It’s that time of year again – not long now until the annual AudiologyNOW! convention. Who’s attending?
If you came last year and attended the ReSound Purple Reign Party, you may remember the drawing we held for an audiology student to win a ReSound scholarship. Good news – we’re doing it again this year! Both students and professionals can enter the raffle. For students, we’re offering the scholarship and for professionals, we’re giving away a free trip.
Pete Hutchinson was the lucky winner of the scholarship at last year’s event. Here’s what he has to say about the experience and what the scholarship has meant to him.
Number 25! Number 25! I had no ability to say anything but than to just scream, and yell, “That’s me! That’s ME!” I felt like the room was spinning when I heard my number called at the ReSound gala, part of the 2011 AudiologyNOW convention. It was just like any other night- you know, tons of free delicious food, dancing to a fantastic DJ, being stunned by a flash mob of professional dancers… you know, the ordinary stuff (sarcasm). While the night was an absolute blast in itself, I had no idea that I would leave that event with a gift that changed this entire year since then. When my number was called, I was given a $3000 scholarship that night by the wonderful people of ReSound. They probably never knew, nor can they understand how much that scholarship really meant to me. Last year, my family was in a financial position that was so unsteady, that I was not even sure if I would be able to return to the University of Pittsburgh for my senior year in their department of Communication Science and Disorders. Winning this scholarship not only allowed me to return to complete my degree, but they also showed me that a career in audiology is where I belong.
Since then, I have entered into my final semester of senior year, graduate school applications complete. I do not know whether I will be in Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina, Indiana, or Pennsylvania at this time next year, but I do know that I am motivated and driven to become a successful graduate student, and eventually an audiologist, and I owe a lot of that to the kick-start that I received when I won the scholarship., This year I am the Vice-President of Pitt’s chapter of NSSLHA, and I am able to share such a fun testimony to the underclassmen about my experience at the convention, and our attendance at the conference this year will have doubled since last year’s initial trip. All I can truly say, is thank you, GN ReSound. You do not realize how much my life has changed since the last time we met.