SLP+Essay

 When I was young, I could never decide what I wanted to be when I grew up; I always went back and forth between wanting to be a teacher and wanting to be a doctor. When my cousin went to college and majored in speech-language pathology, I became very interested in this field because I thought it was the perfect combination of the medical field and education. After spending several days during high school shadowing her, I knew this was what I wanted to do. I chose the University of West Georgia because it was one of only a handful of schools in Georgia that offered speech pathology as a major. Throughout my first two years here at West Georgia, I greatly anticipated starting the speech program.  My first semester was much different than I imagined, but I really enjoyed it. I had to study harder and work harder than I ever had, but I was okay with that because I loved the material I was learning. The material we covered was so much more interesting than anything I had ever learned before. My first semester really opened my mind to so many facets of this profession. Before I started taking speech classes I assumed that speech pathologists either worked in an elementary school or a hospital, but as the semester progressed I began to realize that there is no limit to the arenas that a speech pathologist can work in.  My favorite part about my first semester was the observation hours that I did. Sometimes I got frustrated in class when something did not make sense, but when I got to go to observation and see what I was working toward, it inspired me to keep going. Just knowing that I would be the one there doing therapy very soon made me so excited. During the course of first semester, I was able to observe several clients more than once and each time I was amazed at the progress that the clients were making. One client that really stood out to me was a young girl who barely communicated at all the first time I observed her, but by the end of the semester she had begun to use sign language to indicate that she was finished with something or wanted more of something. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but because I was able to actually watch her progression, I was really impressed. Observing graduate clinicians made me realize how everything that I am learning now is going to combine to make me a great clinician.  I am really excited about my second semester, even though I know it is going to probably be the hardest. One of the things that I am most looking forward to is our class that is devoted to learning about the paperwork and things involved with working in the clinic. I am also really excited to be able to do more observation hours this semester. Our Introduction to Audiology class is also one that I have been anticipating because the field of audiology is extremely interesting to me.  At this point, I am still unsure about what type of setting I would like to work in, but I am sure that this is the right career path for me. When I came into this program, I wanted to work in a school system as a speech pathologist in an elementary school. As I have progressed, I have become increasingly interested in the hospital and clinic side of the field as well. I am readily anticipating graduate school so that I can do my internships and externships to hopefully decide which aspect of the field that I like the most. Regardless of where I get a job after I graduate, I am very passionate about all of the aspects of this career and I cannot wait to make a difference in someone’s life.