September 8, 2008 (Vol. 8, No. 2)

Speech Language Pathology Major Follows Dream, Wins Fellowship

Maureen Durkin, a senior in the CUNY BA program, has received the 2008 Thomas W. Smith Academic Fellowship for her outstanding scholarship in the field of speech-language pathology-audiology. She is one of only thirty students to be selected for the award.

For Durkin, the award represents a special honor because the scholarship is based on academic merit, rather than need. It means her hard work has paid off, as she balanced working full-time in a speech pathologist's office and as a nanny part-time on weekends.

Durkin says her interest in the field began one summer when she worked at Camp Hope/Camp Joy in upstate New York. Although she was just thirteen, she says she knew right away that working with children with disabilities would be her calling. Specifically, she is interested in working with children who need remediation and hopes to someday work with youngsters who are autistic.

As a student in the CUNY BA program, Durkin is able to assemble her own concentration, aided by a mentor. Students enrolled in this interdisciplinary program put together a major/minor package based on their individual interests. They attend classes offered on various CUNY campuses and are guided by mentors throughout their undergraduate careers.

Durkin credits her mentor, Lehman Professor Christine Rota-Donahue (Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences), with her success in the program. Last spring, she worked with Professor Rota-Donahue on an independent study course that focused on event-related potentials. She studied and critiqued the published research of brain waves and how the may help speech pathologists and audiologists diagnose and study various communication disorders and delays.

"Working with Professor Rota-Donahue has been phenomenal," said Durkin. "She has kept me on track, and she challenges me."

Professor Rota-Donahue also had kind words for her student: "Maureen is a wonderful student—very intelligent and motivated. Being her mentor has been a very pleasant and rewarding experience." Durkin expects to graduate next spring and plans to enroll in one of CUNY's graduate degree programs in speech-language pathology.

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