Where are you from?
I am from Ottawa, Canada, but I moved around several times and lived in places such as Sri Lanka and Zambia.
What and where have you studied?
I received my bachelor’s and master’s degrees from BYU in Communication Disorders.
Where have you previously worked?
I have worked for Intermountain Health as a speech language pathologist for my entire career. Then a few years ago, I also started working as a clinical educator in the Communication Disorders dept here.
What is your current job title? Please describe what you do in that position.
In January, I began working full time for BYU. I am an assistant teaching professor. In my role, I teach classes such as Speech Anatomy and Physiology, Clinical Methods, Dysphagia, and Medical Speech. I also get to do some clinical work with undergraduate students so I get the best of both worlds!
Why did you choose to work at BYU?
The people! The students are so amazing and I love the faculty in my department. It makes it so fun to come to “work” every day. Also, working here feels like I’m coming full circle. I started off here and now I’m back and hopefully sharing the blessings that this university gave to me when I was a student.
What was the first career you dreamed of having as a kid?
Being a speech-language pathologist is the only career I ever dreamed of. I decided in 7th grade that I wanted to be an SLP and never changed my major once!
What stat for your life would you most like to see?
I would love to be able to say that I have been to 7 out of 7 continents! So far, I have been to all of them except Antarctica so I only have one left!
What weird food combinations do you really enjoy?
I actually really like peanut butter and pickle sandwiches! I know it sounds disgusting and I thought so too for a long time! Then after a friend urged me to try it for YEARS, I finally gave in, and low and behold, it is actually good! I highly recommend getting brave and trying it!
Where could we find you on most Saturday mornings?
Either sleeping in or at a yoga class…or hopefully both…sleeping in and then going to yoga!
Where is your favorite place to go on vacation?
Absolutely anywhere! I simply love to travel and explore the world! If I weren’t a speech-language pathologist I could have been a travel agent/tour guide.
What is one thing you can’t live without?
I can’t live without my frequent FaceTime calls with my two adorable granddaughters in Boston! It brings me so much joy to read books, sing songs, and be silly with them over FaceTime. Isn’t technology amazing?