Kayla Cerar, a third-year student at      University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point,      ultimately hopes to be a pediatric      audiologist.

It's safe to say that Kayla Cerar was paying close attention that day in class.

Cerar, now in her third year in UW-Stevens Point's program, has joined a multitude of organizations and taken advantage of at least a half-dozen volunteer opportunities. She shared some of her experiences with ADVANCE.

"Originally, I was a pre-business major--but I didn't really care for some of the classes," said Cerar.

So she went to her guidance counselor, who asked her to take a test consisting of 50 questions that was meant to gauge her best match for a career. A number of healthcare careers came back as good matches, including pediatrician, nurse and audiologist.

Around the same time that Cerar entered her first communicative disorders class, she realized a family member had a hearing loss. This was just the push she needed to decide on audiology as her career focus.

"You have to be pretty committed to go to school for audiology, since it's a four-year program as opposed to two for speech," said Cerar. "But I was ready for that-and I love it."

Cerar, like most students, joined the American Academy of Audiology (AAA), even getting the opportunity to attend AAA's annual conferences her first two years in school. "Those were great experiences, because I got to see what's new in the field, what's coming next--plus, you can network with some important professionals and see what interests you in terms of a classroom or seminar perspective.

But Cerar didn't stop there--she also volunteered for the United Migrant Services, a role in which she provided hearing screenings for the children of farmers in rural Wisconsin, a traditionally underserved area where audiology is concerned. Hearing screening events have become a passion for Cerar, as she has continued on to work at several such happenings in the Stevens Point area.

"We did one at a local Holiday Inn, and another at the Lincoln Center, which is a community center for the elderly here in Stevens Point," she recalled. "People who show a hearing loss are given a list of places where they can receive a diagnostic evaluation--lots of them come to a site right on our campus."

But perhaps Cerar's favorite volunteer experience took place last summer, when she worked at a camp put on by the Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. The camp, advertised as a family learning vacation, brings together children with hearing losses, as well as their parents and siblings, into an atmosphere comparable to that of any summer camp.

"The parents get a chance to learn about new advances or opportunities for their children,"  Cerar explained, "and as a volunteer, I watched after the kids, played games and took [the children] on nature walks. For me, it was a great experience, and the kids get an opportunity to interact with children with normal hearing, as well as others who are deaf or hard of hearing."

All this experience served Cerar well while searching for her externship, where she is hoping to gain further experience working with children.

"I applied to facilities all across the country, and I've recently accepted a position at Cincinnati Children's Hospital," she revealed. "I had a few offers, but I felt this one gave me the best opportunity to gain the experience I need. I've always liked kids, and my ultimate goal is to be a pediatric audiologist, focusing on cochlear implants."

If you know a student whose achievements deserve recognition in ADVANCE, contact Rob Senior at RSenior@advanceweb.com