on to the next semester!

It's been SO long since I blogged last....

Last semester wrapped up nicely.  I was able to finish my "25 page paper," which came in at around 22.5 pages of actual writing.  I got a good grade on it so whatever.  I have to say that I learned a HECK OF A LOT of information while writing it for real though.  Glad I started it early on, otherwise I would have seriously struggled writing it the weekend of.

I ended up with great grades!  I got an A in each class, with the exception of audiology, in which I got an A-.  I was sort of okay with that though, because for some reason I really struggled initially in audiology.  

I'm trying to get straight A's again this semester naturally, so we'll see how that ends up.  I'm taking 5 classes:

• Intro to Clinic/Observation hours:  I'm REALLY excited for this, just because I get to see more action in a clinic/school/wherever.  Basically I'm just pumped to see some more therapy.  There will be a LOT of journaling in this class, but I'll deal and be happy about it.
• Research, part II:  This is just a continuation of the class I took last semester.  Basically I have to write a lit review.  I need to figure out what I want my topic to be ASAP.
• Phonology and Language disorders:  This is the only true undergraduate class I am taking.
• Swallowing/Feeding Disorders:  Really excited for this class, as it's the first actual graduate class I'm taking that has clinical applications (unlike research)
• Speech Science:  Kind of dreading this one, it doesn't seem like a lot of fun, but I guess I shall see! 

I didn't actually count it out just yet, but with my estimations, I'm guessing that I'll do well over 100 pages of writing this semester.  CRAZY, but I'm ready to accept the challenge.  

On another note-- during break I got an email saying that us 3 years were going to be doing some screenings at a local clinic this semester.  I'm excited about this because a) it gives me something 'real' to do, b) it's getting into the hands on stuff, c) it makes my schedule a little more hectic and d) why the heck not?!  The first day is next Tuesday and I literally can't wait.  Also tutoring starts next week and this semester I'll have two clients.

This semester should certainly be interesting......

Friday nights

I spent my friday night (after I got off work) doing two things:

1. I decided to make black bean burgers.  I've really enjoyed eating more beans and less meat lately, so I figured I'd give them a try.  If nothing else, I figure I can make them taste like I want them to, plus have the added benefit of the burgers costing a lot less than a store brand. So I soaked the dry beans all day while I was at work, hoping they'd be almost ready when I got home.  Little did I know that in order for the beans to get soft, you STILL have to cook them for like 1-2 hours, in addition to soaking all day.  This put a dent in my plans, as I didn't get off til 7 and I was hungry then, not 1, 2, 3 hours later.  Anyway, I ended up cooking the beans and made the burgers in the evening.  I guess I'll try them tomorrow or Sunday.  Hopefully they turn out well!
2. I decided to start on my project of MAKING A 3D MODEL OF THE LARYNX for anatomy.  Say what?!  Considering I now know the parts of the larynx though, this project doesn't seem nearly as intimidating as it did at the beginning of the semester.  With that said though, finding the supplies to build it with is kind of tough.  So far I have some PVC pipe, a toilet paper cardboard roll, and yeah....I still have some thinking to do.  I also realized tonight that even with all the random school supplies I bought before graduate school, I am still out of glue and scotch tape.  Major womp. I'm excited to see how awesome I can make this project though. :)

WHAT HAVE MY FRIDAY NIGHTS TURNED INTO?! ....and I'm not even in the bulk of my graduate studies yet, not even close....

Weird part is, I'm not overly upset about my laid back Friday nights pretending to be a chef and a sculptor/artist/scientist/whatever.  It kinda suits me well for now. :) In fact, this project isn't even due for another month and I'm anxious to finish it....who have I become?!

It's been almost a year!

It was last November that I visited the school I'm at now and decided that I was certainly going to apply.  The small town living terrified me, but I liked what the school had to offer-- small class sizes and great, caring professors.  One thing I didn't like about the school, aside from the location, was the teeny, tiny building that our program and clinic were housed in.  I got over this, and little did I know, we are getting a brand spankin' new clinic that will open next year!  My "real" cohort (my true first year as a CSDS graduate student) will be the first class to get to use it in its entirety.  How exciting!  I'm still so happy that I pursued getting my master's in this field so hard.  I never thought I would make it into a program, and here I am, about a year after definitely deciding to apply to programs for Fall 2012!  Time seems to be moving faster these days, and I'm incredibly grateful as I'm that much closer to starting all of my graduate coursework and clinics.  Hooray!!

On another note, the other day my program director recommended that the other 3 year and I sit in on a phonetics class to touch up on our skills.  After I emailed her to remind her that I took the class in person at ODU, she thankfully said that I had a great foundation and didn't realize I had taken the class in person.  Basically she told me that I didn't have to go to the phonetics class if I didn't want to.  Welllllll, even though I don't HAVE to go now, today I decided that graduate school is about learning to do what I want to do in life.  If this is the case, shouldn't I try to perfect my craft the best I can?  With that said, I decided that I might as well go to the phonetics class and master the skills/touch up on what I might have forgotten about (cough diacritics cough).  So here I am, not required to sit in on the class, not enrolled in the class, not getting a grade in the class, but yet....still sitting in on the class, JUST TO LEARN MORE.  Say what?! I guess that's what dedication and motivation will do to a person.  :)  Here's to being the best student I can be for the next 3 years.   

lovin' speech!

