ESU Selects Graduate Commencement Student Speaker

Posted by: admin on April 27, 2016, One Comment

Lacy Jones, a graduate student studying speech-language pathology, will be the student speaker for the graduate commencement ceremony on Friday, May 6 at 7 p.m.

Jones, who resides in Bangor, Pa., received her bachelor’s degree in speech-language pathology from ESU in 2014. Spending over 30 years battling with a stuttering disorder, Jones became interested in speech-language pathology to help others struggling with a speech impediment. But speech-language pathology was not always in her plans. After graduating high school, Jones attended the University of Pittsburgh as a computer science major.

“At that time I was very shy and I wanted to work in a field where I would not have to interact with others,” she said.

A year later, Jones realized that she wanted to work with other people and make an impact on their lives. Jones took some time off school and began working in retail and eventually landed a position as a patient services representative at Bon Secours Medical Group in Port Jervis, N.Y. After working in health care for seven years, Jones found her passion in the field and enrolled at ESU as a speech-language pathology major.

“My education at ESU has contributed to my development as an individual and a professional prepared to take on leadership roles in my career and in the community,” she said.

While in graduate school, Jones worked as a clinician at Morristown Memorial Hospital in Morristown, N.J., where she conducted assessments of patients’ speech, language and cognitive abilities. She also served as the graduate student clinician in ESU’s speech and hearing clinic. Jones founded a support group on campus for individuals who stutter and developed and implemented a hearing screening protocol for U.S. military veterans. During her undergraduate career, she co-founded the charter chapter of “Autism Speaks U” at ESU.

Jones did all of this while raising a family. She wanted to inspire her two daughters by showing them it’s never too late to chase your dreams.

“I hope that my experience will one day inspire my children to strive for excellence in all they set out to accomplish,” Jones said.

While she turned to her family to motivate her during her years in graduate school, Jones knows that every member of her graduating class has a different story to tell.

“Each individual graduating with a master’s or doctorate has his or her own driving motivations for achievement,” she said. “We all have different a different story that led us to walk across the graduation stage.”