While in undergrad, I was encouraged by another student, who recently had a good experience in the program, to apply for ATSU’s residential Audiology program. At that time, I loved that it was developed as an AuD program and not adapted from a master’s program. This made me feel like it was developed at the highest level, specific to the audiology profession and less related to the speech pathology profession.  

From the start, the professor (Dr. Henry Trahan) who was a part of setting up interviews was nice, accommodating, and always had recommendations to make things better when I visited the city. It was clear that ATSU cares about their students from the start.  

I originally wanted to be in a speech pathology career, however, I quickly changed my mind to audiology after I took my first intro to audiometry course. From then on, I knew I wanted to get my doctorate and get into private practice; this was where I could practice autonomously and make the most impact in the world. 

It was my understanding that going to grad school was an investment. No matter where I went, it was going to be a significant amount of money, so money wasn’t a big consideration when determining schools. I was looking for where I would get the best education and would be the best prepared to see a patient once I completed the program. ATSU was that place for me and the next step in my journey. In fact, I finished my undergrad degree in Speech Language Hearing Sciences, got married, and started at ATSU all in three weeks.  

I was over the moon excited to start down the path of the AuD from ATSU. I knew it was a good school and in a warm climate (moving from Fargo, ND) with professors who had a sole focus on making sure students were prepared for life. 

Once I started the program, I came to realize that ATSU was very well established in the audiology community due to the large number of audiologists taking their transitional degree. They had connections at all the best clinical sites with top providers across the country. I knew that when I was ready to start my clinical externships, they would have great connections to give me a shot at the best positions. As a professional-based school vs. research-based, I knew I would be more prepared to see patients from day one. I took great comfort in knowing that.  

I went into the AuD program with an open mind and not knowing what to expect. I can tell you that I felt comfortable and was prepared for all future steps through the journey. They did a great job of preparing us every step of the way. I now take students as a practicing audiologist and have always looked forward to taking students from ATSU. I know they have the skills needed for our practice; I’ve hired two ATSU graduates who still work for me today.   

I’ve been out of the school for 11 years now, and I can still remember the relationships that were built throughout the program. Each professor was helping not only in the classroom but to make sure I was prepared to be their colleague. We even had an open-door policy, which made me feel like students were important to them than the research they were working on or assignments they needed to get graded.