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Graduate Spotlight: Adrianna Frucci
Adrianna Frucci is passionate about helping people communicate.
With her sights set on a career as a speech language pathologist, she determined that the Communicative Disorders Assistant (CDA) graduate certificate program at Durham College (DC) would be an ideal first step. She completed the program last summer and has been working in the field ever since, gaining invaluable experience before she returns to school to get her master’s degree.
She took time out of her busy schedule to tell us about her time at DC and how the experiential learning opportunities offered by the CDA program are already paying off in her career.
Why did you decide to attend Durham College?
Durham College just seemed like the right fit. As I was looking through the website and looking at the required courses, I just had a gut feeling and I liked it. Usually, I make my choices based off gut feelings, and I had a good one with Durham.
Why did you choose the Communicative Disorders Assistant program?
I want to be a speech language pathologist, but you need your master’s degree and it’s a very competitive field. I came across the title of communicative disorders assistant, and looked into what they do, and I thought it would at least be the next step for me, where I can still go into speech therapy and I can still do the work that I want to do. I’ll be in the field, and I can use it as a stepping stone to eventually get my master’s. And it’s great, because you learn more about how to do therapy and you get the practical sense with the CDA program.
What was your DC experience like?
I really loved the program. The instructors were amazing and passionate, and hearing about their personal experiences and getting insight into how they do therapy was really nice.
I also loved that we could volunteer in the Durham College Kids Speech and Language Clinic and work with kids, with guidance from a speech pathologist. Having that experience helped going into our placements. The hands-on learning was very valuable.
How did your DC program prepare you for your career?
I think it prepared me well. We created mock lesson plans and did mock therapy on each other. It’s not like working with a client, but you’re in the moment and applying the background knowledge that you have. Getting those moments to practice was really nice, because when you get out into the real world, you have to think on the spot sometimes.
They try to give you as much information as possible before you go into the field. Sometimes I even look back into my notes from school when I’m working with clients, just to remind myself of something.
Would you recommend your DC program to other students?
I would definitely recommend the program. I’ve actually met a couple of students who started this year, and I was telling them how great it will be.
What is your advice for future students?
Take the experiences that you can. Volunteer in the DC clinic while you have the chance, because it’s a nice prep going into placement, and you feel a little bit more prepared because you’ve done it. Also, ask the instructors any questions you have, because they have so much experience in their respective fields, and they have all this knowledge that they can give you, so any opportunity you have to learn from them, take it. It’s a very quick program and there’s a lot of information to learn, so take in as much as possible.
What do you love most about DC?
I really enjoyed learning from the program coordinator, Lisa Virtue. She has so much insight into her field, so getting to learn from her was amazing. I also liked that we were such a close-knit group. You could easily go up to someone and get advice about things. There was a lot of group work, not just solo work, so we were able to work with one another, and I loved that.
You’re already working in your field. What is your job like?
I am working at two different speech clinics right now, as a communicative disorders assistant. A lot of my clients are autistic, so my work relates to what we learned in our language development class and learning about augmentative and alternative communication. I’m using a lot of what we learned in class. I am doing exactly what our program prepared me for.
How do you feel about graduating?
The program finished in August. If you had asked me back then, I would have felt like it was daunting, because the idea of trying to get a job and finding a job and the whole application process. But now that I have been working, I think it’s exciting.
Every year, DC celebrates thousands of career-ready graduates. Read more grad stories about how DC has helped them thrive.
