Mehwish Khokhar has been named Student of the Year by the British Academy of Audiology, completing a hat-trick of prizes at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU).
“I was in absolute shock when I found out I had won the award, it was such an amazing feeling,” the 23-year-old from London said.
Mehwish was nominated for the award by her personal tutor Donna Corrigan for her hard work and dedication, as well as the support and mentoring she gave to her fellow students.
“I received an engraved trophy, a cash prize and an all expenses paid trip to the headquarters of hearing aid manufacturer Oticon in Denmark next August,” she said.
“The trip is focused on continued professional development, and I’m so excited to meet and learn from audiologists all over the world.”
Mehwish not only won the national Student of the Year Award, she also received the Rufus Grayson award for overall top marks during her time at DMU and an award for the high dissertation mark.
“I can’t believe I managed to obtain the highest grades in the year,” she said. “I was over the moon when I found out that I had received 92 per cent for my dissertation – my mum was so happy for me!”
Mehwish chose to study Audiology after seeing how the profession could improve a patient’s quality of life.
She explained: “I want to go on those journeys with patients to see the positive impact I could have on their hearing and subsequently on their quality of life.”
“Hearing is often taken for granted and when one’s hearing declines, society is unaware of how to accept and work around this, because hearing loss is an invisible disability. Knowing that I have the ability to aid people’s hearing and seeing their smiles and the look of relief makes everything worthwhile.”
Securing a graduate role before leaving DMU, Mehwish is now working as an audiologist under Barts Health NHS Trust in London.
“I am really enjoying my grad job as there is a very diverse patient group, which means I’m constantly growing and experiencing different challenges,” she said.
“I actually got the confirmation that I’d got the job before I graduated, which was such a relieving and exciting feeling.”
RELATED NEWS
'Once-in-a-lifetime chance' for Audiology students to build skills at Special Olympics
Interested in studying Audiology? Find out more at a DMU Open Day
CLASS OF 2019: Volunteering helps Lamima become a better audiologist
Mehwish’s audiology journey started at a DMU Open Day.
She said: “I spoke to a student about the course and all the support available and I thought, ‘this sounds like a great university’.”
“I just loved the sense of community at DMU – I’m so glad I came here and made wonderful memories that I will treasure forever.”
Mehwish quickly settled into life at university, stepping out of her comfort zone and establishing DMU’s first Audiology society.
She credits much of her success to the quality of the teaching and content of the course at DMU.
“My course was amazing,” she said. “The first two years were focused on theory and learning from our academics. In the third year, we went out on placement where we were able to apply all the theory we had learnt and put it in practice. The lecturers really prepared us for working life as an audiologist and I will always be indebted to their ongoing support.”
Mehwish with her personal tutor Donna Corrigan
“My personal tutor Donna was amazing, she was my support system for the past three years and was there through all the highs and lows of my degree,” she said.
“Donna went above and beyond as my personal tutor and pushed me to have faith in myself and to give it my all. I would not be where I am without her support, alongside that of all the lecturers and my family.”
Posted on Friday 17 January 2020