The CUNY Baccalaureate Blog

Maureen Durkin, a senior in the CUNY BA program, has received the 2008 Thomas W. Smith Academic Fellowship for her outstanding scholarship in the field of speech-language pathology-audiology. She is one of only thirty students to be selected for the award.

For Durkin, the award represents a special honor because the scholarship is based on academic merit, rather than need. It means her hard work has paid off, as she balanced working full-time in a speech pathologist’s office and as a nanny part-time on weekends.

Durkin says her interest in the field began one summer when she worked at Camp Hope/Camp Joy in upstate New York. Although she was just thirteen, she says she knew right away that working with children with disabilities would be her calling. Specifically, she is interested in working with children who need remediation and hopes to someday work with youngsters who are autistic.

As a student in the CUNY BA program, Durkin is able to assemble her own concentration, aided by a mentor. Students enrolled in this interdisciplinary program put together a major/minor package based on their individual interests. They attend classes offered on various CUNY campuses and are guided by mentors throughout their undergraduate careers.

http://www.lehman.cuny.edu/lehman/enews/2008_09_08/feat_durkin.html