For most of my life, speaking felt like something I had to brace myself for. Stuttering shaped how I engaged with the world, and silence often felt safer. Fluency therapy gave me the tools to more confidently express myself. Over the course of nearly a decade, I learned strategies that gave me greater control over my speech and affirmed the idea that my communication and self-worth are not contingent on fluency. Therapy didn’t erase stuttering, but it changed my relationship with it.

Speech-language pathology began to feel like a natural career path. I became deeply interested in the treatment and research of fluency disorders, particularly how techniques like whispered speech, syllable-timed speech, and delayed auditory feedback relate to the motor-speech mechanisms involved in regulating speech timing. I’ve also learned the importance of counseling within our scope of practice, especially as fluency affects confidence, participation, and self-advocacy.

Working as an SLPA before graduate school helped turn those interests into meaningful clinical practice. Under supervision, I saw how progress often happens slowly and how much client and family trust matters in intervention. I learned how collaboration, feedback, and reflection shape good clinical judgment, and how important continuity of care can be—especially in environments like public schools, where access to speech-language services and long-term support can be difficult to maintain.

I carry these experiences with me as I continue growing in this field. I want to be a clinician who listens carefully, understands the complexities of communication disorders, and serves to the best of my ability.