We're delighted to profile Dr Kerianne Druker as a Human of Carmel! Below, she answers some of our questions about the road she's travelled since leaving Carmel nine years ago.

What experience most sticks out in your mind from your Carmel days?

My most memorable experience is how welcoming and friendly all my peers were on my first day of Year 8, having immigrated from South Africa.

What made you pursue a career in Speech Pathology and why are you so passionate about early intervention when it comes to speech development in young children?

I have always loved children and ran children services at different Shules since the age of 12, so I knew I wanted to work with children one day. I found Speech Pathology to be the perfect mix of science (fostered strongly by my Carmel Human Biology teacher) and child development.

How do you juggle being a new mum with your new business Exceed Speech?

I am really grateful to have a very supportive husband, so I mostly work around his work schedule to fit in my clients (and also work some weekends). This ensures I can still spend most of my time dedicated to our beautiful nine-month-old daughter.

To what do you attribute your success?

I attribute my success to my mother, who dedicated her life to supporting me in every way possible and always pushed me to strive for excellence.

My clinical and academic success has truly come from me LOVING what I do.

I feel truly privileged to go on a journey with each of the families I work with. I get incredible amounts of fulfillment when I see the impact of improved speech, language and communication skills on a child’s academic, social and emotional success.

A recent game changer has been the ability to provide Telehealth services to families around Australia! There has been so much recent research that shows treatment is equally as effective if done on Telehealth, so that has opened up so many opportunities for me to reach more families and change more lives. In fact, at least a third of the families I work are based in Perth!

What is it like living in Queensland? Do you miss Perth? What are the things you miss the most?

I enjoy the new challenges and experiences and have been lucky enough to further my academic career at the University of Queensland – which I why we initially made the move. I will always miss my family and friends so much; nothing can/will ever replace that!

What message would you have for current 69É«ÇéƬ pupils wanting to pursue a career in the sciences?

Follow your passion and success will follow.

Working in allied health sciences will ensure you are presented with new experiences and challenges each day. Above all, you will have the power to change people’s lives.