Meet Megan Moore: Our April Leading Woman

Name: Megan Moore

Major: Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences

Hometown: Bloomington, Illinois

What are your career/life goals?

I plan on becoming a Speech-Language Pathologist! Speech-Language Pathologists work in a variety of settings to assess, diagnose, and treat speech and language disorders. SLPs can work with any age range from infants to elderly people. With infants, they may work on feeding and swallowing issues, and with older adults they may help to provide rehabilitation to those who have lost speech/language abilities after a stroke. After graduating in May, I will begin my Master’s program at Mizzou starting in June so I can become a certified Speech-Language Pathologist! I hope to work with children in my future career, as I have discovered a passion for literacy and reading science in the past year, though I am keeping an open mind as many people change their mind about what kinds of populations they want to work with once they get into their graduate programs!

What is your favorite part about Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences?Tell us why you chose your major?

I decided to major in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at 16 after attending a speech-language pathology summer camp at a local college and I never looked back. Learning about how kids learn language and develop speech sounds so fascinating to me. I also think we take the ability to communicate with others for granted. If you’ve never had speech or language difficulties it can be really easy to take the ability to easily communicate for granted. Being able to help others communicate more clearly and easily is something I find incredibly rewarding. The more I learn about this field, the more I see how diverse and varied this career can really be. I am so excited to start my graduate program here in June and learn how to treat speech and language disorders.

Why did you decide to get involved in RSVP Peer Educators?

I first heard about the RSVP peer educators program when they came and gave a presentation to my psychology class. I have always been really passionate about sexual assault awarness and prevention so it seemed like a really great organization to get involved with. As an educator, we go through two semesters of training and then we give presentations regarding intimate partner and sexual violence to other Mizzou students. We also work to plan events and activities through the RSVP center. For example, April is sexual assault awarness month, so we have been helping to plan programming in order to help educate the community about sexual violence. We had our Break the Silence day on April 13th which was a whole day conference aimed at educating students, faculty, and staff about sexual violence as well as providing surviors a healing space to share their story. Everyone at the center worked so hard on it, so it was nice to see it be so successful! I wanted to become involved in this organization because I think there’s a lot of misconceptions about sexual and relationship violence. I chose to become an educator because I wanted to help change the culture at Mizzou to make it more understanding about sexual violence and to help others become educated about it.

What is your favorite part about RSVP Peer Educators?

I’ve really enjoyed being able to give presentations! I have always hated public speaking, but I find that the more I give these presentations the less scary it gets. Getting more comfortable with public speaking has been a really great part of taking on this role. I also like giving the presentations because it gives me the opportunity to interact with students and student organizations that I wouldn’t have gotten the chance to otherwise. I really enjoy answering questions and being able to be an active participant in the education of students on campus. It’s really exciting to see when the people you’re giving the presentation to start to understand a concept or ask a really insightful question that shows you they’re thinking about the issue. It’s been a really rewarding part of my college experience!

What other organizations or hobbies are you passionate about?

I am currently enrolled in Clinical Apprenticeship in Communication Disorders and I am really enjoying all the clinical experience I’ve been getting. As a part of this class, I’ve been given the opportunity to work as an undergraduate student clinician in the Robert G. Combs Language Preschool on campus. This preschool is designed specifically for kids with speech and language delays and disorders. As student clinicians, we take turns planning lessons and activities to help facilitate language development. We also are assigned one child to be our client for the semester. For our client, we are in charge of administering any standardized evaluations, and also writing clinic notes to monitor the child’s progress over the semester. I have had a blast this semester and it has been such a great experience. I feel like I have learned so much and gained such great real-world experience that will be especially helpful as I move to more clinical experiences in graduate school.

How have your experiences in Theta changed you?

Theta has really helped me come out of my shell during my time in college. Being around so many driven and involved women has really led me to step outside of my comfort zone and pursue involvement and leadership opportunities that I would have never before. I also feel like being in Theta has driven me to really take stock as to what is most important to me and what I am most passionate about. I feel like I’ve really learned that it’s a good thing to be passionate about things and that there are people who care about the same things that you care about.

What does Theta mean to you?

To me, Theta is all about being pushed to be better. You’re surrounded by people who see all your potential (even when you can’t) and they encourage you to aim higher than you ever thought possible.

Do you have any advice for the underclassmen?

Go to as many Theta events as you can! Not having socials this year has really made me miss them and regret all the times I didn’t go. They’re also a really great opportunity to meet people you might not otherwise get a chance to meet!

Do you have a specific favorite Theta memory?

This year, I went through a pretty grueling grad school application cycle. I applied to some tough schools and was really doubtful about my chances. My roommate and little, Molly, really encouraged me throughout the process. One day, I got the news that I got accepted into the best grad school in the country for my program and being able to share that news with Molly was something I’ll never forget. We were jumping up and down around the room hugging it was such a great moment, especially since she had been so encouraging throughout the entire process.