This month’s Spotlight of the Month honors Sarah Stevenson!
Sarah was born and raised in Dallas, Texas and began stuttering at the age of 2. She is currently in graduate school at Texas Woman’s University earning her Master’s degree in Education/Special Education and will be graduating this upcoming Fall. She is looking forward to working in a school environment with children/adolescence who have special needs. Professionally, Sarah is currently working as a nanny but plans on pursing a different career path once she graduates with her graduate degree. On the weekends, Sarah loves to be outside and enjoys being around friends, cooking, and hanging’ outside with her dog, a pug named Maggie. “We love to go out and go on walks together” Sarah says.
Sarah joined the NSA as she entered college in 2012, and attended her first conference in St. Petersburg that same year. Though she is a relatively long-time national member, she just recently joined the Dallas NSA group this past year, and has been involved with events such as Tricks for Talking at Callier-UTD and the TWST (teens who stutter) group. Sarah has been lucky to have a family that has always been supportive of her speech and she says she has a special place in her heart for the NSA conferences. “I’ve met so many of my best friends through NSA and that will never change. I’ve learned that no one is going to change your life and make you happy but yourself. This is your life and you have the power to change your thinking or mindset into positive things. There’s no need to waste your time being unhappy about how your life could have been, or what it could have looked like. It has taken me a while to get to a place of peace with my speech, and overall who I am, and I feel that this NSA chapter has been a huge part of that transition. I love you all.”
Next time you see Sarah, invite her and Maggie out to the dog park!