Briefly describe your experience and education.

I have loved working with children ever since I was a teenager, starting with when I would entertain my younger cousins at all the family events! I became even more interested in pursuing a career related to child development after participating in an internship at a children’s neuropsychological testing center during my junior year of college. I attended Merrimack College (class of ‘21) with a major in Psychology and a minor in Music. My interest in speech and language pathology sparked when I interviewed a family friend, who is an SLP, as one of my assignments for my career development class. I loved hearing how passionate my friend was about the field and felt that it aligned perfectly with my interests in working with neurodiverse children and helping them to overcome challenges. After college, I worked as a special education paraprofessional for three years and I got the opportunity to work alongside the speech language pathologist and other professionals to support students presenting with a wide variety of diagnoses. This experience further ignited my passion for the field and I went on to pursue post-baccalaureate studies in Communication Sciences and Disorders at SUNY New Paltz and later a Masters degree in Speech Language Pathology from MGH Institute of Health Professions (class of ‘26).

Why do you love speech therapy?

I could go on and on about how much I love speech therapy! For starters, I love that it gives me the opportunity to be creative and come up with engaging activities for my clients that tap into their interests. I also love that speech therapy can make a profound difference in the lives of my clients as they learn to become more confident in their own unique voices. It is so rewarding to see the progress that my clients make from the time I begin working with them, to later in the treatment period.

What are your passions outside of work?

I love singing, playing guitar/ukulele, playing with my cats, reading, doing artwork, writing, working out, and yoga/meditation.

What are three words someone would use to describe you?

Quiet, musical, and creative.

If you could be any animal what would it be?

A cat! They have always been my favorite animals and I love their energy.

What is your guilty pleasure?

Watching reality TV shows.