Name: Emily Franklin
Hometown: Lansing
Graduation Date: Spring 2017
Company: Durant-Tuuri-Mott Elementary
Location: Flint, MI
Amount of time at internship: January-April 2016
How did you become interested in becoming a speech-language pathologist? After completing my undergraduate degree with a major in biology, I took time off from school to explore master's programs in various fields that fit my interests. At the same time, I took the opportunity to pursue my love of world travel and applied to teach English in South Korea. In my preparation for teaching English, I came across the field of linguistics, which sparked my curiosity. I took the Introduction to Linguistics class at MSU and became fascinated with the field that combined science and language. While teaching English in Korea, I searched different professions related to linguistics and came across speech language pathology, which encompassed all my interests from biology to the English language.
Tell us about your graduation school journey: I completed my prerequisite classes for Communicative Sciences and Disorders at MSU in the spring of 2015 and began the CSD graduate program in the fall of 2015. In my first semester I joined Dr. Cao's research lab and declared a thesis track. I am currently working on a cross-linguistic comparison study between English and Chinese speaking children. This past January I began my first clinical placement in the school setting and am looking forward to my first medical placement this summer.
Describe the clinical setting and population you are working with at your current internship: I am currently placed at Durant-Tuuri-Mott Elementary school in Flint. I work with students, ages five to twelve years old and with a wide range of communication disorders. I have gained experience in articulation disorders, language disorders, cognitive-communication disorders, hearing impairment, pragmatic disorders and AAC devices.
How has your internship helped prepare you for your career? My experience at this internship has given me the opportunity to practice and refine skills learned in the classroom as well as develop new practical skills such as billing and behavior management. I greatly appreciate all the advice and therapy ideas that I have received throughout my time at my internship. Furthermore, I have learned a lot about myself through firsthand experience; I discovered strengths and weaknesses that I would have never realized in the class room.