By Quinn Radtke, Commmunication Council Vice President    

Hi, my name is Quinn! I am the Vice President of  Communication Council for the 2024-2025 school year. I am going to be a senior studying Speech-Language Pathology. What many  people might not know is that I did not enter Moody as a Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences (SLH) major. I started as a Corporate Communications major, but realized at the end of my sophomore year that it was not the right fit for me. Luckily, my involvement in  Communication Council introduced me to the SLH department, and I discovered that my  passions aligned better with this area of study. As someone who joined the major late, I’ve  constantly felt as though I’ve been playing  catch-up. Now going into my senior year, I’ve made a lot of mistakes and learned a lot of lessons. Here are some tips and tricks that I have on things that I wish I knew during my first semester as an SLH major!

Make connections with your professors!  

One thing I wish I had done better is connect with my SLH professors! I highly recommend that you go to office hours, ask professors  questions and continue to message them once every couple of months when you’re no longer taking their classes. A lot of SLH undergraduates end up going to grad school, and it will be  helpful to have a few professors who remember you and know you well enough to write strong letters of recommendation.

Talk to the people in your classes!  

SLH is a small major, so you will likely encounter the same classmates in future courses. It’s really helpful to get to know your fellow classmates well, especially if you want to put together study sessions. Your classmates can also be  valuable resources for information on  volunteering, classes, and graduate school applications.

Get involved in organizations!  

UT offers numerous undergraduate organizations, including several  specific to SLH.  I am a member of the National Student Speech-Language-Hearing Association  (NSSLHA), which is a great resource for SLH majors. Oftentimes, NSSLHA will have different speech  pathologists, audiologists, graduate students and professors who will share words of wisdom during meetings. Other notable organizations include the Lang Stuttering Institute Student Leadership  Organization (LSI SLO) and Women in SLH. Another student organization that I have been involved with is Students Expanding American Literacy, or SEAL. As a member of that org, I’ve volunteered as a  reading buddy at an elementary school in Austin. I helped my buddy work on their reading and writing skills, and it was an amazing experience! If you want to find out more about student organizations,  attend the student org fairs that happen at the beginning of the semester and also browse Hornslink.     

Volunteer!  

Austin has numerous opportunities to engage in volunteer work related to speech and  language.  Over the summer, I’ve volunteered at Austin Speech Labs, which provides speech therapy to stroke victims. They have volunteering sessions that are available pretty much all year round, so I highly recommend that you check them out! I’ve also volunteered at Camp in Motion, which is a summer camp hosted by Dell Children’s for children with physical limitations. I got to work closely with speech  therapists to help provide speech therapy to these children. I really enjoyed getting to volunteer with both of these organizations, and I would highly recommend them to anyone interested in volunteering!       

Don’t Stress!  

Remember that you are more than capable of excelling in this major and field! You’ve  chosen SLH for a reason, and even though it can be overwhelming at times, there is nothing that you can’t accomplish with the help of Moody’s staff and your peers!