Kaileen Herring

Honors in the Major, Communication Disorders

Kaileen Herring appreciates the contradictory nature of duality, of variety.

Upon arriving at Florida State, she was overwhelmed by the size of the campus and was frightened to be away from her parents for the first time. Yet, she also felt at home. “I will never forget that,” she says. “So much excitement and fear all at the same time.“

She, in fact, specifically chose to attend FSU because the University offered “a variety of career opportunities and diversity among the students and faculty.” 

Her chosen major, Communication Disorders, is a discipline that seeks to understand the broad scope of human communication, both normal and disordered. As an Honors in the Major student, she is busy preparing her thesis, "Voice Onset Time in Women as a Function of Oral Contraceptive Use." She is also an active member of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association, a pre-professional organization.

Now in her senior year, she maintains a grade point average of 3.8. Yet, she feels her academic accomplishments are due in part to her teachers. “Three professors—Richard Morris, Lisa Scott, and Leonard La Pointe—have touched my life in a unique way. Each has taught me a lot about the profession and life in general.”

Herring knows that experiential learning helps students connect their academic studies to real-life situations. On campus, she combines academics with service by serving as the vice president of community service for the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, and by volunteering for both Relay for Life and American Heart Walk. Over semester breaks, she plans activities for, and assists in the care of, patients at the Hialeah Shore Nursing and Rehabilitative Center.

Her future plans include graduate school and research/clinical work in Audiology. She says, “The education I received from FSU will serve as my foundation. I am looking forward to giving back to an institution that has given me so much.”