so everyone keeps asking me why i randomly went to chicago. well, in our field there is a huge national conference held every year where professionals from around the country/world get together to discuss hearing loss detection in young children and providing the early intervention services these young kiddos need.
ehdi= early hearing detection and intervention
well, my classmate maria and i were asked to present at this national conference in one of the breakout sessions. we had done a research project over the last 8 months or so about strengthening the relationship between parents, pediatricians, and audiologists so that a child diagnosed with hearing loss will receive the most timely and efficient services available to diagnose the hearing loss, provide the parents with the information they need, and ensure they are receiving the support they need. i guess someone thought it was a topic that is not discussed enough and wanted us to present on it. oh boy.
i am terrified of public speaking. i can hold my own when i'm talking to one person, or even a few people. but stick me (the measly student) up in front of room full of professionals (possibly even my future employers) and i want to run away. i just don't like that much attention on me and it wigs me out.
but i saw it as a good experience, something that will strengthen my resume, a good chance to do some networking, and would get me out to a city i'd never been to before.
so, i planned to be there from sunday till thursday with the conference lasting from sun-tues. the rest of the time was sight-seeing (but that will be for a later post). the conference was great- i really did learn a lot, and we were able to meet up with a fabulous friend lyra (whom i met at last year's ehdi conference in dallas) who happens to live in chicago and took us out and about so we could see more than just the inside of the hotel.
the presentation was ok- i was crazy nervous and i think it may have shown at the beginning, but we got some good comments at the end and i've even had some pediatricians from ny contact us about doing their own study similar to ours. hopefully next time it'll be that much easier.
one night lyra took us to a huge mall for some shopping and out to a chicago landmark- portillos- for some chicago style hot dogs and fries. another night she took us to gold star cinemas- a fancy-shmancy movie theater where you lay in big, comfy recliner seats, you're given pillows and blankets, and you have a button to push to summon your server to bring you some gourmet food off their menu. we felt super ritzy.
the speech and audiology students from usu that were able to attend the conference
not what i wore in my presentation (i actually bought my first big-girl-dress-suit), but you get the idea
sight-seeing pictures to come!
