Undergraduate Students and Volunteers

Marisa Fried is in her second year of the Speech-Language Pathology MA program. She is passionate about cognitive linguistics, bilingualism, and indigenous languages. She has participated in research on verb agreement in K’iche (Mayan) at the University of Maryland and the relationship between dementia and hearing loss with Dr. Coco at SDSU. She hopes to work with the adult population as a speech pathologist, and aspires to be an outdoor educator on the side.

Haley Helms is a junior majoring in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences with a minor in Counseling and Social Change. Her areas of interests include Deaf studies and culture; she became interested in this topic through ASL classes and Dr. Emmorey’s class Sign Languages and Deaf Culture. Haley wants to pursue a career in audiology and is involved with SDSU clubs such as NSSLHA and SAA.

Zella Pangle is a sophomore studying Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, with a Honors
minor in Interdisciplinary Studies as well as a minor in Child and Family Development. Her areas
of interest include the cultural perspectives of the Deaf Community in a hearing world, as well as
the cultural backgrounds and differences in sign languages around the world. She was
introduced to these topics while taking ASL classes throughout high school. Zella is currently
considering speech pathology or audiology for her future field. As a hard-or-hearing individual,
she is passionate about working with children and advocating for sign language use in the
formative years.

Caitlin Pearson is a junior majoring in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at SDSU. Her areas of interest include understanding language in the brain along with language deprivation, particularly as these pertain to Deaf children and children with cognitive disabilities. She is passionate about advocacy for the use and importance of early exposure to signed languages for deaf and HOH children. This stems from her interest in ASL, and hearing the perspectives of deaf teachers throughout middle and high school ASL classes. She is interested in a future in Speech-Pathology and neurolinguistics research.