English Alumni Working in Health Care

Anna Stansky '06

After graduating from Stonehill in 2006, I worked at The Learning Center for Deaf Children for one year as a teacher's assistant in a 2nd year kindergarten classroom for children with severe special needs. In 2007, I went on to Gallaudet University to pursue a masters degree in speech-language pathology. I am now in my second year of graduate school and work as a graduate research assistant for the Science of Learning Center on Visual Language and Visual Learning (VL2). I am conducting research on deaf college students' written English abilities. This is part of a large study that is looking at what aspects of deaf education make for a well-rounded, quality education. It is during this research that I am able to use my undergraduate experience in English and my masters education of speech-language pathology to assess my subjects' skills and identify their strengths and weaknesses in written English. I am also developing a survey to distribute to professionals working in deaf schools throughout the country to inquire about the standardized test I am using in my study. I am interested to see how many of the professionals use the test I am administering with their students, their opinions of the test, and how the results of the test help them develop curriculum and therapy objectives.

Kellie Savard '93

I am a speech-language pathologist. For the past 11 years I have worked in several hospital settings (both acute care and rehab) with adult patients with head injury, stroke, spinal cord injury, etc. After graduation from Stonehill, I worked for two years (one year as a health club manager and another year as a teacher's assistant at a high school). During those two years I took prerequisite classes in communication disorders for graduate school. I then went to Northeastern University and earned my Master's degree in speech-language pathology. I believe that my English classes helped me become a good writer, which is important in my field due to the documentation that I have to do as a health care professional. I also think that the critical thinking and analytical skills that I learned while majoring in English are crucial to my profession. I'm not sure that I can separate certain classes or experiences out to name the most formative, but my overall experience at Stonehill prepared me for graduate school (ie. being a good student, being able to handle the workload at the graduate level). I also think that spending a semester abroad in England was a great experience that helped broaden my horizons and gave me the bug for traveling and experiencing new things, which of course helps in all aspects of life both professionally and personally. A major in English is a great place to start, especially if you know you want to go onto graduate school. It can be applied in so many ways. The writing skills and language skills that you gain by being an English major can be applied to many different careers. You have to be willing to be creative (which you would be as an English major) and think about how you can apply your skills to a certain position or profession. Majoring in English is a great jumping off point for so many other areas.