The Dr. Thom and Terry Flamboe Graduate Fellowship in Speech-Language Pathology The Dr. Thom and Terry Flamboe Graduate Fellowship in Speech-Language Pathology will be awarded to graduate students who have an interest in working with children post-graduation. Preference shall be given first to students who have unmet financial need. Student applicants must be graduate students admitted to the MS SLP program and have a 3.0 grade point average or higher. “The purpose of this scholarship is to give back to the UW Department of Communication Disorders who gave me a chance to pursue my career paths. They gave me the opportunity and encouragement to complete my educational goals. In essence, they saw something in me—an ability or talent to carry on my belief and work with people. This is my chance to say thank you to the department and to give someone else the good fortune that I had—to grow and develop into the person, professional, and Cowboy that I am. Paying it forward is everything!” – Thom Flamboe, Ph.D.
Marisa Yagi: Multicultural, Multilingual, and Multi-talented DONATED BY MARISA C. YAGI Marisa C. Yagi, MS CCC-SLP is a Japanese-American “third culture kid.” She grew up in Egypt, Kenya, and Japan and spoke no English until in junior high school. Her first experience of living in America was at the University of Wyoming, where she earned three degrees, including a masters in speechlanguage pathology. After becoming a certified speech language pathologist, she started her own company, Yagi Speech LLC, to provide accessible and affordable online and in-person speech/ language services focused on the international, multicultural, and multilingual community. At the age of 27, Marisa established a business unit in Okinawa called ShisaCare, which, for the first time, enabled U.S. military service members and their families in Japan to receive speech-related services covered by TRICARE. Wyoming is the donor family’s U.S. home and all of her 4
UW Division of Communication Disorders
siblings, including two with hearing impairments, attended UW. Her global background gave her a special appreciation of the needs and challenges facing everyone—especially children—in multilingual and multicultural environments and of George Bernard Shaw’s shrewd observation that “the single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” The Cowboy values she learned at UW compelled her to help provide some of the same assistance as an alumna that she herself received as a student. It is hoped that this scholarship will provide material support to deserving students and encourage them persevere no matter what obstacles they encounter. Priorities for the Yagi Multicultural Scholarship in Communications Disorders include the following (in order of importance): underrepresented, international, or minority students with financial need; students with financial need who articulate how they will use their degree to promote multiculturalism and/or multilingualism; or students with financial need.
