As a doctor of audiology, Alex Huse’s favorite part of his work is seeing how his work can change a patient’s life. “It’s when we have somebody come in who’s skeptical and doesn’t want to be there, but leaves just a changed person and experiencing the world in a way they haven’t for a long time, or even their whole life, and being able to hear again, or hear for the first time,” he said.
Huse graduated from Dublin High School in 2006 and went on to Tarleton State University. He earned his bachelors of psychology in 2012 and moved to Austin for a position as a social worker.
Huse found the work underpaid and disorganized — much of his time was spent addressing false reports people filed on local unhoused people — and decided to pursue something different. He left Austin and moved home to Dublin for a while.
This period of time was challenging for Huse. “It was rough. I grew up there in a small town, and then moving to the big city, I thought I could change the world, and realized I couldn’t. I had to learn to set better expectations, and understand that I can’t change the world, but I can change a person.”
Huse’s mother had worked in audiology, and he himself was born with a weak eardrum and experienced hearing loss in one ear. Huse thought audiology could be a rewarding career, and went back to school to become a doctor of audiology at the University of North Texas at Dallas. He graduated in 2016.
His first job in the field was forahearingaidmanufacturer. Huse was based in Dallas, but as part of the company’s charity work he also had several opportunities to travel around Europe, especially in Romania and Ukraine, serving low-income towns. He would come into each town and meet with people who were hard of hearing, and provide hearing aids for free.
Once his work was done, Huse often had time to explore the countries he was staying in, and spent many months backpacking through Europe.
That chapter of his career ended when the pandemic made travel difficult or impossible, and Huse returned to the U.S. He decided he wanted to live outside of Texas, and spent time in Utah and Wisconsin before moving to Eugene, Oregon in 2024. Huse loves the outdoor opportunities in Oregon and plans to stay there.
He’s currently working for an international hearing aid manufacturer as a hearing instrument specialist and doctor of audiology, and meets daily with 12-18 patients. “My primary thing is doing hearing tests and fitting and calibrating hearing aids,” he said.
The work can be lifechanging for patients. “Most of the time, [my patients are] very hard of hearing, frustrated, and ideally they leave either hearing better or understanding what’s going on and what can be done about it,” Huse said.
In the future, Huse hopes to work his way up to the corporate level at his company. “That’s a long-term projection, but I would like to get to more of a support level and help people do this better, and learn how to do it better [myself],” he said.
When he’s not working, Huse loves being outside. “I am a very big fan of backpacking and mountain climbing,” he said. “When I got here, I spent a year in town, and then decided I was just done with city life. I moved to a cabin out of town… I’ve got to use technology to help my patients, but when I leave work, I disconnect. People might be looking for me, and I might be out hiking at Crater Lake for a long weekend.”
His mother and stepfather, Deborah and David Charles, still live in Dublin. His father, Ronnie Huse, passed away in 2014.
Since he was young, Huse has found inspiration in the comedian George Carlin. “Getting exposed to just the way he thought, the way he talked, and how he just kind of unabashedly did his own thing [helped me start] telling things like they are, cutting through all the things that don’t need to be said, and getting to the point — that’s helped me in my career, helped me when I help people. He is just a huge inspiration in my life.”
Huse’s offers the following advice to Dublin graduates. “For anyone who is in Boy Scouts — get your Eagle Scout,” he said. “That’s more important than almost anything else you’ll ever do in your life. Really, it has helped me immensely.”
And for all graduates, he advises them to get out and explore the world. “Don’t be contained in a bubble,” he said. “There’s a whole lot more in the world.” — Where Are They Now chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@dublincitizen.com.