Robyn Toler, HESP '21

We asked Robyn Toler, a soon-to-be hearing and speech sciences graduate from Woodbridge, Va. a bit about what brought her to BSOS, plus where she plans to go next.

Why did you choose to major in Hearing and Speech Sciences?
I have had many family members on my father’s side and my mother’s side who have experienced strokes and life after strokes. Some fared better than others, so I chose to major in hearing and speech sciences because I was intrigued to see the range of capabilities after strokes. 

I realized that HESP is a perfect way to help people build relationships and help people adjust back to functioning as well. I like the range that speech pathology encompasses. I mean, I don’t have to just work with adults who have experienced strokes. I can work with children with delayed language, stuttering, and cognitive processing issues. Ultimately, it puts me in a position of being able to provide skills and techniques to deal with challenging situations and people’s lives. 

What hands-on experience have you received in the field?
I took a class for a program called Social Interaction Group Network for All, aka SIGNA, which is a program that works with University of Maryland students with autism. I’ve had hands-on experience by being a peer coach, and through that class, I was able to apply an actual curriculum.

What have been your favorite memories during your time at UMD?
SIGNA was one of the experiences that I really enjoyed; working in research labs.

I also absolutely loved being in the Dean’s Student Advisory Council. That was awesome. It gave me an opportunity to step outside of my program and meet students across the university, and to be able to put our heads together and come up with things that affect all of the students on campus and not just Hearing and Speech. You can get tunnel vision within your program, so it was nice to step outside of that and be able to work with people on a broader level. 

Associate Dean Katherine Russell was also a very influential, very wonderful person to work under. She was easy to talk to and provided us with a lot of support and information.

What are your post-graduation plans?
I will be applying to graduate school to get my master’s in speech-language pathology. Hearing and Speech Sciences is kind of the springboard for either audiology or speech pathology, and I’ve decided that I want to pursue speech pathology. So, the next step is going to be to go acquire my master’s so that I can actually practice. 

Long term, I see myself as a successful speech pathologist that can navigate many spaces and help all of my clients.

Responses have been edited for length and clarity.

Published on Fri, Nov 19, 2021 - 2:02AM