Interest and areas of expertise
I serve on the Advisory Board of the Speech & Language Pathology minor.
Education
Marywood University, 2005: Bachelor of Science degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders
Marywood University, 2007: Master of Science degree in Speech-Language Pathology
Penn State University World Campus, 2014: Supervisor of Special Education certification
Classes I teach
EDSP 385: Communication Sciences and Disorders
BIOL 225: Anatomy & Physiology of Speech & Hearing
Profile
I lived down the street from Messiah for the first several years of my life, and then my family moved just down the highway. My grandmother lives down the street from campus, and I spent a lot of time walking around campus as a kid, and fishing in the Yellow Breeches along the covered bridge. In high school I attended field hockey camps at Messiah. I attended Power House with some friends my senior year of high school. My high school graduation was here. When I’m on campus, it feels like part of me is home. It’s a beautiful campus, and I have many wonderful memories here.
How did I become interested in my field?
The summer between 8th and 9th grade, I went up to the Poconos to volunteer at a pediatric therapy day camp. Because I liked horses (no, I don’t know how to ride), I thought I would just help walk along the horses and keep the children steady on the horse during their therapeutic riding sessions. I met a speech and language pathologist named Paul Harrington, and was working with a little girl who used an AAC device, and I was blown away. I spent a lot of time observing Paul that week, so much so that when I went home that weekend, I proudly announced that I was going to be a speech and language pathologist. My parents had no idea what that meant. Together, we researched the field, and I did internships in high school to help move myself in this direction. Paul taught the Communication Sciences and Disorders class at Marywood University, and he kept telling my aunt (they worked together) that she needed to convince me to go to Marywood. Sure enough, I ended up at Marywood and Paul as a teacher in both undergrad and graduate school. Paul has since passed away, but teaching Communication Sciences and Disorders this fall has been a dream come true, and it feels good to be following in his footsteps.