
Download the shownotes or full transcript of the conversation.
Meet Jordyn Barber and Abbey Earl, two undergraduate students at Texas Christian University planning on pursuing careers in speech-language pathology. On this week’s episode of The Missing Link for SLPs, Jordyn and Abbey will interview Mattie, flipping the script and sharing some questions they have about graduate school, working in speech pathology, and more.
Discussion & Reflection Questions
- What exactly do you learn about in a graduate program for speech pathology?
- Should you seek out a graduate program based on what area of speech pathology you’d like to go into?
- Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give yourself as an undergraduate student?
- Is it easy to change the area of speech pathology you work in? Or are you kind of nailed down once you start working in one area?
- What types of internship opportunities would you recommend in the summer between junior and senior year of undergrad?
- What is the most rewarding thing about being an SLP?
- What are some opportunities you can pursue in the medical SLP world?
- What are the pros and cons of working as an SLP in a hospital setting?
- What is the difference between working in a medical or hospital environment and working in private practice?
- What types of cases might you see working in private practice? What could a typical day look like?
Quote Of The Conversation
“To the speech path student, one of the biggest pieces of advice I could ever tell you as a student is to advocate for yourself and to work hard. Don’t be afraid to ask and question your professors in a way that is respectful. Asking questions is how you can learn and grow.“
– Mattie Murrey-Tegels, MA, CCC/SLP
Jordyn Barber

Third-Year Undergraduate Student at Texas Christian University
Jordyn Barber is a junior undergraduate student at Texas Christian University, where she studies speech-language pathology as her major and child development as her minor. She is currently a literacy teacher for a tutorial center called Reading Ranch, teaching children from Pre-K to 5th grade how to improve their reading and writing skills. She also works as a research assistant for a lab at TCU called Genetics of Aural Perception and Plasticity, which explores the influence of genetics on communication disorders and neural plasticity during language and reading intervention. Jordyn’s career goal is to be a pediatric SLP in the healthcare system. She has a great passion for helping children with physical, intellectual, and academic disabilities and wants to base her career on helping this population.
Abbey Earl

Third-Year Undergraduate Student at Texas Christian University
Abbey Earl is pursuing a degree in speech pathology and child development at Texas Christian University. She hopes to eventually work in a hospital setting. Speech pathology originally caught Abbey’s attention when she was working at a summer camp and had a camper who had Down Syndrome. Abbey felt blessed by the opportunity to love her and find ways to communicate with her. From learning a little bit of sign language to watching her learn new words, she knew this was something she wanted to pursue for the rest of her life. Currently, Abbey works as a Registered Behavior Technician, where she’s been able to observe speech therapy with kids with autism. She has loved learning about the broad profession of a speech-language pathologist and cannot wait to gain even more knowledge about this amazing career.
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Not a substitute for a formal SLP education or medical advice for patients/caregivers.
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