The distinguished Speech Pathology and Audiology Program at XXXX College is my first choice for graduate school to earn my Master’s Degree because I live close by – in addition to the fact that your program is well known for the extremely high quality of your clinical training Coming from my native Russia to live in Queens, New York City, 6 years ago, all alone without family or friends, I have been building a new life for myself in every way and fallen very much in love with NYC. Culturally, linguistically, politically, professionally, the challenges that I have had to face have been daunting, helping me to learn and grow very rapidly and ultimately making me much stronger.

I graduated from music school in Russia and was trained to play two instruments professionally. Music had largely been my life until I came to New York where I made a fundamental shift in my personal as well as professional identity: from music to language. My competency in English has improved from the high intermediate level when I left Russia to my current almost near-native ability. At the same time, I have become fluent in Spanish, the second language of the epicenter of my new world. I now plan to make my professional mark in life as a Speech Language Therapist helping people in all three of my languages, especially Russian and Spanish where I look forward to making especially unique and creative contributions.

I am currently working on my undergraduate degree in Speech Language Pathology at XXXX College and also working towards completion of a minor in Spanish. I have been working very hard for the past four years on the development of my Spanish, taking classes and working extensively for several hours each week with a Spanish tutor, making constant and rapid improvement. The live action practice of hanging out with my Spanish-speaking friends has also helped a great deal. I even received an award for Academic Excellence as a Non-Native Speaker of Spanish from the Modern Languages Department of the XXXX Community College.

I look forward to giving my all for many decades to come to the work of speech and language rehabilitation and recovery in a hospital sitting, working with clients who have an array of challenges facing them, from right or left hemisphere through voice, language, speech, and swallowing disorders. Dedicated to lifelong education, I plan to continue to take graduate courses even after completing my Masters at Queens College, especially so as to increase my interdisciplinary depth and appreciation of our field at the same time that I stay up-to-date on current diagnostic and treatment trends.

Under the expert guidance of your faculty at XXXX College, I hope to learn about creative ways that I will be able to put not only my Spanish to good use as a Speech Language Pathology professional, but my Russian as well. This is what I most love about New York City, the multiethnic character and beautiful language diversity of New Yorkers. When Alzheimer's strikes, for example, the individual first loses their ability to communicate in their second language, as is the case with older Latino sufferers of this dreaded disease who have learned and largely forgotten English as the disease has progressed, with their remaining language ability in their native tongue, Spanish. An older Russian who has lost his ability to speak as a result of a stroke, to cite another example, might find his capacity to recovery speech more easily in his native tongue Russian.

I could not be happier at the prospect of a professional lifetime providing comprehensive diagnostic and treatment services for those who suffer from speech, language, cognitive, voice, and swallowing disorders - using the client's native language and preferred mode of communication. I also look forward to extensive volunteer activity in Latin American countries where I could help people who do not have access to Speech/Language therapy.  I look forward to engaging in independent research, in particular, as a student in your Master’s Program at XXXX College concerning the birth prevalence of cleft lip and cleft palate, why it is most prominent among children of Asian, Latino, or Native American descent.

I seek to Master the cutting edge of clinical practice in Speech, Language, and Audiology. I am a hard worker. Coming here without my family, I have worked full time almost since my arrival for economic reasons, even sending a little home to Russia. I have had no choice but to study and work at the same time. However, this did not stop me from becoming fluent in Spanish and I now feel that I have great potential to inspire others to succeed in the face of difficult odds and obstacles.

I especially look forward to doing research in the area of right and left hemisphere disorders as well progressive neurological disorders. My long term goal is to develop my own treatments and methods, maximizing my contribution to my profession, helping children in particular to communicate as effectively as possible, especially following surgery.

My special love for children has been growing in leaps and bounds since I served as a volunteer at a preschool here in Queens during my summer break from school one year ago. I thank you for considering my application.