Internship Spotlight Rory Stansfield Speech-Language Pathology Major Research Intern • Kessler Foundation Center for Stroke Rehabilitation Research • West Orange, New Jersey At Kessler Foundation, Rory is contributing to aphasia research while gaining a new perspective on language disorders, neuroscience and emerging approaches to rehabilitation. Rory’s Internship Experience What does a typical day look like? A typical day involves scoring data for aphasia studies that require participants to read aloud. The data is scored based on pronunciation accuracy. What has been the highlight of your internship so far? The highlight of my internship has been playing a role in meaningful research that combines my academic, professional and personal interests. I have especially enjoyed drawing inspiration from this experience for my upcoming research thesis in the William Paterson Honors College. What is something you learned that surprised you? I was surprised by how many moving parts there are in the research process. It was interesting to see how many steps and individuals are involved in ensuring that the data collected is credible and accurate. How did William Paterson prepare you for this opportunity? William Paterson prepared me through my Cognitive Science Honors Track courses and Speech-Language Pathology courses. Together, they gave me a strong transdisciplinary foundation that has bolstered my confidence and supported me throughout this experience. How did you find this internship? Through my involvement in the Honors College, I met Dr. John DeLuca, a member of the Honors College Advisory Board and executive vice president of research at Kessler Foundation. How will this experience help you achieve your career goals? This experience is helping me examine aphasia and other co-occurring conditions from a new perspective outside the clinical setting. I am also learning about emerging treatment options for people with aphasia from a neuroscience perspective that I may one day incorporate into my practice.
