Meet the Candidates: 2019-2020 National SAA Board of Directors Nominees for Member at Large

Jennifer Maikell
Candidate for MAL 2019-2020
Second Year
Wayne State University

List 3 words that describe you: Encouraging, Listener, Reliable

Name one person you feel was/is a great leader.
Geoffrey Canada

Something on your bucket list?
I’d love to scuba dive in the Great Barrier Reef!

Who has been your biggest inspiration or support throughout graduate school?
My husband.

What has been your favorite or most rewarding experience with a patient?
I was working as an audiology assistant for an ENT office, and an elderly gentleman in his 90s came to his appointment all alone.  He mentioned he used Lyft to get there.  After his appointment, the front office staff asked if he needed help getting Lyft set up for his drive home.  He declined and went to wait in the building’s front lobby.  Over an hour later, we closed for the day, and I saw our patient still waiting for his ride home.  His living facility was only a couple miles away, so I offered to drive him.  He graciously accepted.  I was entertained with hearing about his life the whole way.  Helping him into his building, he expressed his gratitude.  THAT was one of the best feelings I’ve had with a patient.

 Brenna Marshall
Candidate for MAL 2019-2020
Second Year
University of Kansas Medical Center

List 3 words that describe you: Resourceful, Intuitive, Selfless

Name one person you feel was/is a great leader.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Something on your bucket list?
I would like to backcountry snowboard via heli-drop.

Who has been your biggest inspiration or support throughout graduate school?
My husband, Duncan, has been my rock throughout graduate school.

What has been your favorite or most rewarding experience with a patient?
My favorite experience so far has been putting hearing aids on a 3-month-old and watching his face light up and hearing him coo at the sound of his mother’s voice.

Stephanie Berry
Candidate for MAL 2019-2020
Second Year
University of North Carolina

List 3 words that describe you: Idealistic, Perceptive, Dependable

Name one person you feel was/is a great leader.
Michelle Obama

Something on your bucket list?
Run a marathon (this is hilariously not likely currently but still on my list!)

Who has been your biggest inspiration or support throughout graduate school?
The patients inspire me daily. I am blown away by the perseverance of even the youngest children with hearing loss to push through a long day of appointments and therapy.

What has been your favorite or most rewarding experience with a patient?
I’ve gotten to work with quite a few kids with multiple special healthcare needs and sometimes other professionals might guess that those kids wouldn’t be able to do the behaviors needed for a hearing screen or test. My favorite moments are when those kids shock everyone and absolutely fly through a full hearing test and everyone in the room (parents, professionals) is so excited about what they’ve accomplished that we all celebrate together.

Anything else you would like to include for the SAA Blog?
Thank you everyone for reading this and for the chance to run!

 Lauren Lonsway
Candidate for MAL 2019-2020
Second Year
Wayne State University

List 3 words that describe you: Innovative, Adventurous, and Dedicated

Name one person you feel was/is a great leader.
Mother Teresa

Something on your bucket list?
Rock climb in Yosemite.

Who has been your biggest inspiration or support throughout graduate school?
My grandmother.

What has been your favorite or most rewarding experience with a patient?
My favorite moment so far with a patient was when I was taking a gentleman’s case history and asked him if he was ever dizzy. His response was that he had been “dizzy in love” for over 50 years.

Anything else you would like to include for the SAA Blog?
I am extremely interested in collaborating with fellow classmates from other schools across the country, advocating for our profession of audiology, and for children with hearing loss. In my spare time, I rock climb, and enjoy photographing engagements and events.

Sarah Alfieri
Candidate for MAL 2019-2020
Second Year
Vanderbilt University

List 3 words that describe you: Passionate, Enthusiastic, and a bit of a Perfectionist.

Name one person you feel was/is a great leader.
Leslie Knope. She may technically be fictional, but she embodies a great leader in so many ways: her tenacity despite any roadblocks or opposition she may face, her passion for everything she does (including even the most boring paperwork and meetings), her enthusiastic love for her team, and her confidence in herself and in her dream. As Ms. Knope herself says, “I am big enough to admit I am often inspired by myself.” And I’m definitely big enough to admit I’m inspired by Leslie!

Something on your bucket list?
I should be professional and say something like “getting my AuD” (which of course is on there), but I’m going to be honest and go with meeting Taylor Swift. So, Taylor, if you ever need your hearing tested, feel free to hit me up!

Who has been your biggest inspiration or support throughout graduate school?
My parents have always been my biggest supporters. From providing me with the opportunity to attend graduate school in the first place, listening to me discuss issues in audiology at length, and answering every phone call, no matter how stupid the question is, they have been there every step of the way. I am truly grateful for their constant support, love, and inspiration.

What has been your favorite or most rewarding experience with a patient?
My love of audiology originally developed when babysitting a family friend with conductive hearing loss due to Goldenhar Syndrome. This past semester in clinic, I had the opportunity to help fit a seven-year-old girl with Goldenhar Syndrome with her first set of bone anchored devices. She was so excited by the improvement in her hearing with the devices, even exclaiming “I heard that!” every time she heard a new sound, from the clicking of a keyboard to a whisper across the room – and it was exciting for me to see my audiology story start to come full circle!

Amanda Demas
Candidate for MAL 2019-2020
First Year
Washington University

List 3 words that describe you: Dedicated, Assertive,  Adventurous

Something on your bucket list?
Camping in Yosemite National Park

What has been your favorite or most rewarding experience with a patient?
I helped fit hearing aids for a 90-year-old patient who was in phenomenal health for her age. As we were doing the fitting, she was telling us about how she used to stand outside during the MLB season to get tickets for her husband and friends. She got World Series tickets for $5 at one point. Being able to fit someone with hearing aids to help maintain a positive quality of life with such longevity was rewarding.

Taylor Chesnet
Candidate for MAL 2019-2020
Second Year
Bloomsburg University

List 3 words that describe you: Dependable, Loyal, and Organized

Name one person you feel was/is a great leader.
Queen Elizabeth I

Something on your bucket list?
I would love to go to England and Scotland and see all of the places from my favorite books!

Who has been your biggest inspiration or support throughout graduate school?
My biggest support throughout grad school has been my group of friends that I met as an undergrad at UConn. Olivia DeWald is currently a fourth year and Casey Turovac and Jackie Alpert are currently third years. They were always ahead of me and have given me great advice and support as I follow them through grad school and are always there to vent to or to give advice! I wouldn’t be able to survive grad school without them.

What has been your favorite or most rewarding experience with a patient?
My most rewarding experience with a patient was with a respiratory therapist that wanted to be able to use a stethoscope without removing his hearing aids. My supervisor made it my responsibility to find a solution for him and I did my research and found him a custom mold that fit in his ear canal with his stethoscope and still allowed for an open fit. He was really appreciative and told me what a difference it made in his job to be able to leave his aids in when seeing patients.

Anything else you would like to include for the SAA Blog?
Thank you to everyone for taking the time to read this! If elected, I promise I will try my best and work hard further the goals of SAA!