Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 17,160
- Reaction score
- 6
Deaf student from Visalia to address UC Davis grads | visaliatimesdelta.com | Visalia Times-Delta and Tulare Advance-Register
Kirstie Kampen of Visalia is ready to step to the microphone before thousands of graduating students and their guests at Saturday's commencement at the University of California, Davis.
Facing tough odds throughout her life has her prepared.
The student speaker, selected through a competition, has spent a lifetime learning how to speak after the early loss of her hearing.
"It's going to be awe-some," said Kampen, who will earn a bachelor's degree in biological sciences after one more quarter of study. She is a Central Valley Christian graduate.
Kampen will address about 750 graduating students and additional guests at the annual fall ceremony for the colleges of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences, and Letters and Science. A live webcast of the ceremony, which begins at 10 a.m. in the ARC Pavilion, will be available at commencementvideo.ucdavis.edu.
"I am so very proud of her," said Janet Sward of Visalia, who was Kampen's speech therapist for 10 years and will attend the ceremony with at least six members of Kampen's immediate family. "I've had the privilege of witnessing this bright child with a hearing loss develop into the confident, high-achieving and motivated young woman she is today."
Kampen's public speaking experience ranges from making presentations in front of high school classmates to winning community-speaking contests and talking in front of her church and at high school assemblies.
She counts among her heroes the late Jonathan Rainbow, a high school English teacher who was generous with his feedback on her speech and writing.
For Saturday, Kampen has worked with a communications professor to polish her delivery. And she was to practice with a teleprompter and participate in a stage party rehearsal.
She will tell her story in three to five minutes. "I am a deaf student who learned to use what I still have — an intelligent mind, an unwavering spirit and the encouraging support of my family," Kampen wrote in her prepared speech.
Then she will challenge other graduates to tell their own stories of inspiration and courage "with conviction, with words, with actions, with your heart, with your life."
The daughter of a dairy farmer and nurse, the 22-year-old was diagnosed with mild hearing loss at age 3, and by age 13, she had profound hearing loss. The cause is still unknown.
Kampen uses a hearing aid as well as a cochlear implant, an electronic device that provides the profoundly deaf with a sense of sound but requires them to learn to understand the sounds.
"I listen to sound and I watch for visual cues," Kampen said. "I try to integrate the sound with the meaning. It takes a lot of hard work."
Kampen transferred to UC Davis from UC Merced as a senior in fall 2009. Her brother, Kevin, also at Davis, is a sophomore majoring in electrical engineering.
Because her hearing family does not use sign language, Kampen has become skilled in reading lips.
Kampen has applied to medical school to pursue her dream of becoming a cardiac surgeon.
Tickets are required to attend the ceremony. For information, visit commencement.ucdavis.edu.
Kirstie Kampen of Visalia is ready to step to the microphone before thousands of graduating students and their guests at Saturday's commencement at the University of California, Davis.
Facing tough odds throughout her life has her prepared.
The student speaker, selected through a competition, has spent a lifetime learning how to speak after the early loss of her hearing.
"It's going to be awe-some," said Kampen, who will earn a bachelor's degree in biological sciences after one more quarter of study. She is a Central Valley Christian graduate.
Kampen will address about 750 graduating students and additional guests at the annual fall ceremony for the colleges of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences, and Letters and Science. A live webcast of the ceremony, which begins at 10 a.m. in the ARC Pavilion, will be available at commencementvideo.ucdavis.edu.
"I am so very proud of her," said Janet Sward of Visalia, who was Kampen's speech therapist for 10 years and will attend the ceremony with at least six members of Kampen's immediate family. "I've had the privilege of witnessing this bright child with a hearing loss develop into the confident, high-achieving and motivated young woman she is today."
Kampen's public speaking experience ranges from making presentations in front of high school classmates to winning community-speaking contests and talking in front of her church and at high school assemblies.
She counts among her heroes the late Jonathan Rainbow, a high school English teacher who was generous with his feedback on her speech and writing.
For Saturday, Kampen has worked with a communications professor to polish her delivery. And she was to practice with a teleprompter and participate in a stage party rehearsal.
She will tell her story in three to five minutes. "I am a deaf student who learned to use what I still have — an intelligent mind, an unwavering spirit and the encouraging support of my family," Kampen wrote in her prepared speech.
Then she will challenge other graduates to tell their own stories of inspiration and courage "with conviction, with words, with actions, with your heart, with your life."
The daughter of a dairy farmer and nurse, the 22-year-old was diagnosed with mild hearing loss at age 3, and by age 13, she had profound hearing loss. The cause is still unknown.
Kampen uses a hearing aid as well as a cochlear implant, an electronic device that provides the profoundly deaf with a sense of sound but requires them to learn to understand the sounds.
"I listen to sound and I watch for visual cues," Kampen said. "I try to integrate the sound with the meaning. It takes a lot of hard work."
Kampen transferred to UC Davis from UC Merced as a senior in fall 2009. Her brother, Kevin, also at Davis, is a sophomore majoring in electrical engineering.
Because her hearing family does not use sign language, Kampen has become skilled in reading lips.
Kampen has applied to medical school to pursue her dream of becoming a cardiac surgeon.
Tickets are required to attend the ceremony. For information, visit commencement.ucdavis.edu.
