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-of-hearing people due to a lack of closed captioning. 

Fortunately, I was part of VOICE for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing children since I was three years old. VOICE is a non-profit organization that connects children with hearing loss and their families. During VOICE events, I felt much more comfortable around other deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals. As a teen, I could openly share my experiences with other VOICE members that I could not share with my hearing friends and family. 

To learn more about VOICE and/or donate, please see the link below:

https://www.voicefordeafkids.com/

Unfortunately, during my mid to late teens, I had a poor experience that made me question whether I should continue being a part of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, even though I am naturally deaf. Before I explain my experience, there are two types of deaf communities:

‘Deaf’ with the capital D -  represents those who communicate in sign language only, do not associate themselves with the hearing world, and do not have hearing amplification devices such as hearing aids or Cochlear Implants. 

‘deaf’, with the lowercase d -  represents deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals who communicate verbally, associate themselves as part of the hearing world, and use a hearing amplification device. 

Without knowing the difference between the two groups, I joined a group on Facebook that mainly consists of individuals who are part of the Capital D Deaf community. When I introduced myself to the group and explained that I wear Cochlear Implants, I received a bunch of negative comments stating that I am not welcomed into the group and that I’m not part of the Deaf community because I communicate verbally and wear two Cochlear Implants. I had to leave the group a few hours later because I could not handle the negativity I received. After a brief period of questioning the community, I began researching. Eventually, I discovered the differences between the two deaf communities and that I belong to the lowercase d - deaf community. 

Therefore, my experiences motivated me to help others, especially children and teens with Cochlear Implants or who are eligible to get one, since I do not want them to feel left out as I did back then. Please read further on how I started my mentorship journey.

How I Started My Mentorship Journey:

My blogs were the first step towards being a Mentor. When I saw the initial impact, I knew I wanted to write more to help others.  I chatted with my friend, who also wears a Cochlear Implant, and we decided to create a social media page called CIBesties, which is dedicated to our experiences and spreading awareness about Cochlear Implants. 

A month later, in March 2022,  I received an email stating that my mom and I got chosen to participate in the Advanced Bionics “The Moment” campaign with six other Cochlear Implant users and their loved ones. We began preparing for the campaign and flew to California, USA, for the filming process. After filming, I met up with one person who still had the first-generation internal implant from Advanced Bionics, like I did before my reimplantation. I had never met anyone with the first-generation implant until then. I also met a young boy who got implanted in both ears simultaneously and a teenage girl with the latest external processor called the Marvels. I met people with different experiences and hearing backgrounds, so hearing their stories was fascinating!

Please see the link below for “The Moment” campaign video:

https://www.advancedbionics.com/com/en/home/communities/2/the-moment

Our CIBesties page and my mom’s and my trip to California changed my outlook on helping others with Cochlear Implants. It helped us connect with people with Cochlear Implants, their families and candidates for Cochlear Implants globally. Since the impact was fascinating, I wanted to do more, so after returning from California, I immediately signed up to become a Mentor for Advanced Bionics. 

My Mentor Work Throughout the Year:

After signing up to become a Mentor, I immediately got multiple opportunities to help others. Every month, mentors from North America join together and attend online meetings to discuss our mentorship journey thus far. We also get a glimpse of future events and releases from Advanced Bionics. I also joined a few Cochlear Implant groups and spread awareness of Cochlear Implants on Facebook. The groups helped me capture a glimpse of other Cochlear Implant manufacturers and learn from other people’s experiences using their products. Lastly, I was the Mentor of the Month for Advanced Bionics in August 2023. During that month, I shared weekly posts on social media about my experiences and spoke with a couple of candidates for Cochlear Implants and their families. 

Outlooks for being a Mentor:

Throughout my first year as a mentor for Advanced Bionics, I would like to share a few outlooks. Being a mentor provides a sense of global community, such as helping each other and reducing loneliness. For example, on social media, I received a comment from a woman stating that I was the one who made her choose Advanced Bionics from my campaign video. Her comment made me so happy and grateful for the impact that I have had on deaf and hard-of-hearing people and their families around the world. Another aspect is that the mentorship program provides a sense of awareness and accessibility for people with cochlear implants. After sharing my experiences, my external friends and family became more aware of Cochlear Implants and gained better knowledge on approaching and communicating with users.

Being a mentor has also helped me grow as a person. My empathy skills improved drastically because most of the conversations I had with candidates, users and their families require actively listening to their experiences and provide support based on them. Being a mentor also helped me improve on staying grounded. I make informed options and decisions regarding supporting them and not expecting anything in return. These decisions are straightforward and manageable for the candidates, users and their families. Doing simple things such as helping others and providing kindness to them does not only make them happy but also makes me happy, so it is a win-win situation. 

I look forward to continuing my mentorship journey by helping others and participating in future opportunities from Advanced Bionics and the lowercase d deaf community. I conclude this blog with a quote, “in helping others, we shall help ourselves for whatever good we give out completes the circle and comes back to us” - Flora Edwards. I hope you enjoyed and gained insight from reading my fifth blog. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns or need someone to chat with.