Each year, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation (ASHFoundation) awards research grants, scholarships, and clinical achievement awards to support the communication sciences and disorders discipline. These awards include several graduate student scholarships, including the NSSLHA Graduate Scholarship, supported by the ASHFoundation’s NSSLHA Scholarship Fund.
While the number of scholarships awarded each year may change based on funding, this year, the NSSLHA Scholarship Fund was able to support three recipients. Awardees were selected based on academic criteria and exemplary service toward National NSSLHA’s mission and core values.
We’re proud to announce this year’s NSSLHA Scholarship recipients . . .
Dayana Lituma-Solis
Southern Connecticut State University
Dayana is a chartering member of the Northeast regional affiliate of the National Black Association for Speech-Language and Hearing (NBASLH). She’s part of an initiative that’s establishing a student committee comprised of both CSD undergraduate- and graduate-level students at Southern Connecticut State University. The committee is also expanding recruitment efforts to reach BIPOC students from universities across New England.
Dayana says, “My hope is that the establishment of this student committee will present students of color—within the department and within the greater New England region—with a support system and mentorship network to attain success and inclusion within higher education. I want this committee to be a platform for students of color pursuing speech-language pathology to gain leadership skills that they will carry with them as they enter the professions.”
Iliana Lambert
University of Maryland
As president and vice president of the Concordia University Wisconsin NSSLHA chapter during her undergraduate years, Iliana fostered a leadership style that was vision-oriented, goal-driven, and engagement-focused. Her drive focused on solving problems at an individual level, as well as at the university level. As a student representative during an initiative to improve campus accessibility and spread awareness of Paralympic sports, Iliana collaborated with students, faculty, and the broader local community.
Iliana stated, “I have a passion to serve and care for all of our chapter and community members. It’s important to effectively communicate with chapter e-board members, chapter members, administrators, faculty, and the local community. The COVID-19 pandemic introduced unprecedented obstacles for our chapter—like it did for everyone—but we demonstrated unwavering drive, commitment, and resilience. The outcome was increased engagement in all chapter and community activities.”
Madeline Hale
University of Wisconsin, Madison
As a University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) undergrad and ACEing Autism volunteer, Madeline’s goal was to help children ages 5-18 cultivate their social connections through playing tennis. She worked with students in three different age groups during weekly one-hour sessions, which included tennis drills and group activities. Madeline was the first student from her NSSLHA Chapter to create an individualized plan for the UT Dallas ACEing Autism chapter.
She shares, “I learned the skills to develop plans like these while interning at the University of Washington’s Autism Center. I collaborated with other volunteers on this plan in the hope that similar tools will be created in the future to help other ACEing Autism participants.”
2022 Graduate Student Scholarship’s NSSLHA Scholarship
All 2022 ASHFoundation scholarships, including the NSSLHA Graduate Scholarship, will open in the spring of 2022. Keep an eye on the ASHFoundation website for updated info!