Our amazing writer, Miranda Meyers is back with a heart warming post.

Her story is about fulfilling her dreams and finding creative ways to overcome challenges. It is also about the experience of including people with hearing loss even in very demanding working environments, an experience which eventually rewards everybody.

Miranda shares her experience as an adult, and we believe that many adult CI users would identify with it. However, even if you are a parent of a CI kid, you may learn more and be inspired by the journey of this impressive woman.

Thank you Miranda! 

Naama Tsach
naama@acialliance.org

Well hello! Yes… it has been way too long; almost one year. Life has been a wild ride since I last wrote a post. I graduated from college, got my first job on a campaign, unfortunately lost that election, and now I’m finally taking some time off. The election took a lot out of me, so I am very glad to be in a position where I am able to relax and really take my time figuring out what’s next. Funnily enough, I’ve been listening to a lot of music and podcasts lately.

I graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology on May 10, 2019. On May 22, I started my first job. I was hired as a finance staffer for a New Jersey State Assembly campaign. In the middle of the summer, I was promoted to Finance Director. It was hard, but so much fun. I learned so much, and I got to work with some of the best people I know. I love politics, so it was great for me to finally get onto a campaign and learn how to elect amazing candidates that want to help people. We did lose, but we did everything we could. I have no regrets. I know everyone on my team and myself gave it their all. We worked hard, and we came pretty close.

It was interesting navigating this job as a deaf person. Fortunately, everyone on my team was so understanding. No one would get upset with me when I couldn’t understand them. My candidate knew to look at me when she was talking, and she would know as soon as I didn’t understand something. One aspect of my job was to check the voicemails, and as you can imagine, that did not go so well. My candidate suggested that she just check the voicemails every day. That meant a lot to me. Probably more than she even realizes. I felt bad that I couldn’t understand the voicemails, but that was such a small part of the job. I did everything else well and to the best of my ability.

One day, I tried to join a conference call and take notes on the call. It was not working. I was very upset, I remember. My boss, the campaign manager, could see that I was struggling, so he started taking notes of the call. He wanted to have a record of what we talked about, but he started summarizing what was being said on the phone, so that helped me stay as engaged as possible. After the call, my boss, candidate, and my other co-worker all said they had trouble understanding what was being said on the phone. That helped, and I just moved on after that. I didn’t feel pressure on the next conference call, and I was even told I didn’t need to sit through it.

I do remember one thing. I had to keep telling my candidate to stop covering her mouth when she talked. She just kept doing it! It’s fine, she never got upset when I asked her to repeat something. She did get a lot better towards the end of the campaign though. Still, I would sometimes have to say something like, “Move your hand!” Eventually, if I would say “I did not get that,” she immediately knew why I didn’t get it, and would move her hand and repeat what she said. I’ve never been afraid to be vocal about what I need, and it benefits everyone.

Fortunately, my boss spoke pretty loudly and clearly so I had hardly any issues with him! No one on the team would get mad if I asked them to repeat something, which is all I could really ask for. My first team gives me hope that the working world won’t be too bad. I always said I would never let my hearing loss hold me back, but unfortunately, there are realities I still have to deal with.

I am currently looking for my next job. I have some leads, and I am excited to see what the future holds for me. I think I will stay in politics for now. I want to be part of the change in this country and this world. I am still not sure what will necessary happen after the 2020 election, but that will be figured out later.

Stay tuned… Happy listening!

Miranda Meyers