I have realized my passion for Audiology

Upon embarking my first year of Audiology all was going great, I loved the breathtaking views of the campus, its surroundings and spending time in the library conducting group study sessions. I was absolutely amazed by the audiological teaching suites that consisted of all the latest equipment which was an additional bonus! This truly enabled me to get a hands-on experience of the equipment I would be required to use within a clinical setting as well as the opportunity to develop my clinical skills.

Towards the end of the academic year, things began to change drastically due to Covid-19. The pandemic had bought forward a change in everyone’s lives especially within the education sector. We had to adapt to a new way of learning which involved lectures being conducted online, we never would have imagined this would occur. I cannot even visualize how tough it had been for our academics. Staying at home became the new norm, it was challenging to concentrate on our studies behind closed doors alongside seeing the entire world around us being deeply affected due to the pandemic. Thankfully we were able to overcome this challenge due to our amazing academics who provided us with endless support all the way through. Unfortunately, one of the major negatives of the situation was our 1-week placement being cancelled, this was a real shame as I was looking forward to shadowing qualified audiologists and being involved within the clinic where I could have brought all my academic learning to reality. With memorable moments alongside the challenges us students had faced due to the pandemic, this academic year has been hugely successful. These challenges have made us stronger and made us come to appreciate how lucky we are to have such outstanding facilities and staff at De Montfort University.

As student rep and brand ambassador of the course, there are various activities I have engaged in, from attending meetings to discuss feedback from students within the cohort to creating a virtual open day in which students were still able to engage and ask questions as they usually would on a normal open day which was a remarkable experience.

Within these past 8 months, I have realized my passion for Audiology and my eagerness to bring forward a change in patient’s lives. I have learnt that anything is possible if you work hard and put your mind to it. I aim to further develop my knowledge so that I can put this into practice.