Interview with Speech Therapy Grad Student: Ary Burgoyne

Hi everyone! My name is Ary Burgoyne. I am a full-time graduate student, future speech-language pathologist, and social media influencer. On my Instagram page, @arybspeech, I post lifestyle, beauty, style, and speech content. You can expect “Day in my Life” and “Get Ready with Me” videos, as well as study inspiration posts. My goal is to encourage people to be their authentic selves and romanticize their lives through beauty and fashion. My motto is “look good to feel good and do your best!” I created a speech Discord server called “Speech Friendz” to create a fun study space for speechies of all backgrounds. Each week, I go LIVE on Instagram and Discord for “Study & Chat” sessions from 2:00 pm-3:00 pm (PST) on Tuesdays and Fridays and “Silent Study Sessions” Sundays-Thursdays from 8:00 pm-9:00 pm (PST).

Where are you at in your journey to be a therapist?

I am in my last semester of graduate school, studying Speech-Language Pathology at California State University, Northridge (CSUN).

What are your goals post-graduation?

After graduation, I start my clinical fellowship year (CFY) but I am still deciding what clinical setting I want to work in. Eventually, my goal is to open my own private practice with an Early Intervention focus or partner with other healthcare professionals and open a clinic that offers services like speech, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and more! I also want to inspire more BIPOC+ youth to pursue a career in speech-language pathology and advocate for diversity within the field. Lastly, I want to start a children’s storytime YouTube channel to share books with families that include diverse characters and storylines.

What would you share with someone who wanted to find a position like yours or build a company/brand such as yours?

Take care of your mental health: It is easy to be a victim of “imposter syndrome” and question your abilities as a therapist. This is why I stress taking time to nurture our hobbies and self-care routines because sometimes, we over-prioritize our careers and forget that we are people with unique needs and desires. It would be a disservice to ourselves to sacrifice our mental health needs in order to chase an impossible goal of “perfection.” The goal should be finding a work-life balance where we can have a successful career and have a fun social life.

Have courage: I like to find quotes to help motivate me to continue striving for my dreams, despite the obstacles I may face. I would like to share with you this Vincent van Gogh quote that I reference almost every day: “What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?” This past year, I made a continuous effort to step out of my comfort zone and try new things that I feel would better my career. Sometimes, we are our biggest haters so we allow fear or the “what ifs” hold us back. We have to remember that it is okay to make mistakes and that creating a successful brand/career takes a lot of courage, faith, and perseverance.

Be yourself: In my opinion, it is way cooler to share your authentic self with your audience than striving to mirror someone else that we deem as “successful” or “perfect.” It can be a challenge to not compare yourself with others, especially on social media, but I challenge you to break this habit. There is a group of people out there who will love what you bring to the community. Use your unique qualities as strengths because the audience you cultivate will be able to relate to you in so many ways.

What would you share with someone who is starting their journey to be a therapist?

If you are starting your journey to be a speech-language pathologist, I would recommend joining the speechie community on Instagram. It is a great way to hear from other future and licensed SLPs what to expect from your undergraduate to professional years. It also is an opportunity to start networking and asking any questions or concerns you may have. On my page, I always say that “my DMs are always open if you want to chat,” so I invite the readers of this blog to follow and reach out to me. I would be happy to try to provide you some insight and encouragement. Additionally, remind you to continue believing in yourselves, especially when feelings of imposter syndrome start creeping up. The trick to being successful in this field is to not measure your success by the success of others. Not every SLP2be’s journey is the same because we all have different strengths and interests. So, the last thing I would say is to have courage, be kind to yourself and others, and trust your intuition.

Anything else you’d like to share about yourself and your journey to where you are right now?

I have a dream to be a multilingual speech language pathologist, so I have been trying to learn Spanish. This past summer, I traveled to the Dominican Republic on a Spanish-Immersion study abroad program that gave aspiring SLPs the opportunity to learn about the culture and provide speech and language services to children in Spanish. It was such a life-changing experience and although I still have a long way to go with my bilingual journey, I am proud of myself for stepping out of my comfort zone. I also want to study ASL again and possibly learn Korean!

Brag about yourself! What are you doing right now that’s super cool?

I am currently doing my student teaching placement at two elementary schools. One of the schools has a large Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) population so I am learning how to provide multimodal communication involving American Sign Language (ASL), Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), and verbal communication. I took two ASL classes at Los Angeles Pierce College (LAPC) a couple years ago so it is fun practicing my signs and learning from my students and supervisors.

Tell us about a time of uncertainty in your life and your reflections after that event.

A moment of extreme uncertainty for me was during my freshman year of undergrad. I went to a small university in Oregon to pursue the student-athlete experience. I realized quickly that the school was not the right fit for me, but I was scared to voice my disappointment because I thought that I would become a disappointment. I spent that year depressed and completely homesick which became more obvious the more parents visited me. After my parents convinced me to transfer, I felt really embarrassed and like I had failed, especially since there was such a stigma at the time around community colleges. I spent the remaining part of my undergrad journey feeling defeated. I realize now that no one’s experience is linear or perfect and that my non-linear experience did not mean that I was a “failure.” Leaving that school in Oregon, going to community college for 2 years, and transferring to CSUN to complete my B.A in Communication Disorders and Sciences (with an emphasis in Speech Language Pathology) was the best thing that could have happened to me.

Through my time at LAPC, I took ASL & Special Education classes, found a school that “fit just right,” and discovered my love for speech language pathology. I ended up exactly where I was supposed to be. My older sister gave me a bracelet at the end of undergrad that said, “trust the journey.” I try to always live my life trusting the journey and knowing that I get to define my success and happiness.

What are ways our readers can connect with you and follow what you are up to?

a. Instagram & Threads: arybspeech

b. TikTok: itsarystyles

c. Check out my linktree for more info: https://linktr.ee/arybspeech

Thank you for sharing your journey on Jobs For Therapists, Ary!