Emma Dine (’22)

Emma is a Penn State senior double-majoring in Communication Sciences Disorders and Psychology and minoring in Rehabilitation and Human Services. After learning about Dr. Karen Bierman’s School Readiness research group during a psychology course, Emma was immediately interested in joining as its projects aligned with her future career goals of early intervention for speech therapy. As a research assistant in the lab, Emma visits children and their families in the home to conduct standardized assessments of children’s school readiness. This work has helped strengthen Emma’s passion for learning about children’s developmental trajectories and her desire to contribute to interventions associated with positive outcomes for children. She greatly values the opportunities afforded through working in the School Readiness lab.

Emma also serves as a group leader for the Friendship Group program in the Penn State Child Study Center. This program is an educational and outreach activity that provides activities to develop children’s social skills. The program is also a training opportunity for advanced undergraduate students interested in child development. As a group leader, Emma presents and models skills and strategies identified as critical for building positive relationships in childhood to participating children.

Outside of her studies, Emma is involved with THON, Alpha Delta Pi sorority, and the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association. Emma also served as a mentee in the College of Health and Human Development Mentor Program and as a Teaching Assistant. She cites one of her greatest accomplishments as being appointed the Outreach Officer on the Penn State Homecoming 2021 Executive Committee. During her summers, she works as a camp counselor. After graduating, Emma hopes to enter a graduate program in Speech-Language Pathology so she can pursue a career as a speech pathologist and provide early intervention for communication disorders.

The CSC wishes Emma all the best in her future academic pursuits!