{"id":5260,"date":"2014-12-19T18:32:23","date_gmt":"2014-12-19T18:32:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/?p=5260"},"modified":"2014-12-19T18:40:40","modified_gmt":"2014-12-19T18:40:40","slug":"listening-to-her-passion-lucy-woerfel-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/2014\/12\/19\/listening-to-her-passion-lucy-woerfel-17\/","title":{"rendered":"Listening to her passion: Lucy Woerfel \u201917"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"lucycomd2014\"<\/a><\/figure>\n

By Ashley Remington ’15<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t always know what an audiologist was, but I always knew I wanted to be one,\u201d said Lucy Woerfel \u201917. When she was in the fifth grade, her two-year-old cousin Billy was diagnosed as being severely hearing impaired, igniting a passion that would determine her education and future career.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so difficult for Billy and his family,\u201d said Woerfel about Billy\u2019s diagnosis. \u201cEverybody thought he might have had autism or attention deficit disorder, or that he was a little socially different. Come to find after two years of wondering, we found out he just can\u2019t hear anyone! He\u2019s totally normal!\u201d<\/p>\n

Woerfel was always extremely fascinated to understand the way Billy experienced life having a hearing impairment, and when she was in high school Billy\u2019s mom mentioned that she should meet his audiologist. Agreeing, Woerfel went to his next appointment and loved every aspect of what she saw. By her senior year in high school she was certain that this was what she wanted to dedicate her future to.<\/p>\n

With a dream to become an audiologist and help people like Billy, she enrolled in the UW-Stevens Point School of Communicative Disorders<\/a>, particularly after hearing about the Clinical Doctorate in Audiology (Au.D.) program that was offered. Completing the undergraduate program four years later, she applied to graduate schools to pursue Au.D., with hopes of continuing her education at UW-Stevens Point.<\/p>\n

\u201cI decided that if I got accepted into the doctorate program at UW-Stevens Point, I was staying,\u201d she explained. \u201cThis is where I wanted to be. The clinical program here is superior. If you want clinic skills in audiology, this is the place to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, Billy received his first cochlear implant, after succeeding with hearing aids for 15 years. A cochlear implant is an electronic device that enables one with profound hearing loss to have a sense of sound. Whereas hearing aids only amplify sounds, a cochlear implant converts sound waves to electrical impulses so that a hearing impaired person can hear sounds and better understand speech.<\/p>\n

Not only did Billy\u2019s diagnosis inspire Woerfel to become an audiologist, but it opened up educational opportunities for her as well. As a first-year graduate student she did two cochlear implant-related independent studies based on Billy\u2019s experiences, attending his appointments, his cochlear implant surgery, and his follow up appointments, as well as witnessing him hear for the first time after the surgery.<\/p>\n

Billy, now 18-years-old, plays football, lacrosse, and is attending school at Michigan State next year. He was able to live a normal life through the help of audiologists. \u201cThe diagnosis was devastating; words that no parent wants to hear, and an impairment that no child should have to bear. And yet, in an undesired situation, hearing aids provided an opportunity for normalcy,\u201d said Woefel. \u201cEvery time I leave the clinic, I always feel like I have the best job in the world. It was through Billy that my passion was ignited and I realized the reward of restoring a person\u2019s hearing with amplification.\u201d<\/p>\n

Woerfel hopes to someday work with the pediatric population so that she will get to help others the same way so many have helped Billy. \u201cI am smart enough to know the world is far from a perfect place, but I also know that hearing aids have given my cousin the chance to be like everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ashley Remington ’15 \u201cI didn\u2019t always know what an audiologist was, but I always knew I wanted to be one,\u201d said Lucy Woerfel \u201917. When she was in the fifth grade, her two-year-old cousin Billy was diagnosed as being severely hearing impaired, igniting a passion that would determine her education and future career. \u201cIt […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5262,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,8,12],"tags":[71,99,104,305,341,343,344],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5260"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5260"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5379,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5260\/revisions\/5379"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}