spring break '09

i had what could possibly have been the most amazing spring break in history (insert sarcasm here).

jk.  in all reality, my spring break was filled with a whole lotta schoolwork, a whole bunch of seminars, and a lot of time spent in cold climates.  let me back up and explain.

as many of you know i am currently working on my doctorate in audiology.  i am a first year student (almost done with my first year in fact) and i have 2 more years here at usu and then it's my fellowship year (kind of like a residency year) and then i am finished forever with my schooling!  there is light at the end of the tunnel... i just have to make it through 3 more grueling years....

but anyway, i thought i'd post a few pictures of my class and the other 2nd and 3rd years in my program.  these pictures were taken in the fall when the grass was green and the sun was out.  kind of like last week but not so much like today.  look how professional we look in those white jackets of ours...

so these are the 1st years... minus the blondie on the back row and the guy in the orange tie standing behind me.  they both decided to drop out of the program at the end of fall semester.  so, that leaves 4 of us left to battle it out.  it's kind of nice having such a small class size, minus the fact that when you're starting to fall asleep during a lecture, everyone in the class knows it, especially the professor.  

so, part of what we do in our clinic as part of our program is fit people with hearing loss with hearing aids.  we test them, figure out how bad their hearing is, and then find the right hearing aid to help them out.  there are a bunch of hearing aid companies out there (and hearing aids are quite expensive) so it's a pretty competitive industry.  so, what do those hearing aid companies do?  they offer to fly us students out to their manufacturing facilities, wine and dine us, and try to convince us to promote only their top of the line hearing aids.  basically it is an all-expense paid trip that none of us wanted to pass up.  this time, it was starkey that wanted us to come and visit.  unfortunately, it was the thursday through saturday before spring break.  and it was in minnesota.  there's nothing in minnesota besides rain, snow, clouds, and the mall of america (so random that it is there) (and i didn't even get the chance to go to it).  triple bummer.  

so, to give a pretty basic run-down of what we did:

when we first arrived, they cleaned out our ears, did hearing tests on us, and then fit us with our very own hearing aids.  sweet, right?  only an audiology student would think so.  basically they gave us a hearing aid to wear so that we will be better at understanding the issues our patients deal with with their own hearing aids.  and we got free (expensive) hearing aids which was a bonus.  

see that guy in the white lab coat?  that is bill austin- founder of the starkey hearing aid company.  he's super old (and super famous, as you will see later) but he has done some amazing things in his lifetime.  he does humanitarian trips all over the world and has helped so many kids with hearing loss.  what a generous guy.  

so basically, bill austin has fit every celebrity and their dog with either hearing aids or some sort of protection for their ears while doing concerts and performing at large venues.  you name the celebrity, they are most likely on one of his many walls of signed celebrity photos.  presidents, musicians, comedians, athletes, astronauts... they're all there...

yup, even chuck.  

we were taught some cool things, given some fabulous starkey embellished loot (backpacks, waterbottles, notebooks, pens, etc), and were put up in a nice marriott with a fabulous pool.  at night, we played a whole lot of pop 500.  for hours.  and hours.  

on the last night, mr austin had us all over to his house for cocktails, dinner, and free reign of his home.  it was a mansion (to say the least) and he had some cool rooms worth exploring.  somehow nikki and i made it into his wife's massive walk in closet- it was a dream come true.  

this is elton john's red grand piano that i am playing.  yep, elton and bill are tight.   
this is a small portion of his autographed guitar collection.  they lined the floor and covered the walls.  everyone from the beach boys to ozzy osbourne to tim mcgraw.  

this was his work out room.  that is nikki with a boxing glove signed by about 2 dozen famous boxers.  i'm sure mr austin wouldn't appreciate her wearing that glove, but we put it back where we found it.  
no biggie- just a signed robe and glove from mohammed ali.  i didn't even get pictures of the rest of the basement- the sports room, the sauna, the lounge area, the hot tub room, the bar (the open bar)... the house was definitely fabulous.  
nikki, bill, and me.  we're besties.  we tried convincing him to let us join him for his next humanitarian mission in egypt.  i'm sure he's still considering it.  
this is us hanging out in a rolls royce.  poor mr austin spent $540,000 on the car so he could auction it off for charity.  unbeknownst to him, the laws in minnesota say that nothing over $500,000 can be donated to charity (what a dumb law) so he just had to keep the car.  rough life.  

it was an open bar.  and i'm a lush.  so what.  

the gang on our last night in minneapolis.

well, the fun didn't stop there.  maria (a 2nd year) and joe (a 3rd year) and i were picked to participate in a grant where we get to work with other students and professionals in an interdisciplinary program focusing on families and children with special needs.  because of our involvement with this grant, we were sent to dallas, tx for a conference focusing on early childhood detection and intervention of hearing loss.  sounds way too cool, right?  it was a big conference with hundreds and hundreds of professionals all gathering together to talk about things they are doing in their own practices and things we can all do to improve our knowledge and continuing education.  how lucky were we that this conference was taking place over our spring break?

it was 4 long days of seminars, meetings talking about state legislature, mixing and mingling with other students, and getting the "in" with audiologists in other states.  we learned a whole lot, but at times it was almost too overwhelming.  i was happy to have some fellow students with me so we could endure it all together.  one thing that we were hoping for was some sunshine and warm weather!  but alas, we are unlucky souls and brought the cold front that hovered over us in minnesota to dallas.  it was sunny the first day we got there, but never again.  from sunday to wednesday it was windy, cloudy, and chilly.  definitely not what we expected.  but, we survived, and probably learned a lot more than we would have had we played hooky to sit outside and soak up the sun.  funny thing is, i didn't take a single picture while we were in dallas (probably because the only exciting things we did were eat at some fabulous authentic texas bbq restaurants and shop at the galleria, a massive mall they had about 5 minutes from our hotel).  

i was gone for a week, but it felt like an eternity being away from josh.  poor guy didn't get much of a spring break either because he was stuck working his 40 hours just like any other week.  after i returned home on that wednesday, i ran some errands, cleaned up a bit, and prepared for 3 days straight of working doubles at sabor.  how's that for topping off a spring break with a bang?