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“Once you begin to realize how much is involved in speech-language pathology, the career takes hold of you. The people who come here to be SLP’s are all so great. It’s like we’re colleagues already . . .it’s incredible!”
For Jennifer, ”less school is best” so she was particularly drawn to Duquesne’s program in speech-language pathology that awards both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in just five years. Once she arrived, however, she found many more benefits.
“I really felt like these people cared about me and I really felt like I wasn’t going to be just a number in the crowds on campus. The small class size for the SLP program also gives you a chance to get to know your peers who’ll be your peers for the next 5 years. It’s really almost like a surrogate family for those of us far away from home.”
In high school, she had an active extracurricular schedule National Honor Society, athletics, yearbook staff, newspaper editor and after finishing her freshman year is looking forward to finding an ideal volunteering opportunity at Duquesne.
During her first year in the program, Jennifer enjoyed exploring the different ways that speech can be affected and go wrong.
“I love children and find them interesting and exciting, but honestly I find the entire career of SLP exciting and interesting, otherwise I don’t think I would have it declared as my major,” she said. However, she is in no hurry to decide on a career placement. “I want to experience all types of settings before I make the final decision as to which environment I want to work in,” she added.
Jennifer also felt she experienced a lot of personal growth following her first year at Duquesne. “It seems quite obvious that I’ve
come a long way from when I left home last fall. I have become more self sufficient,
more devoted to efficiency, and most importantly, self-understanding. Success
at being away gives you a feeling of power and strength.” |
