Summer job vital for student, society
Student plans to enter audiology field
A summer student who plans to enter audiology has been working with the Society of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Nova Scotians this summer. She talks about the experience.
“Hello! My name is Emily Bennett,” says the Glace Bay native. “This past May, I’ve had the pleasure of becoming an alumnus of Cape Breton University upon graduating with a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Biology.
“During those four years of my bachelor’s degree, I developed an interest to continue my education in science and direct it towards a healthrelated field. In my third year of university, I had the pleasure of meeting Rosalind Wright and Clare LeBlanc at the Society of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Nova Scotians.
“This society is a non-profit organization that allows for loans of assistive hearing devices (funded by Cape Breton United Way) and American Sign Language/ English interpretation services within the community. Their kindness and passion for the society sparked an interest in me to become more involved with the deaf and hard of hearing community. I’ve been a volunteer for the society for the past year.
“Since then, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many wonderful people in the community and taking part in numerous enjoyable fundraisers (See the Sounds of Nature, Butterflies are Deaf Too). Being a part of this society has been so much fun, so I was overjoyed when Rosalind and Clare asked me to work as a summer student.
“During the next eight weeks, I will be interviewing deaf and hard of hearing members and associates of the society. Our end goal is to promote the society within the community and bring awareness to the services that we provide. I’m looking forward to meeting many new members within the community and helping to bring awareness to this amazing organization. In the future, I hope to keep contributing to the society while starting my graduate degree at Dalhousie University for M.Sc. Audiology in September.”
We are very delighted to have Emily with us for this eight-week project. She is busy collecting photos, videos, and stories of the people, places, and services who support and/or use the services of the society. She will be building a promotional video and archiving photos for use in future literature and brochures. We are also planning to update our website and Facebook page to show how the society is making a difference in our community.
All we need is a few minutes of your time for a couple of photos and a brief conversation of your experience with the society and/or use of its services. If you would like to help us, contact Emily at socdeaf@ns.sympatico.ca. Thank you to those people who have already stepped forward and we welcome any new supporters. Emily’s project ends August 4.
Society of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Nova Scotians is located at 762 Victoria Road in Sydney, Whitney Pier. You may reach Clare, Emily, or me at 902-564-0003. Our office email is cbdeaf@ns.sympatico.ca. We look forward to hearing from you. Thank you.
It all starts hear.