A Veteran Finds Her Voice … and Her Calling

By Sloan MacRae, November 11, 2024
Vanessa Doucette’s journey from the United States Navy to IC’s Speech-Language Pathology program
A woman in a Navy uniform stands on the deck of a Naval vessel.

Vanessa Doucette M.S. '25 on her first Naval deployment. (Courtesy of Vanessa Doucette)

Vanessa Doucette M.S. '25 on her first Naval deployment. (Courtesy of Vanessa Doucette)

One of the first things you’ll likely notice about Vanessa Doucette M.S. ’25—United States Navy veteran and second year Speech-Language Pathology graduate major at IC’s School of Health Sciences and Human Performance—is her surprisingly sprightly voice. While it’s easy to grasp how patients and clients find Vanessa’s voice comforting and reassuring, she didn’t always consider it an asset. The field of speech-language pathology empowered her to regain confidence in her voice and brought her from the decks of Naval vessels to the campus of Ithaca College.

Vanessa served as a hospital corpsman in the Navy for 12 years. She enlisted in 2010 while accompanying her twin sister to a recruiter’s office. At the time, Vanessa was an undergraduate enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. She had been considering enlisting after graduation, following her father’s footsteps (he served in the Army), but the savvy recruiting officer delivered a persuasive pitch: there was a global recession at the time, the military could help Vanessa achieve her education goals, and the Navy provided the opportunity to see the world.

A family photo of three women. The woman in the middle wears a US Navy uniform.

Vanessa (center) with her mother Judy and twin sister Victoria at Vanessa's graduation from Boot Camp. (Courtesy of Vanessa Doucette)

Vanessa (center) with her mother Judy and twin sister Victoria at Vanessa's graduation from Boot Camp. (Courtesy of Vanessa Doucette)

Vanessa might not be what most people visualize when they hear “Navy veteran.” She describes herself as “a short African American woman with a squeaky voice,” but she is quick to point out that “we’re not all 18-year-old males toting weapons. We’re not all armed to go to war. Some of us are here to help others.” The humanitarian missions of the United States Armed Forces are critical to global stability.

“My voice either propelled me forward or held me back. I did some internal check-ins and found speech-language pathology was for me.”

United States Navy Veteran Vanessa Doucette M.S. '25

Three women give children piggy-back rides.

Vanessa (right) and fellow sailors give piggy-back rides to children in American Samoa. (Courtesy of Vanessa Doucette)

The recruiter didn’t exaggerate about seeing the world. Vanessa deployed twice, first in 2012 aboard the USNS Mercy, a hospital ship, and again in 2013 aboard the USS Pearl Harbor, a celebrated amphibious dock landing ship. While abroad, Vanessa took part in humanitarian missions and training exercises across the globe, including in Guam, Romania, Cambodia, Vietnam, Fiji, New Caledonia, and the Cook Islands. She also served stateside on the east and west coasts, most notably at Augusta and San Diego.

As a hospital corpsman, Vanessa’s duties usually involved providing medical services and supplies to civilians in allied and friendly nations, strengthening their bonds with the United States. The care included education, optometry, dental work, cardiology, and general patient care—often in impoverished neighborhoods. She also collaborated with members of the military from the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, and Canada.

"I’ve never met a more caring, professional, excellent group of individuals. I don’t think I’ve been surrounded by such focused and caring people even in my military career. To come here and know that I fit in with these individuals makes me so happy.”

Vanessa Doucette '25 speaking about fellow students at Ithaca College

While Naval deployment is sometimes called a “cruise,” it’s anything but touristy. There are no days off at sea. Vanessa and her cohorts worked seven days a week. Sometimes they were afforded “holiday routine” on Sundays, which amounts to two extra hours of sleep. Her shipmates, working closely with and on behalf of others, sparked a sense of purpose for Vanessa. “We commit to each other and take care of one another,” she says of her fellow sailors. “We’re all we’ve got until we come back home to our port.”

It was Vanessa’s first duty station, Naval Hospital Guam, where she found her calling—to be a health professional. She learned firsthand about disease and how nursing makes life-changing and life-saving differences for people.

That humanitarian work proved foundational when Vanessa enrolled in the graduate Speech-Language Pathology program at IC. “My Navy experience taught me discipline, time management, care, and how to be an independent worker. I took all of those values to IC, and I get to put all of that into my education and the clients we see at the Ewing clinic.”

A woman in a US Navy uniform with medical supplies.

Vanessa executing replenishment at sea (“RAS”) of medical supplies. (Courtesy of Vanessa Doucette)

Unfortunately, Vanessa endured some dark times in the Navy. Her voice attracted bullying and rejection from her peers. They did not take her seriously and taunted her to use her “big girl voice,” a destructive blow to her self-confidence and ability to lead. Plagued by doubts, Vanessa considered surgery options to alter her voice, procedures that would mean permanent damage. Her doctor absolutely refused.

“I really wanted to stay in the military to the point that I was going to hurt myself, and it was detrimental to my development,” Vanessa says of that period. “I needed to embrace who I was, and it led me to this profession.” She calls communication a “fundamental human right,” and speech pathology empowers people to achieve it. “My voice either propelled me forward or held me back,” Vanessa recalls. “I did some internal check-ins and found speech-language pathology was for me.”

Vanessa earned an undergraduate degree in Communications Sciences and Disorders from Northern Arizona University, taking two classes at a time during her demanding Navy schedule. After receiving her honorable discharge in 2022, she was eager to enroll in a speech-language pathology program. IC was one of the schools that interested her. A native of nearby of Rochester, NY, she was already familiar with the college, and she jokes, “there was no essay requirement” to apply.

A woman wearing an Ithaca College Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology uniform.

Vanessa proudly wearing her IC Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Department shirt. (Photo courtesy of Vanessa Doucette)

She considers her program at IC immensely rewarding, especially her classmates. “I’ve never met a more caring, professional, excellent group of individuals,” she says. “I don’t think I’ve been surrounded by such focused and caring people even in my military career. To come here and know that I fit in with these individuals makes me so happy.”

Vanessa will graduate in the spring, and she is currently applying for clinical fellowships, the next port in her career. She values the hands-on experience at IC and the opportunities for students to provide one-on-one care to patients—both at IC’s Ewing Clinic, that offers speech-language pathology and audiology services to people living in Ithaca and the surrounding area, and Longview, a senior living retirement community less than a mile from campus, which just marked its 25th anniversary of collaboration with IC.

Now more confident in her speaking voice, Vanessa is honing new communication muscles, those of a creative writer. She got in touch with other veterans in Ithaca and joined a writing group. The Warrior Writers-Tompkins meet every Tuesday and Thursday at the Tompkins County Department of Veterans Services and enjoy a free dinner while sharing stories. “It’s been rewarding time to use creative writing to express my happiness or sadness with the Navy and listen to other veterans, some from Vietnam and Iraq,” Vanessa says.

A woman speaks at a podium.

Vanessa speaks at IC's 21st Annual Veterans Day Celebration on Nov. 7, 2024. (Photo by Adam Baker)

Vanessa speaks at IC's 21st Annual Veterans Day Celebration on Nov. 7, 2024. (Photo by Adam Baker)

“One of the people I met was a conscientious objector in the military,” she adds. “Technically, I’m also a non-combatant because I’m a hospital corpsman. Someone in our group called him a ‘peaceful warrior.’ We’re both warriors of peace.”

At IC’s annual Veterans Day Celebration earlier this month, Vanessa identified communication, that fundamental human right, as a critical difficulty that many veterans face. She pledged to be a champion to help veterans communicate, assuring those in the audience “I would love to hear what you have to say.”

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