2024 Student Awards

The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders is proud to announce the recipients of their 2024 Student Awards. These students were selected for their outstanding performance both academically and in their clinical placements outside the classroom.

Student	Award	About
	Outstanding Master of Science-Residential: Nadia Sabeh Ayon	Nadia Sabeh Ayon was a practicing speech therapist in Lebanon before coming to the MS program in Speech Language Pathology at USC. She completed a special interest area in Neurogenic Speech and Language Disorders Track, served on the SC Speech Language Hearing Association (SCSHA) Student Advisory Council and received the 2023 SCSHA Foundation Scholarship, at the same conference where she presented a research poster to which she contributed. Nadia speaks English, French, and Arabic, and has demonstrated her knowledge of the importance of culturally informed practice in Speech-Language Pathology.
	Outstanding Master of Science-Distance Education: Loujen Ajlani	Loujen Ajlani is a native of Columbia, She discovered her interest in speech-language pathology when she took an introductory course as an undergraduate student in the Arnold School of Public Health. She was intrigued by the intricacies of speech and language and decided to pursue her graduate degree in speech-language pathology at USC. After completing a medical placement internship over the summer, Lougen plans to worrk for Lexington 1 Schools.
	Magellan Apprentice Award: Ellie Dubose	Ellie  Dubose is an undergraduate student majoring in Public Health with minors in Psychology, Education, and Business Administration, and plans to become a speech-language pathologist. Ellie has been a student volunteer in the Center for the Study of Aphasia Recovery (C-STAR) for over a year now and was recently granted the Capstone Fellows Magellan Apprentice Award. Her project focuses on spreading awareness of aphasia and answering many of the questions someone might have when first diagnosed. She became interested in working in the Aphasia Lab after taking an Introduction to Speech-Pathology course with her mentor, Dr. Kristinsson. She will present her findings at USC Discover Day in the spring of 2024 and is looking forward to applying to graduate school in the fall.