Where It All Began

Hello World!
I think it's only fair I begin my first post with a little background info about myself. So, here goes...

I'm currently fourteen years old and in the eighth grade. I love listening to music, and have been playing the violin for three years. I also enjoy baking, as well as writing. I am obsessed with anything medical, and am determined to be a doctor one day.

When I was three and a half years old, I was diagnosed with a moderate/severe hearing loss after my speech became progressively less clear and I would respond to questions with illogical answers. I was soon fitted with hearing aids and began attending Auditory-Verbal therapy twice a week. I benefited immensely from hearing aids and remained completely oral. I was never much different from any other kid, and have always been mainstreamed (both before and after my hearing loss was diagnosed.)

The cause of my hearing loss is still completely unknown. I've done some genetic testing, which revealed nothing, and there's no history of hearing loss in my family. My hearing always fluctuated slightly, but the audiologist told me it was normal. Then, when I was twelve, about about a quarter of the way through my first year of middle school, that all changed.

At first, I didn't really notice. Sure, I found it nearly impossible to understand my friends at school, but that's only because it's so loud, right? And then I'd be changing in the locker room after gym, only to find out the bell had rung two minutes ago. "Oh, you were just distracted," I'd tell myself. I'd just started to learn how to play the violin, but why couldn't I hear all the notes?!
Then, after going days without hearing the bell ring in a single class, struggling to understand my teachers, and dazing off when my friends spoke to me, because no matter how hard I tried, I just could not understand what they were saying, I knew it was time. Time to schedule another hearing test, that is.