Spotted on: Broadway in Oakland, CA
Occupation: Master's Student in Speech Pathology at Cal State University
What do you want to do with your degree?
I specialize in swallowing disorders, so helping people with Parkinson's and dementia, things like that. I work with people who have lost their ability to swallow.
Is there something that's called you to doing this?
To be honest, I think I probably would have gone the doctor route had it not been so long in school, so I felt like this was pretty much the way to be a doctor without having to do all the schooling.
Have you ever been affected by anyone with a swallowing disorder?
I feel really passionate about degenerative disorders like that, where they've gone their whole lives living normally and then all of a sudden this disease has slowly taken away their life bit by bit. I think mostly I want to work with people in their last leg of life, so being with those people in their last moments is important.
That's really touching. Do you work in the field now? Is it hard?
People always ask me that, if it's hard. I just, you know, feel so connected with that person and I work with people who can hardly speak at all. I think you feel connected with people in their emotions and their facial expressions and holding their hands. I think it's nice to be able to connect with someone on a personal level like that without knowing them that well.
Are you working in a hospital?
When you do your Master's you have to do in-clinic work, so I have to work with adults and children.
What kind of stuff do kids usually deal with?
Right now I'm doing speech with kids, higher level stuff. Like, two-year-olds who aren't speaking.
Do they let you work with your piercings?
I hide all of them. I have nine and I make sure all of them are hidden.
How do you hide your nose piercing?
The septum just goes right up. I've had this one since I was 14 —don't judge my parents, they're nice people, I swear! It's just easy to take it out and let it heal.
Are you from the Bay?
No. I met my boyfriend in college in Oregon, and we both decided to move to the Bay to further our careers.
Any reason why you guys chose the Bay?
There's a lot of opportunity here for both of us, and we had never done California before.
Have you traveled a lot?
I moved around a lot as a kid but I had never done California.
Where's your favorite place you ever lived?
Oregon! Oh my gosh, if you ever get a chance to get there, I don't know if you have ever been, but it's a beautiful state inside and out. Especially the people that live there. It's just really welcoming and warm.
It's still really hard to adjust to the Bay. It's a hard place to find your footing.
Do you feel like you're bouncing around a lot?
I think it's because I'm 23 and getting my Master's with people who are mostly in their 30s with family and things like that. So it's mostly that dynamic, and then trying to find my own scene with people my age is difficult without knowing anyone here.
Tell me about your outfit.
They're Aldo shoes. I used to work at Buffalo Exchange, so I buy most of my clothes second-hand like that, because I cannot afford designer things but I like to look nice, so I have Hudson jeans that I also got at Buffalo Exchange. This is just a Tobi top, which is an online store with cheap but trendy stuff. The bag is Dooney and Bourke, but I got it at Buffalo, again.
I'm not sure what Buffalo Exchange is, but I'll have to look it up . . .
It's just a really fun store where you can sell clothing, trade it in, and get some back. They have two in San Francisco and one in Berkeley.
Where did you get your piercings?
I got both of my nose piercings in Maryland. Two in my back I got in Oregon, and a few more I got in Oregon, too. It's a big culture there.
Do you think that you'll get anymore?
I would love to, but all the ones I would want would be a little more revealing and wouldn't suit my profession very well.
When was the last time you cried?
Honestly, I probably last cried during my finals week. School is so important to me because it's what I'm doing for a living and I just care so much about what I'm doing and it's emotional sometimes. I think trying to balance being an adult on your own for the first time becomes a little overwhelming sometimes.
One of your eyes is a different color than the other one. It's really pretty!
Its a freckle, and it actually goes all the way to the back of my eye. You can go to the optometrist and you can see it on the back. A lot of people actually don't notice it.
