Becoming an outstanding speech-language pathologist entails integrating innate attributes honed by experience to provide quality care for clients. The attributes I use to become an outstanding speech-language pathologist include sympathy, cultural competence, integrity, accountability, and collaborative practice. At the heart of this career is a concern for others, which integrity fortifies. Simply caring about others’ wellbeing may not amount to much even though it is a noble intention; however, integrity fortifies this intention by pledging that the intention will drive great results. The results of my integrity and concern for others are apparent in my volunteer efforts, which include helping lead efforts in serving individuals in special education and feeding the homeless. In order to fulfill these roles, I learned the exact needs of the population I was helping to gather appropriate resources to satisfy their needs. For instance, when organizing a dinner for the homeless, I contacted the director for the Judeo-Christian Outreach Center, a local organization that provides meals and shelter for the homeless. Through this correspondence I learned about statistics of the homeless population in Virginia Beach, causes for homelessness, and items most useful in satisfying hygiene and dietary needs. With this information and the help of my classmates, I gathered enough supplies to feed 103 homeless individuals. Later on, I also made an effort to fill bags with items such as socks, water, information about local homeless shelters, etc. to keep in my car so I could give one to a person in need I happen to meet. As an aspiring speech-language pathologist, I can utilize this concern and integrity to drive similarly effective results for future patients.

In order to achieve such results, I would first seek to understand the patient’s background with cultural consideration. As a second generation Filipino American, I hold close ties to my heritage and understand the struggles of biculturalism. At home and at the School of Creative and Performing Arts, a program I dedicated 13 years to, the emphasis was on Filipino culture. At school and elsewhere, the emphasis was American culture. While I previously struggled with how to represent myself in either environment, I later realized that focusing foremost on understanding rather than being understood was a more effective way of approaching interaction. Only after learning the schema and communication style of my partner could I learn more efficient ways of expressing my own ideas. I applied this mindset to the interactions I had while studying at an immersive governor’s school for Latin, studying abroad in Greece and Italy, and attending Silent Dinners with the Deaf Community. Furthermore, the Safe Space program trained me for conversations fostering healthy relationships with members of the LGBTQIA+ community. In each of these experiences, an open-minded approach allowed me to learn more about my conversation partners than I would have, had I not concerned myself with learning their cultures first. These intercultural experiences helped me develop a schema of universal acceptance and cultural competence that prepares me for interactions with diverse clients.

In addition to cultural competence, collaborative skill and accountability make valuable attributes for a speech-language pathologist as someone who works directly with clients and oftentimes other health care providers such as occupational and physical therapists. My personal experience in collaborative efforts extends to leadership positions, undergraduate research, and work. In the Filipino American Student Association, I collaborate with officers to prepare and host programs that promote Filipino culture and Filipino-American relations. As president, I am held most accountable for occurrences within the organization. To prevent situations that may compromise members’ wellbeing or the organization’s reputation, I promote transparency and unity which also happen to encourage collaboration. In undergraduate research, I worked under the supervision of Dr. Annemarie Horn to co-author a literary review with a fellow classmate. Following Dr. Horn’s guidance, my classmate and I shared work and learned to adapt each of our sections to maintain consistency in the article as a whole. Weekly meetings kept us accountable with regular communication about the progress of our review, which discussed the effectiveness of progressive time delay procedures on students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. At a speech therapy clinic, I worked as a personal care attendant for a child with autism. Since the child receives therapy in a group setting, I collaborate with other care attendants to guide the children in activities led by the program director. Accountability is essential in this setting especially since COVID-19 presents precarious risks for in-person interaction. We exemplify accountability by documenting our temperatures and symptoms regularly. By honing the attributes of collaborative practice and accountability in these experiences, I learned that becoming an outstanding speech-language pathologist requires establishing cooperation and trust with each team member and client.

I plan to take these lessons and the attributes of sympathy, integrity, cultural competence, collaboration, and accountability into graduate school and eventually into my future career as a speech language pathologist for the sake of providing quality care to diverse populations. At the present moment, I realize that I have much to learn; however, I carry with me the experiences I was privileged enough to have as an undergraduate student as motivation for continual learning.