I first became interested in speech therapy in college when talking with a cousin who was a practicing speech language pathologist. She described working with children to improve their communication skills and how rewarding of a career it was. I started observing a speech-language pathologist working in a preschool setting, and I was hooked. I graduated from USC in 2001 and began working on my graduate degree at the Medical University of South Carolina in 2002. Upon graduating in 2005, I started working in an elementary school. I worked with students with a range of communication abilities, including a child with a cochlear implant. In working with children with hearing loss, I developed a passion for helping these children develop the language and listening skills to communicate orally. In 2009, I completed the First Years distance learning program through the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill and earned a certificate entitled “Auditory Learning for Young Children with Hearing Loss”. I am currently working towards earning my Listening and Spoken Language Specialist certification. Although I enjoyed working with children in an elementary school, I missed being able to connect with the families of the children I served on a weekly basis. In 2012, I joined the Bright Start team and have loved the opportunity to meet the individual communication needs of children and their families.