Research Rookies Student Profiles

Name: Isha Vaishampayan

Cohort: Sophomore/Transfer Research Rookie& Simmons' Scholar

Major: Speech-Language Pathology

Hometown: Lake-in-the-Hills, Illinois

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Miriam Van Mersbergen

Research Rookie Isha Vaishampayan has been spending her summers of high school and college volunteering at a children’s rehabilitation center. There, she has the opportunity to work alongside a speech pathologist, and experience first-hand the profound improvements in children with impairments such as Down syndrome and autism. While describing her experience, Isha said, “I watched the child grow both physically and mentally, and knowing that the speech-language pathologist had such an impact on a child’s life touched my heart. Since then, I’ve also wanted to do the same and help these children out. “

When Isha transferred to NIU from Illinois State, she knew she wanted to further her experience in the field of speech pathology and gain valuable insight into health and human sciences research, which is why she decided to become a Research Rookie. Isha is currently working with Dr. Van Mersbergen on the affects of breathing patterns and voicing due to different emotional responses. They will be comparing each participant’s breathing and voice in various emotional states to help understand the physical effects of emotions. Working with her mentor on this project is giving Isha a better grasp of research in her field and how to apply it to her future career. She is looking forward to the results of the project and using her new knowledge and experience to better help the children she plans on working with as a speech pathologist.

Isha on what being a Research Rookie means: “Being a Research Rookie means being a student who puts forth even more effort into their major and goes 110% in their academic career.”