5 - My First Year as a Mentor: A New Outlook
“A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside of you” - Oprah Winfrey. In this blog, I will focus on my experiences as a Mentor of Advanced Bionics this past year. My Experiences Before Being a Mentor: I grew up in a hearing family and attended mainstream school with hearing children, so there was little awareness towards deaf and hard-of-hearing people, especially those with Cochlear Implants and hearing aids. Since I was the only deaf person in my family, I felt isolated a lot back then. Even though my hearing friends and family gave me a lot of support, and I am grateful for them, I was unable to confide with them about my experiences with hearing loss fully. I could also not participate in a few activities at school due to my deafness and/or my Cochlear Implants. I often got a ‘weird look’ from strangers when they saw my Cochlear Implants. The entertainment and media world (music, TV shows, movies, etc.) was not accommodating enough for deaf and hard-...