, console concerned patients and more. Although my undergraduate degree is in Speech-Language Pathology, my true resolve is in obtaining my Doctorate of Audiology.
I’ll admit that as much as I loved my study in Speech-Language Pathology, I did not give 100% of my true potential to the major and it can only be explained by how I was pinning away for the Audiology program.

Audiology inspired me by fulfilling my need to give back to others in a professional capacity, satisfied my electronic savvy skills, and being able to work with all ages anywhere in the world. Looking ahead to graduate school with complete certainty that I have discerned my divined course of action, nothing can deter me from this burning passion. Once I am accepted into your Doctor of Audiology program at Indiana University in Bloomington, I will work vigorously for the next four years until that diploma is in my hand. Then I’ll be off to work at a hospital where I will focus on pediatric auditory habilitation and rehabilitation. I aspire to work in the neonatal units doing Auditory Brain Response testing on newborns and helping parents understand and better prepare their child with a hearing impairment for a challenging, yet successful future. I possess a certain amount of obsession for children, not unlike the possessive nature parents feel for their young. Years of volunteering at the Church Nursery growing up and now working with preschool to 3rd graders, tutoring after school, helping with ballet classes, or even women’s shelters, I’ve found the age group that I am truly dedicated to and passionately work to help. This gives me great understanding and

responsibility to care for parents and children who face a cruel reality.
Striving for more social recognition and acceptance for hard-of-hearing or deaf individuals will always be a goal dear to me, but children and parents need to know that they are faced with an unforgiving culture. With my aid, I can prepare them to face common challenges, ways of familiarizing other people with hearing conditions, and encourage them to speak openly and confidently about their unique needs. Making sure they have a usable knowledge-base of famous deaf or hearing impaired individuals, such as composer Beethoven, Thomas Edison, Helen Keller, and Juliette Gordon Low who founded Girl Scouts of America, is vital to giving them role models and showing them that they can truly do anything. Recognizing that what we do is so much more than just give out hearing aids is how I will promote, educate, and inspire today’s society, one family at a time. At your academically recognized university, I can grow and develop these plans and insights to create better methods of treatment and working with hearing and non-hearing communities. I have no doubts that I will complete my Doctorate of Audiology, work in a hospital with pediatrics, and make a significant impact. My question is will Indiana University in Bloomington succeed my name in the journals or will you let this opportunity pass you by?