Scholarship Finalist - Emily Obispo

Emily Obispo is a high school senior at San Dieguito Academy who plans to attend college next fall and pursue a degree in business.

Prompt: Share a personal story of how you overcame a major life challenge or obstacle and what lessons you learned that prepared you for college and beyond. How will these experiences provide you with a unique perspective in pursuing a career in business?

I paused before speaking. Placed my tongue to the roof of my mouth and played my teacher's words through my head. “Peawllll.” It’s not quite “Pearl” but the best I could do. I went to speech therapy for nearly four years up to the end of elementary school and had insisted to my teacher and parents that I did not want to continue. I wanted to be ‘normal’ and not get pulled out of class multiple times a week to learn how to pronounce my R sounds to not sound like L’s or W’s. I was tired of getting asked; “Do you go to Speech Therapy because you never talk?” To which I would never respond. Being a very quiet kid my speech impediment only made my confidence worse, forever cringing from all the failed presentations and miscommunications due to such simple words being rearranged into a confusing mess. In Fifth grade, a classmate told me she liked my speech impediment because she always thought I had an accent. Making me feel more mysterious and special, pretending I was from a far away kingdom. Sometimes when I get too excited talking to my friends or nervous during a presentation, my speech impediment comes back in full force, my face hot and red. It always serves as a reminder to not take myself too seriously and over time has helped me speak up and grow. Moving onto my next stage in life, I’ve learned to laugh along and ignore the mocking comments and teases that are bound to come along with it. I’ve learned it’s what helps form me into my own unique individual and I don’t need to speak ‘perfectly’. Now, I barely give my speech impediment a second thought, I’ll usually address it whenever I’m met with the familiar face of confusion after I speak, but I always introduce it paired with a complimentary laugh and smile. I have gained so much empathy, patience, and understanding towards others through my personal experience with speech impediments. I currently work at LEGOLAND California, a very unique place to work and an attraction that receives guests from around the world. Due to this, I have the daily occurrence of dealing with thick accents, language barriers, and all sorts of situations where communication between both parties is murky. One thing I know for certain is that I would not be successful if I did not have the patience and empathy I have learned to be able to get communication across. Communication is a key part to any position, especially in the business career. However it does not come as easy to some as it does for others. Being empathetic, patient, and kind to those who struggle should come along with any interaction. My speech impediment has forever shaped how I connect and understand others, giving me a unique perspective that will only help me in a business career.