SHS student Carbajal speaks her goals into existence
By DARINA LUBENOV
Alexandra Carbajal discovered her passion for her major, Speech and Hearing Science, during her freshman year at the University of Illinois. After that, everything else she found was through drive and dedication.
“I had a speech therapist when I was a kindergartener,” Carbajal said. “So, I know what a speech therapist says—I've had that background and familiarity with it. But I never even thought about it as a career until that day.”
The day Carbajal refers to is the day she visited the University of Illinois, after she was accepted as a student, to learn more about the university. Immediately, she was drawn to speech-language pathology, she said. She transferred to the Department of SHS within the College of Applied Health Sciences in her sophomore year.
Now a junior, Carbajal is one of five Humanities in Action scholars at Illinois. The HIA program works with students to remove some of the financial barriers that prevent undergraduate humanities students from taking advantage of community engagement opportunities.
Scholars are matched with a community partner in Champaign-Urbana and work toward a shared goal. As one of these scholars, Carbajal will work closely with a placement that is within her field.
Carbajal’s career goal is to become a bilingual Spanish speech-language pathologist for Spanish- and English-speaking children. She is majoring in speech and hearing science with a concentration in speech-language pathology.
Carbajal is also an intern at The Autism Program, where she participates in play group programs and creates visual resources for individuals on the autism spectrum. Additionally, she had the opportunity to volunteer at two elementary schools as a student teacher aide at the International Prep Academy in Champaign, and as a mentor at Dr. Preston L. Williams Jr. Elementary in Urbana.
“[TAP] has been a really great experience, definitely my favorite experience I've had so far. Because I want to be a speech therapist,” Carbajal said, “I know I will be working with the neurodiverse population. So that has really opened my perspective. Seeing their gratitude, they're always so appreciative, and it just makes me more excited for what I'm going to be going into later.”
Alongside her SHS major, Carbajal also has a minor in Spanish.
“I just love the language,” Carbajal said. “I love the people. I love learning about different cultures, I love learning about how big the needs are for different Spanish communities. But I've always known I wanted to work with that population, specifically kids as well. That’s kind of my niche, bilingual kids, I’ve just always seen myself helping them out.”
The immediate effect of her work is one of Carbajal’s favorite parts about the field.
“I'd say just hearing the different stories from the families and the individuals that I work with, I think they all come from different backgrounds,” Carbajal said. “Each week, you get to see the progress that you've made. And you get to build a connection with them. And then knowing that you're helping, not only them, but their families.”