Memories@Merici with Mandy Slattery, Class of 2003

Mandy Pszczola (nee Slattery), Class of 2003 pictured with her son

A Time for Reflection

After graduating from Merici in 2003, I went to the UK to do a GAP year at Farlington Boarding School. I had a great year travelling, meeting new people and working. I then returned to Australia to start university in 2005. I moved to Sydney and studied a Bachelor of Applied Science, Speech Pathology at The University of Sydney. The course had a huge workload and Merici set me up well to manage this workload and the subjects of the course. I was fortunate to continue my travels throughout (and after) uni to South-East Asia, Africa, Europe and India, including a clinical practical at the Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy in Kolkata, India. These experiences were not only great fun but also widened my perspectives about the way other cultures live.

After finishing uni I was lucky to land a great job in Melbourne working as a New Graduate Speech Pathologist in a Community Health Centre with young children. I loved working with children with speech and language difficulties, running groups and parent programs and I was fortunate to participate in further training specific to my career.

In Melbourne I met my now-husband Sean, originally from Western Australia. We decided to make the move to Perth in 2011 and have been living here ever since. Sean and I got married in 2013 and now have a cheeky toddler (Billy, a little boy) and another baby on the way! I am enjoying balancing work and life as a mum; I continue to work as a Speech Pathologist. I work at Princess Margaret Hospital (soon to be Perth Children’s Hospital), WA’s only tertiary children’s hospital. I am currently one of the Senior Speech Pathologists on the Early Intervention Team and the Paediatric Dysphagia Team. I work with infants aged newborn to 2 years with feeding and communication difficulties. Many of these children have complex medical backgrounds and I learn more and more every day. It is an intense and rewarding job and I feel lucky to be in a position to support families during some very difficult times.

I look back fondly at my time at Merici and continue to maintain friendships from school days. Merici taught me to take on challenges, strive to reach my goals, pursue studies and a career I am passionate about, to always keep learning and to balance hard work and study with fun, travel, family and friends. Thank you Merici!

 

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