I have officially fallen in love with just about everything speech.  I find myself applying concepts I'm learning about to EVERYTHING.  I also find that I am constantly wanting to learn more about it.  I've found pinterest sites with all kinds of therapies.  I also follow the speech path blog on livejournal, which is a pretty awesome support group and I've learned a lot from reading things that members post and the responses.

In tutoring the other day (math I might add), I worked on vocabulary with my client.  I can't say this was my idea on my own, as my program director suggested it the other day during advising.  HOWEVER, I will give myself credit in saying that in the session I had been working on breaking down word problems and trying to get the client to understand what the problem was trying to ask.  After talking to my PD, I decided to print out some math vocab offline-- terrible idea, as the vocabulary had nothing to do with our subject at the time, so I figured that would be pointless.  During the session I  improvised while my client was doing her homework, and decided to make flashcards out of the chapter's vocab.  I felt like this was a great idea-- I mean if you don't know what the section is asking for, how can you get it right?!  Anyway, the client was pretty happy for a change of pace.  She was responsible for writing the definition (as she understood it after we talked about it) and writing an example that would remind her of what it meant.  Hopefully these will help. If so, we will definitely be doing it in the future!

Also, I went to the library today to check out some books.  As a grad student, I can check out as many books as I'd like, for three months. Decided it would be worth it to check out 4 books for now, as fall break is this weekend and I'm not going home. :( All of the books I ended up choosing were SLP related.  I can't get enough about reading about different situations!  I chose the following four:

• Where is the Mango Princess?
• Seeing Voices
• Still Alice
• The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

The first and the last book are about TBIs and learning to live afterwards.  The second book is about deaf culture and history.  The third book is about a professor who studied cognition who developed early onset Alzheimer's.  I've heard that all four of these are great books and I can't wait to get started on them!

So far I've read Schuyler's Monster, which was about parents journey of fighting for their child to get the appropriate AAC device, as she did not speak, but understood.  I also read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, about a kid who (appeared to have some sort of Autism Spectrum Disorder, but it was never explicitly stated) finds out many 'secrets' in his life and has to learn to deal and adapt to them, all while not knowing emotions well.  I love reading these books because I feel like they give me new insight into the field, since SLPs deal with so.many.different.situations.  

In other news, I pretty much have mapped out my last round of prerequisites next semester.  I'll have a pretty heavy load, but I think its definitely manageable.  I'll be taking Speech Science (at the graduate level), Language/Phonological Disorders, the second part of Research Design (grad level), doing my Observation class (grad level), and Dysphagia (grad level).

So far this semester I've loveddddd neurology which is crazy, because I thought that I would have struggled in it.  We have a 25 page paper on basically speech from a speaker producing a word to the second speaker replying to the word.  At some points the paper itself has been overwhelming, but honestly I've learned so much from it, it's almost ridiculous.

Glad I seem to have picked the right career.  Hope my enthusiasm holds up throughout grad school. ;)

good things are cominggggg :)

This semester started out very very slowly.  I felt like the next three years or so were going to be the longest of my life, living in the middle of nowhere Virginia.  Thankfully, though, my classes have started and while a lot of them are undergrad level, they are challenging just by their nature.  My schedule this semester consists of Neurology, A&P, Audiology, a SPED class for DOE certification later on down the road, and the first part of research.

I'm loving neurology and A&P so much more than I thought that I would!  I've never really been a science person but I just 'get' them.  They are both challenging, but at the same time so fascinating.  It definitely helps that we have pretty great professors here.

I absolutely can't wait to figure out my passion in this field.  There are so many different paths that I could take in speech pathology.  I can work with infants, children, adults, seniors.  I can work in a hospital, home care, a school system, or a clinic.  I can work on the medical aspects of SLP (like swallowing) or I can work on the language side (pragmatics, vocabulary, etc) or I can work on speech (articulation disorders, etc).  Memory functions can also be thrown in (like in Alzheimer's) and everyday functions (like sequencing events).  I'm sure just by naming those things that I have somehow still missed something.

THERE ARE SO MANY OPPORTUNITIES.  I'm really legitimately excited to continue on with my course work and see what intrigues me and what I feel like I will best be utilized for in the field.  I'm sure this will be further emphasized once I start clinics next year.  It can't come fast enough.  :)

I do have to say that I am slightly glad I took the three year route.  It is a little bit more money, and another year of my life away from my home, but I really feel like this year I can master the information that I am learning here.

I love this field so much.  I just can't express that enough.  I'm glad I figured out this is where I want, need to be in life.  I'm even more glad I figured it out in time to push myself to get the grades and everything else I needed to get in to a graduate school.  Especially one that cares so much about its students.  I couldn't be any luckier.