Stefani Garcia is a second-year Emerging Scholar Student and IMPACT Fellow majoring in communication sciences with a minors in Spanish and studio art, studying to be a bilingual speech pathologist.

Originally, Garcia came to Case Western Reserve University to study computer science, but when she realized that wasn’t where her passion was, she changed paths. Inspired by her nephew who has a communication disorder, Garcia knew communication science was the right choice. 

Now, she is one of 10 students in the country who received the 2022 NSSLHA Undergraduate Scholarship and was selected to participate in the Summer Undergraduate Research or Internship Experience in Acoustics (SURIEA).

“It’s very hard to conceptualize that I got these awards,” Garcia shared. “All my hard work is paying off and I’m super happy.”

This summer, as a part of SURIEA, Garcia will participate in a 12-week paid summer research program at the Boys Town National Research Hospital with Dr. Lori Leibold, focusing speech perception in Spanish-English bilingual and monolingual English speaking children. Garcia said she is “super excited” because she has always wanted to conduct research on bilingualism. The program is designed for under-represented minority undergraduates from across the country and will emphasize training, mentoring, research, and career preparation.

“Stefani’s leadership has developed remarkably over the past year,” Lauren Calandruccio, associate dean of academic affairs and associate professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences, said. “She is an outstanding leader in our lab and on our Digital Accessibility Team.”