When I was 13 years old, I decided I wanted to be a speech-language pathologist and I have since worked hard to accomplish that goal. Currently, I am a senior in the undergraduate Speech and Hearing Sciences program and I hope to be admitted into a graduate degree Speech-Language Pathology program next year. Before I began working on my bachelor's degree, I began working as a CNA in home health care and later on in a hospital. During that time, I became familiar with various disorders affecting communication ability and quality of life and observed first-hand the toll this takes on the families of those affected by these disorders. This experience has led me to want to work with stroke patients and patients with various cognitive deficits and swallowing disorders. My areas of interest expanded to TESOL when I transferred to East Carolina University to complete my undergraduate degree and decided to minor in linguistics. As I will complete my TESOL certificate this semester, I have recently begun tutoring English language learners and I plan to continue tutoring English for as long as I can. In addition, my interests expanded to the area of literacy after working as a research assistant and analyzing written language samples produced by elementary school children. Upon completion of a graduate degree program, I intend to work in a rehabilitation clinical setting with patients affected by various cognitive and swallowing disorders. I believe communication is the most fundamental aspect of human connection and directly affects quality of life. In my future work, it is my ultimate goal to facilitate human connection through language and improve the overall quality of life of my patients. In addition to the skills and knowledge I will gain in graduate school, I hope to use the knowledge I have gained from linguistics and TESOL to inform my future practice.

Congratulations, Emily!