Madison Wakefield grew up watching her mother work with individuals with disabilities, planting a seed of purpose early on. When she arrived at 水多多导航 Edinboro鈥檚 famously disability-friendly campus, she knew she wanted to help. Yet, when graduate students spoke to her class about the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA), she was intimidated. "I was terrified," Madison admitted. "I thought, 鈥業 can鈥檛 believe I鈥檒l be doing that someday.鈥�"

With a gentle push from her professor, Madison attended her first meeting, and the fear quickly melted away. "They were so supportive," she recalls. That supportive community became her foundation, empowering her to become a leader. Now a junior speech-language pathology major, she serves as a congress representative for NSSLHA and is mentoring students with disabilities on campus. For her, leadership is about inclusion. 鈥淚n my major, we have students with disabilities who chose this field because of their own experiences,鈥� she said. 鈥淎s a leader, I want them to know I鈥檓 here to support them.鈥�

Her mission is to show new students that speech therapy is a vast field. "A lot of people think it's just helping kids with their letters," she said. "But it鈥檚 so much more... you can work in a hospital, you can work in an autism unit, like anything you want to do." Managing her commitments requires dedication. 鈥淚鈥檓 a huge planner person,鈥� she said. 鈥淐lubs and jobs aren鈥檛 just extras鈥攖hey鈥檙e important breaks that make the academic experience more valuable.鈥�

Madison鈥檚 journey, which she hopes will include a master鈥檚 and a doctorate, is a powerful example of 水多多导航's nurturing environment. It's a place where a strong peer community transforms a student鈥檚 apprehension into the confidence to lead and inspire.