A&S Student Profile
Angela Demchuk, a third year undergraduate student in the College of Arts and Science’s Department of Neuroscience, was born with low vision and nystagmus, or shaking eyes. In her junior year of high school, Demchuk’s neural pathway between the brain and the left eye disconnected due to weakness and eventually stopped working altogether. Demchuk was faced early on with the battle of relearning the world around her, while staying passionate with her goals. Today, Demchuk is excelling in and outside of her program and is already applying her knowledge to make a difference in the world.
Angela Demchuk was originally born in the Ukraine, where she was adopted by an Ohio family and she spent the rest of her childhood growing up in Cleveland, Ohio. “I originally chose the University of Cincinnati because I wanted to live in a new city different from home, but also close enough that I could get back to my family when needed,” Demchuk says. Her love for the University of Cincinnati has grown immensely over her three years as a student. “I love that the University of Cincinnati has so many opportunities related to my interests. Regardless of the day or time, I can always find something to do,” Demchuk says.
Demchuk is already applying and making a difference with her degree as she works part-time as a patient care assistant at Cincinnati Children’s on the Neuroscience and Trauma Unit. Her time at the University of Cincinnati and working at Cincinnati Children’s had allowed Demchuk to discover her passion for both research and direct patient care.“After I get my B.S in Neuroscience, I am planning on doing an accelerated MSN, RN program so I can be both bedside and research-focused. I want to apply my research background to patient care in a way that best serves my patients.” says Demchuk.
Demchuk described research as her love language. She has been a respiratory researcher at the Cleveland Clinic Respiratory Institute for almost three years. Her studies have evaluated breathing devices to enhance airway clearance, as well as a study on respiratory care allocation. Demchuk was a Peer Mentor in her research program where she assisted seven interns on their research projects. Demchuk has also been a part of two published research papers that she believes can help others.
Robert Chatburn, the Research Manager at Cleveland Clinic, supervised Demchuk on both of her published research articles. “You can teach a lot to a person, but you can’t teach passion,” he said. “It is clear that Angela’s passion for helping others and her curiosity to learn more has prompted her to be so successful at a young age,” says Chatburn.
Along with her demanding Neuroscience major, Demchuk is working to get her certifications in Deaf studies and bioethics. She chose to get a certification in American Sign Language because it is one of her preferred ways of communication.“When choosing a university, I wanted to make sure they had a strong Deaf studies department so that I could find a community of people who use ASL. I am grateful for all of our faculty in this department. They have become some of my closest friends and mentors.” Demchuk says.
Demchuk explains how losing her vision has made it more difficult to be a student, but not impossible. “My vision does make some aspects of college harder because I have to prioritize what I do before my eyes get fatigued,” she said. Demchuk has had to learn to function on a different schedule compared to her peers. “If my eyes are feeling well, I have to devote that time to doing schoolwork even if I’d rather be out with friends,” Demchuk says.
Demchuk joined the ASL Club to continue her pursuit to find community in the ASL community. Today, she is the President of the ASL club at the University of Cincinnati and is working to create an accessible environment to encourage students to utilize their sign language and connect with members of the local Deaf Community. “Meetings might include game days, arts and crafts, guest presenters, and a lot of fun. The faculty advisors are two of our Deaf professors and they are an incredible support system for ASL Club,” says Demchuk.
“Angela has outdone herself by coordinating several events here on campus before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. She has participated in the WorldFest, ASL Trivia Night, and ASL Club online platform via zoom, only to name a few. Ms. Demchuk exceeds our expectations when engaging with students from ASL courses, different Deaf and hearing faculty, and the ASL Club,” says Douglas Tapani, the advisor, and educator for the ASL club.
Demchuk accredited her ability to push through controversy and take on challenges to what she has been able to learn through running. Demchuk is an ultra-marathon runner, which involves running any distance over 26.2 miles. Her passion for running blossomed after watching her older sister participate in a Special Olympics race years before. At the age of 11, her whole family began running 5K’s in support of her sister and after volunteering at a few ultra-marathon events, she has been running in them ever since.
“Running has given me such a wonderful community of people,” she said.“I have met some of my best friends and mentors through running.To run the distances that I do, I’ve had to mentally train myself more than physically. I stay motivated because finishing difficult races gives me such a feeling of accomplishment and proves to myself that I’m capable of things I didn’t know I was.” Demchuk says.
Demchuk explained how losing her vision has been one of the biggest adversity she has had to overcome, but also something that she wouldn’t change for the world.“Losing eyesight has changed how I run and how I learn, but more importantly, it has taught me to become good at self-advocacy as I learn what resources are available to me,” Demchuk says.
Source list:
Angela Demchuk: demchuam@mail.uc.edu
Douglas Tapani- tapanids@ucmail.uc.edu
Robert L Chatburn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertchatburn/
