Carnegie Mellon University — Business Administration
Student overcomes childhood speech impediment through deliberate practice and self-work, transforming initial shame into confidence. Documents the internal shift from silence-as-protection to voice-as-strength, illustrated through speaking milestones.
Personal Statement
“I want a grande shtabry shmhoothee with lesh shugar," I said. The Starbucks barista gave me a bewildered look and said, “Sorry, what is your order?” Yet again! Strawberry, smoothie, summer, science, or soccer? The ‘S’ had failed me once more.
Stumbling through sentences, struggling with speech, my story starts with the simple letter 'S.' Since childhood, I had a lisp that led my tongue to slip past my teeth, pronouncing each sibilant with an extra “hhh” sound.
“Can you repeat?” became a constant in my life, echoing from classrooms, friends and strangers. Conversations that should have been natural instead filled me with insecurity, holding me back from expressing myself. As my thoughts raced for an answer, my brain always reached one conclusion: fear. Every time I spoke, to my ears, I heard ‘yes,’ but to others, it was ‘yeshhh.’ That extra ‘hhh’ wasn’t just a sound—it stood for humiliation, helplessness, and hurt. Silence became my unspoken comfort.
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