Tell us a little bit about yourself and your plans for college.

I grew up in a rural area. My hometown’s population is less than 900. The closest school, grocery store or Wal-Mart is 20 minutes away. I have visited Little Rock, AR, Shreveport, LA, St. Louis, MO and Chicago, IL. While they are nice to visit and have many choices for education, medical assistance, and entertainment, I found I prefer the small-town atmosphere and the outdoors lifestyle in which I grew up.

As a toddler, I suffered through many ear infections which left me with trouble speaking. Tubes in my ears at 18 months of age corrected the hearing problem. Then my parents and I had to work hard to correct my speech. A speech pathologist was not available in my area.

My ultimate educational goal is to obtain a Master's Degree in Speech Pathology. This goal will take six years to complete and I will accomplish it in three steps/degrees. First, I will attend Southern Arkansas University and earn an Associate of Arts in University Studies. I can commute to school to complete my general curriculum courses, my lower and almost all my upper division electives. Second, I will transfer to the University of Central Arkansas as a junior to complete my Bachelor’s in Communication Sciences and Disorders. Third, I will stay at UCA to complete my Masters in Speech Pathology.

Once I have my degrees, my long-term career goal is to return to my hometown (or another small-town) area. I hope to either work for the school district or in a medical office group so I can help children overcome their speech disorders.

Gabrielle from Arkansas
High School Senior
Magnolia High School