Your Success is Our Success
Jamie Gold
|
Kristen Bunda
|
Wanda Perry
|
Andi Pates
|
Nicole Edwards
|
Mary Sullivan
|
When did you first want to be an SLP?
At the beginning of my freshman year of college I heard about the Speech-Language Pathology program that was offered. After doing some more research, I thought it sounded interesting and would be a great opportunity! What do you love most about your career choice? I really love working with families and patients to help build communication skills, as well as life skills. Being able to be creative while finding ways to treat a variety of speech and language disorders is very rewarding. Where did you complete your Master's Program and what is a standout memory from those years? I graduated from Misericordia University's accelerated 5-year bachelor/master's program, where I was fortunate to learn from some wonderful and knowledgeable professors. My favorite memories come from my experiences as a student researcher and being a part of an amazing research team. |
When did you first want to be an SLP?
I first wanted to be a Speech-Language Pathologist when I watched a PBS documentary my freshman year of college. I was intrigued with the Speech Pathologist ability to elicit communication from toddlers diagnosed with Autism and Down syndrome. What do you love most about your career choice? What I love most about my career is that I have the opportunity to work with a variety of ages (Birth to Geriatrics). I also love assisting people in their abilities to communicate with others. Where did you complete your Master's Program and what is a standout memory from those years? I completed my Master's degree at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU). I remember the former graduates of that program as well as community professionals organizing study groups for the students. They allowed us to get additional observation hours by inviting us to their places of employment. It was such a close knit community/family. The program was very rigorous but having them in my corner made it a very pleasant experience. At SCSU I developed my affinity for the Birth to Three and preschool populations, thanks to my professor Dr. Glenda DeJarnette. |
When did you first want to be an SLP?
The first time I realized I wanted to be a speech therapist was during my undergraduate internship. At that time, I was required to collaborate with different related service providers. I remember observing a SLP who was providing therapy for a toddler. I was so intrigued after watching their session that I switched my major immediately and never looked back! Three years later, I received my Master’s in Communication Disorders. The more time I spend in this profession, the more passionate I become about what we do and the impact we can have on our students. What do you love most about your career choice? I love that our profession continues to evolve and presents diverse opportunities for career growth. I enjoy working with individuals of all ages and building relationships with clients and their families. It’s so rewarding to see the progress that is made in a client’s communication skills over time. Where did you complete your Master's Program and what is a standout memory from those years?I completed my Master’s Program at Mercy College in Westchester, NY. I absolutely loved the program! I truly enjoyed being able to work so closely with my colleagues and professors. We were like a little family, always collaborating and supporting one another. My favorite professor from graduate school was Eileen Hoffman. She was one of my supervisors at the on-campus speech therapy clinic. In addition to providing her general guidance, she taught me how to self reflect on my therapy and instilled a confidence in my abilities. It’s been ten years since she mentored me and I still use different techniques and strategies that I learned from her! |
Nikhila Guduru
|
When did you first want to be an SLP?
After completing my high school, I wanted to pursue my career in child psychology and neuroscience. When I got to know that the field of speech language pathology and Audiology had both of my favorite subjects, I immediately decided to make it as my profession. I still remember the first day of my undergraduate school, where I saw 4-5-year-old children walking down the hall way to their classrooms wearing hearing aids and some using sign language to communicate. That was the day I firmly decided on being a speech language pathologist. I wanted to have the opportunity to work with children and adults to improve their functional communication skills within their abilities. What do you love most about your career choice? I love being a speech language pathologist as it gives me an opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives in regards to their Swallowing, communication, social and functional skills. Being an SLP gives me immense happiness as I can be innovative in driving my therapy sessions making them fun and interesting to reach the targeted goal. It’s very rewarding and gratifying to see children/ adults and families making progress and gaining confidence after receiving services. Where did you complete your Master's Program and what is a standout memory from those years? I completed my Master’s program in speech language pathology form Teachers college, Columbia University, New York. I had a great opportunity to take classes and have clinical experience from some of the amazing professors who influenced my thinking and learning skills. One of my standout memories from those years was with Dr. Crowley. She is an intelligent, dynamic and highly knowledgeable professor who emphasized on the importance of considering Bilingual /Bicultural backgrounds during our evaluations and how they affected the results and treatment plans. During our diagnostic classes, she thoroughly educated us on the reliability and validity of the tests to avoid giving a wrong diagnosis for a patient. I still remember the case studies and evaluations that we had to perform, which taught us to administer standardized tests, interpret the results and develop a treatment plan. I still remember some of her thought provoking, fun filled examples that she shared that highly influenced my thought processes. |