Just typing out the title of this post feels absolutely surreal. In case you didn’t know, I’ve been in grad school for the past two years studying to be a speech-language pathologist (SLP). I decided to head down this career path when I was just 15 (!!!) years old. Since then, I’ve been working towards this dream.
It was not easy, but I learned SO much and am infinitely grateful to have gotten into grad school at UD when I was a fresh new graduate of Temple University. I had no idea what was in store for me the next two years. I got my first client, a spunky 4-year-old with a unique chromosomal abnormality. I was thrown in immediately; working with a challenging (but so so sweet) client was the best thing that could have happened. It tested my critical thinking skills and my clinical expertise. Shortly after, I gained another client. A woman in her mid-50’s with aphasia. She was the sweetest woman and I loved working with her. I helped advocate for her to receive an AAC device, and she was using it when I left the clinic.
I had amazing mentors along the way. I ended my first year with 5 clients in the university clinic that I was seeing back-to-back. This also brought about five different supervisors. Each had their own way of thinking and collaborating that taught me how to not only be a good clinician, but how to be a good team member.
I had opportunities to give hearing screenings at preschools. I screened elementary schoolers for difficulties in articulation and language. I learned how to build rapport quickly and administer lengthy standardized tests to kids I had known for 5 minutes. I took what I learned in the classroom and slowly began to apply it in the clinic. I was overwhelmed with information, but confident I was learning everything I needed to succeed.
In my second year, I was terrified and excited to begin my fall placement at an elementary school. By the end of the first week, I knew this was what I wanted to do. There wasn’t a single day that I wasn’t cracking up with my students. I loved seeing them in the hallways and doing different, fun activities each week. I was so sad when the semester was over and I had to leave them for good. After this semester, I had confirmed that I wanted to be a school based speech-language pathologist.
When I started my spring placement at Manorcare, I wasn’t sure how I was going to like it. It wasn’t that I didn’t love working with adults, it was mostly just that I was more interested in working with kids. I had pretty much decided that in the school was where I was meant to be.
It was hard sitting and talking with older adults when I didn’t have grandparents of my own. But I grew so much through that placement. I had an amazing supervisor that I really clicked with and I gained so much confidence treating swallowing disorders. I also went from being really nervous in the Alzheimer’s unit to it becoming one of my favorite places to visit. At the end of it all, I still was confident that I belonged in the school but the decision was definitely a bit more complicated.
At the beginning of May, I presented my capstone project: The Prevalence of Burnout and Compassion Satisfaction Among Speech-Language Pathologists. I had been working on it for a year, and it was the focus of my entire winter break. The final document ended up being 30 pages and I was so happy to present it because it was something I was totally and completely interested in. My parents, Ryan, and my best friend Kelsey came to the presentation which meant a lot to me. I was so glad that I picked an interesting, relevant topic and can’t wait to see what we end up doing next with the data!
After the capstone presentations, all I had to do was finish a few more assignments for our spring semester classes, wrap-up our spring semester practicum placements, and GRADUATE! I scheduled the PRAXIS exam for the week after graduation (which is today) and I passed this morning!
So now all that’s left is for me to accept a job (coming soon…) and get my C’s (which will happen after my first 9-ish months of working). I feel so blessed to have had this internet space for as long as I have. This blog has been a living journal of my life for the past ~5 years. I’ve talked about everything: books, planners, travels, my undergrad experiences, getting into grad school, and now here I am writing about my journey to becoming a speech-language pathologist.
I have so many people to thank for sticking with me through all of this. Ryan, my parents, my brother, and my friends. Being an SLP started off as, quite literally, a dream. And it still doesn’t feel real that I am ~actually~ a speech-language pathologist now. Nothing has switched inside me yet that has made me feel different. It’s like waiting to feel older on your birthday. You feel like you should feel something but nothing has really changed from the day before.
You guys might be wondering if there’s a next step for Kayla Blogs and this lil internet space. And right now, I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing. There might not be any more sponsored content (but maybe there will be… who knows!), there might be more posts like this one… just reflecting on where I’m at now and what things I’m feeling. All you need to know is that I’ll always be here hanging out in this space. If Instagram, Twitter, Facebook shut down tomorrow… you would know exactly where to find me!
I hope you’ll stick with me through whatever comes next.
