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December 4, 2008

不良研究所 speech pathology student wins big at national conference

A 不良研究所 speech pathology student thought she was traveling to a national conference to acquire knowledge and do some professional networking 鈥� little did she realize she鈥檇 also win a new car just before the holidays.

Graduate student Stephanie Swillie of Vicksburg, Miss., and several others, attended the annual convention of the American Speech Hearing and Language Association in Chicago in late November. The association credentials thousands of audiologists, speech-language pathologists and speech, language, and hearing scientists across the U.S. each year.

Swillie said the vehicle was a gift from one of several major vendors at the convention, EBS Healthcare, which is a leading provider to those with special needs. Since the company also employs thousands of pathologists across the country, Swillie took special note of the large booth EBS had erected outside the convention hall.

鈥淭hey had the car right there,鈥� said Swillie. 鈥淭hey were giving pins to put on your shirt that read 鈥楶ick me for a Car鈥� 鈥� (and) they were choosing people out of the crowd if they saw you wearing that button.鈥�

The company chose Swillie as one of 30 potential winners who were then each asked to choose a number at random.

鈥淚 chose 19 because it is my fianc茅鈥檚 favorite number,鈥� said Swillie. 鈥淲e all had to come back at 11:45 a.m. on Saturday, and they handed out all the envelopes with our number in it. We all opened up the envelopes at the same time.鈥�

Much to her shock, Swillie鈥檚 envelope contained the winning number.

鈥淚 was screaming. Nothing like that ever happens to me,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was kind of surreal.鈥�

In the end, however, Swillie was given the choice of either taking the car or $15,000 in cash. She chose the cash.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 really need a car. I鈥檓 planning a wedding and I wanted to help my parents out with that,鈥� Swillie explained.

Swillie expects to earn her master鈥檚 degree in May 2009, and she credits her parents with setting her on her chosen career path. 鈥淪peech language pathology has a personal meaning to me,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was actually born with bilateral hearing loss in both ears. My parents teamed up with a speech pathologist, and they caught me up on language skills and speech. I want to be able to help kids just like me. I know I鈥檓 going to love it,鈥� she concluded.

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