Manas Varma

Ms. Gardner
English 10H/period 4
22 January, 2015
Vibrations
As I sat alone in the quiet, desolate office, my senses were on high edge. Every
sound that I heard seemed to be amplified, as if it was being played through a speaker.
My own heart-beat, thumping through my head as if it were an empty cavern. The
buzzing of busy doctors and nurses outside in the reception, the baby crying in the other
side of the hospital, and the occasional plink of the water into the sink.
Hello, hello! Dr. Matthieu exclaimed, with his usual cheery attitude as he offered
me a pair of headphones, hearing test today, right?
Yup, I responded, not quite with his intonation. I winced as the cold ear pads
made contact with my ears. As I looked up, I realized Dr. Matthieu was saying
something, but all I could hear were faint muffled noises. It didnt matter anyways, this
test was second nature to me.
Beep, beep. I was trained to press the button every time I heard a beep through
the headphones. I felt oddly relaxed through this, even confident. As the test ended, I
realized how quickly it was over. Almost as soon as it had begun. The results will be
sent to you through the mail soon! Dr. Mathieu exited the room as swiftly as he had
come in.
From the youngest age that I could remember, the sounds of the world have
fascinated me. My earliest memories being of my mom, and her soothing voice as she

calmed me through whatever ailment I was experiencing. The lively, chirping noises of
the spring and summer; to the crunching of the the leaves and snow in the winter and
autumn. It was the window into a deeper understanding of the world around me. The
sounds around me lent themselves to shaping my world, and who I am today by
providing another dimension to my limited view and my personality. Much like the ear,
the outer, middle, and inner sections expose how our psyches operate in a similar way.
With the outer ear being the personality we display to others, the middle ear being the
one we reserve for loved ones, and the inner ear reflecting who we truly are.
Having moved and traveled a lot at a young age, the sounds of the places I
visited have stuck with me. From the loud, bustling metropolises of India, with the shrill
beeps of the cars and autorickshaws, to the laid back and calm cities in the United
States. From the different languages, to the different accents. Not one aspect isn't part
of who I am today.
Music has also been an immense part of my upbringing. Stemming from the
Pokemon theme song and the recognizable beep beep of the road runner, to my dads
collection of old rock music. Listening to the vintage guitar solos and steady drum beat
of the Eagles and Guns and Roses. Finally the modern rap and hip hop music blaring
from my dads expensive, Bose sound system. Music has shown me how a combination
of seemingly random noises and words can create a beautiful medley that sings in your
head long after you heard it, no matter which language it is played or written in.
Human ear, organ of hearing and equilibrium that detects and analyzes noises
by transduction (or the conversion of sound waves into electrochemical impulses) and
maintains the sense of balance (Hawkins),acting as an inner stabilizer. They play a

bigger role in our lives than one may think. We rely heavily on this to sense our
surroundings, but also to add an extra dimension to our understanding of the world.
Ears are not merely tools we use to listen. They influence our thoughts, our dreams,
and capable of making music from vibrations travelling through the air. Ears are a
gateway into the complexity of the mind itself, what we hear and what we perceive
presents to the outside world as our own, unique personalities. No matter who we
display it to. Some have said that the right ear is better for hearing speech, while the left
is better at hearing music, but both have played an immense role in my development
and most likely in that of many others as well.

Works Cited
"Anatomy of the Ear." - 3D Atlas Videos. Nebraska Medicine, Apr. 2015. Web. 26 Jan.
2016.
"Ear." Anatomy, Diagram & Pictures. Healthline, Jan. 2015. Web. 26 Jan. 2016.

Hawkins, Joseph E. "Human Ear | Anatomy." Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 18 Dec. 2015. Web. 26 Jan. 2016.