Cochlear Implants: College Admission Essay Sample

Metallic. That’s the first word that comes to mind when describing cochlear implant speech. Surgically embedded in the inner ear, cochlear implants can restore a certain level of hearing to the deaf by electrically stimulating the auditory nerve, but the method is still far from perfect. The biophysical and processing limitations in this otherwise phenomenal innovation were what drew me towards the Hearing and Speech Lab at the University of California, Irvine, where I spent my past two summers working with researchers as they tried to enhance the understandability of cochlear implant sounds.

The opportunities the lab afforded were interesting and exciting. Through MATLAB, a programming platform, I picked up a new language I could speak with computers. Every program I wrote was a puzzle to be solved, and with every difficult solution came a sense of triumphant pride. Many seemingly straightforward tasks often called for resourceful approaches and extensive debugging, while other, more complex programs required multiple, unique portions of code to be tested and compiled.

As useful as my programs were, however, the real cornerstone of my work lay in the experiments I conducted using MATLAB interfaces. By testing subjects with normal hearing, I studied how combinations of sounds affected understandability, exploring which consonants and vowels were most easily confused and which characteristics influenced recognition most. Working with other researchers, I co-authored a study we plan to present at the Association for Research in Otolaryngology Convention next February. The culminating project of my two summers at the lab, this study not only offered me something concrete to show for my work, but also gave me a real feeling of accomplishment at having contributed to the scientific community.

Yet while I only worked with normal hearing subjects, some of the most memorable stories came from cochlear implant patients. Jeff, a guitarist in his thirties, told us about how he had lost his hearing in a freak explosion. By using his cochlear implant, he became able to understand everyday speech with remarkable precision; however, the implant’s limitations turned music into a convoluted mess. But even with the odds stacked against him, Jeff picked up the guitar again and stopped looking back. At the lab, it was an inspiring sight watching him play some of his favorite pieces from memory. His case was an extraordinary combination of scientific progress and an unbreakable spirit.

That’s when I realized that science didn’t have to consist of abstract theories; instead, sitting right in front of me was someone whose life had been transformed by the research going on in that very lab where I was interning. Jeff’s story was concrete proof that science and technology really help people, and at the same time, it was a reminder that there is still a long way to go. And that’s when I saw a new path open before me. By pursuing a career in engineering, I could play a role in developing and improving devices like the cochlear implant. Someday, that is the future I may work towards.