Hometown: Burnaby, B.C.
Program: Master of Science in Audiology
Switching careers was a big decision, which drove me to look deeper into potential vocations. Ultimately, I found that Audiology fits my values and personality quite well. The one-to-one clinical counselling combined with electrophysiological aspects appealed to me and complimented my strengths. The ability to further contribute to science is also important to me, and I was happy to discover that the field of Audiology has plenty of opportunities for research.
My program’s cohort was quite small and though there was a wide range of ages between us and differing personalities and backgrounds, we grew quite close. My favourite moment is actually a string of moments – every lunch hour we could have spent apart, we instead chose to stay and eat together. Every time.
Grad school can be overwhelming and as a mature student, returning to school after so many years was even more daunting. My advice, whether you are entering the program straight after completing your undergrad, or after a prolonged break, would be to take things one step at a time. The first step could be prioritizing assignments, creating a study plan for an exam, or even asking for help. I have found that breaking down large parts of the program’s requirements into smaller tasks helped them become more manageable. Completing even a small piece of an assignment can also feel pretty great!
I am currently gaining more hands-on audiological experience and enhancing my skills as a clinician. Eventually, I aim to earn advanced certifications in electrophysiology-based assessments and conduct further research studies.