Emma Needs a New Set of Ears!

Growing up mum and dad say I was prone to ear infections - I would be on a new set of antibiotics every fortnight. It was not something I ever felt angry about...rather I was just used to having sore ears.

At Intermediate School, I started learning the flute. Excelling from the moment I could make a sound, I went on to learn piccolo and alto sax at High School, and then teach myself clarinet.

Whilst studying composition at Auckland University, I discovered a quiet desire for conducting (ooh, gimme a solid brass section full of weird and wonderful chords any day!) In my third year of uni, my lecturer took me aside and noticed how the only paper I was failing (and ultimately did fail that year) was the aural paper. She said I would need to resit next year. She also suggested I take myself to a hearing appointment 'just to be on the safe side'.

Lo and behold! Both my ears were suffering a moderate hearing loss. Less than a month later I was retro-fitted with what my husband and I call 'my ears' - or Alera 9 hearing aids. Turns out I had had a reaction to the antibiotics that caused permanent damage to my ears over time. The very next semester I improved some 25% on my final paper! Whoohoo!