Susannah Challita

I am currently working as a paediatric speech pathologist and I am dedicated to supporting children and their families in their communication journey. I believe that empathy and patience are essential traits to have as a speech pathologist as well as the willingness to continuously learn. 

I am passionate about making a difference to the lives of others including children with communication difficulties and their families. I am passionate about assisting children in achieving their full potential. I love meeting new people, connecting with others and learning about their lives and backgrounds. I have always been someone who has looked out for others and always wanting to help people in need. I love empowering others and helping them to see the positive factors and lessons in all situations. 

I chose this degree as it has always been an essential aspect of my career journey. I was inspired by my first interaction with a speech pathologist that I had met when my grandmother had a stroke and was hospitalised. I have always been passionate about helping others and forming strong connections and relationships with many different people. I knew I wanted to pursue a career that would be rewarding and motivating.  

I chose to study at UTS as I had heard from many people that they had enjoyed their experiences at the university. I had also completed my own research at the time I was applying for a postgraduate course in speech pathology and loved that the UTS Graduate School of Health was growing. I was quite intrigued by the course description and loved that there were countless opportunities to put theory into practice including simulated environments and workshops. I also loved the integration of technology as it is growing exponentially. 

I was learning all about the discipline of speech pathology including who speech pathologists work with and the variety of environments they work in. I learned about the range of communication and swallowing difficulties that people can present with that can be related to a range of health conditions and disabilities. I was learning about the various areas of speech pathology including speech, language, voice, stuttering, multimodal communication and swallowing and how speech pathologists can improve people's lives. 

The most rewarding aspect of the course was being able to connect with others who share a common goal of wanting to help and support others. I felt extremely supported by others in the course including the lecturers. 

Making time for your personal/social life is important when completing a postgrad course. Time management was a crucial aspect to maintaining a healthy balance. I tried not to procrastinate in completing tasks for the course including study and assessments. I used a diary to plan my days and organised my time well. I divided the times in my day into study and other commitments. I remembered to schedule in my down time and kept on top of my physical and mental health by exercising, sleeping well, going for regular walks and spending time with family and friends. 

Despite not being able to have much face to face contact in my last year of study, I did enjoy the online mode of learning. Studying from home was quite convenient in terms of having more time to do other things such as an increased amount of personal commitments. I was able to adapt quickly to the new situation. It allowed me to learn from a comfortable space and we were still able to engage in smaller group discussions during most of our lectures. 

I am currently working in a private practice in Sandringham and Ramsgate Beach. The clinic provides occupational therapy and speech therapy services to children aged 0-18 years. Over the past year, as a new graduate speech pathology I have used much of my acquired knowledge from my postgrad course. I feel that the various opportunities for practical applications and the range of experiences and clinical placements I undertook have provided me with the clinical confidence I have had in my current workplace. During placements, I experienced working with children in a range of settings including private clinics, hospitals, community health settings and delivering telehealth therapy. I experienced working with children and adults that have speech, language, literacy, fluency and swallowing difficulties as well as children and adults who require alternative modes of communication.

I hope to attain a leadership role in my workplace and become a mentor and supervisor to new graduate speech pathologists as well as a clinical educator for speech pathology students. 

My advice is that if you are a person who is looking for a rewarding, enjoyable and evolving career then this is the course for you. It is an extraordinary and rewarding course and you will definitely feel that you have achieved a huge accomplishment at the end. Embrace everything the course has to offer and be prepared for an unforgettable journey.