Posted 9/09/2008

Knight was the first USC exchange student in speech-language exchange program at Universidad Santa Paula

Mamie Knight

Mamie Knight gave it a good shot – plowing through sociology, public speaking and a half dozen other unrewarding courses before deciding to major in Spanish at the College of Charleston.

“This sounds awful, but I figured that if had to go to class for four years, I might as well enjoy it,” she said.

Thus, her choice was a language she had come to love and had a gift for speaking. That decision now proves to have been pivotal as the new graduate of the Arnold School of Public Health begins her career as a speech therapist.

Knight is aiming for a public school job in Georgia where she will be working with Latino children with speech problems.

She will be applying skills honed over two years at the Arnold School’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders.

In addition, for about twelve weeks earlier this year, she obtained specialized training at the Universidad Santa Paula and preschool Kinder Papillón in Costa Rica.

She was the first U.S. student to participate in an exchange program that included a supervised clinical practicum at the Central American university.

All COMD students are required to complete a practicum and, for Knight, this was a dream assignment.

Word of the practicum first reached Knight in a letter to The ASHA Leader, the journal of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association.

Norma I. Naranjo Arias, head of a speech-language pathology program at the Universidad Santa Paula, wrote that she wanted to start an exchange program with a university in the United States.

Knight could hardly believe the turn of her luck. “I’d been e-mailing people all over the world, making a pest of myself with no response.”

Fast forward to this past May when Knight’s flight set down in San Jose.

“I lived with a family in Escazu, a suburban city near San Jose. I would spend part of my week at a local pre-school and the rest of the time at the university,” Knight said.

 
Knight with a group of her hearing impaired
students at Kinder Papillón.

Arias, was her coach/mentor on days that she worked at the university in downtown San Jose, Costa Rica’s capital and the nation’s largest city with a population of 346,000.

Another colleague, Carla Pozuelo was Knight’s mentor on days she worked in the pre-school. The two became good friends. “I lived close to Carla and every Monday she would invite me to dinner,” Knight said.

Pozuelo was just one of many Coasta Ricans to open their arms to Knight. “The people were warm and friendly,” she said.

“When I traveled alone on weekends, people would strike up a conversation, help me with directions. It wasn’t that different from what we call ‘southern hospitality’,” said Knight, who hails from Lancaster.

Dinner at Carla’s was a cultural/culinary treat, said Knight. It was also another occasion to indulge her taste for gallo pinto, the ubiquitous black beans and rice dish that some Costa Ricans eat at every meal.

She discovered the climate to her liking. “It was humid, but not really hot. It was usually in the 70s. They don’t use air conditioning like we do. There was no air conditioning in the pre-school I worked in or the university,” said Knight.

San Jose is located in the tropics, about 10 degrees from the equator. However, its elevation of about 3,000 feet helps maintain a comfortable, if humid, year-around climate with windy weather also lowering the temperature.

Working with the energetic Costa Rican pre-schoolers gave Knight a taste of what her job would be like when she graduated from USC. The experience also worked out to the benefit of the youngsters, who are now using teaching materials donated by Arnold School alumnus Sharon Webber.

One of Knight's cochlear implant students showing off her goodies after a birthday party.

Part of Knight’s graduate work was funded by a scholarship from Webber, who with her husband, Thomas, operate Super Duper Publications. Based in Greenville, the Webbers’ mail-order company produces books, cards and games that prompt children to speak.

When she found a scarcity of learning materials at the pre-school, Knight remembered a promise from Sharon Webber to contact her if she needed help. With Carla’s input, Knight put together a wish list for their youngsters and sent it to Super Duper.

She remembers Carla worrying the list was too long, but felt confident in the Webbers generosity. At the end of the trip, Knight said she felt honored to have been a part of helping meet the needs of Carla and the preschool.

“Carla and all my students taught me so much in my time there - about therapy and generosity – that I was glad to be able to connect them with the Webbers, who are themselves models of generosity. I couldn’t have asked for anything better.”