Welcome and the WHY List
Welcome to FirstYearSpeechie!
This blog is about my first year as a speech-language pathologist.
*Disclaimer: All posts are opinions only. They only reflect the thoughts and feelings of the author.*
I started my first job TODAY at a school district after finishing my last clinical externship on Friday. I still have my comprehensive exams coming up in October, so blog posts may become less frequent around that time, but until then, I hope to post the day in and day out about everything speech-related. Posts will also include evidence-based practice, information about practicing on a student waiver (only in certain states at certain school districts), the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) national convention coming up in November, Aha! and Oh Sh$%! moments, and everything in between. I'm happy to also take requests for posts such as grad school questions, clinic questions, how to earn money while in school, and ways to maintain a balance between relationships, school, career, and self--or at least what has worked for me and what I'm learning along the way.
For my first post, I'd like to talk a little about the WHY.
As a returning, non-traditional student myself, I wish I had truly thought more about my WHY before I went down my first career path (as an English professor), before I did my first masters. Although ultimately I think every experience I've had and educational route I've gone down have led me to being happy in my profession, I do still often think about my WHY.
The WHY is the big picture, the reason behind the late nights and missed events due to studying or writing a final clinic paper, the reason that gets you up in the morning when you're tired, and keeps you motivated throughout each day. This may seem like a trendy or even trite way of thinking--a way of thinking akin to the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Of course there are many jobs we could have, roles we could play, and many reasons we could be any number of things, but I've found that my why brings me back to a home inside myself. I've spent many years doubting myself and why I was following certain paths. Paths that I hadn't truly explored the why behind; paths that were not fruitless, but not essentially me. Paths along which a twinge of "What am I doing this for?" cropped up more than once and more frequently the longer I stayed on it.
Speech-language pathology checked every single box of my WHY list, and it continues to every day.
So what's on the WHY list?
-This is a profession where I could work in which I could specialize. I love the neurology aspect of speech and have friends who love other aspects: voice, language, articulation, stuttering, the list is extensive. Not only can you specialize in an area, but you can work in many different settings around that specialty. I've had experiences in a school with children with complex disabilities, in a clinic with clients with aphasia, and another clinic with clients who've experience traumatic brain injuries and stroke.
-Along the same lines, you can switch in the course of your profession depending on the rest of your life. That is, you can find balance in another setting, yet still serve clients and help people.
-You truly do help people--mostly through giving hope and positivity. It's important to me to find a profession that played to my strengths. Helping people and being positive or optimistic are my strengths, but I've found they can lead to professions that are often idealistic and financially unsustainable. This isn't true for all helping professions of course, and speech pathology is one of those exceptions.
-Although I did not ultimately pursue a career as an English professor, I was passionate about writing (I continued to be a writing instructor online for my previous university throughout my SLP grad program--more on this in posts to come) and above all, stories. I LOVE that storytelling and narratives are essential pieces of speech therapy. I love even more that we get to focus on personal stories, stories that are important in real time to tell face to face to another person. I love that we can use technology to assist in telling stories to connect with others, not to have it as a barrier as we do in so many other parts of our lives.
-The values of the national organization and most members of this field emphasize equality and cultural understanding. Although Caucasian females currently dominate the profession from a demographic standpoint, the profession welcomes and mandates cultural sensitivity, multilingual training and intervention, and socioeconomic understanding. The field is still young, but I think with its values, it will grow and change demographically in the coming years to reflect the multicultural society we live in.
-Central to speech-language pathology is lifelong learning. Since we are an evidence-based field, there is no end to what we can learn from research, research ourselves, or learn from our clients.
-Counseling and social-emotional healing is an essential part of becoming a great clinician. I still have much to learn in the way of "soft skills," but I really love that I need to get better at this in order to be good at my job. They say it's a very American thing, for better or worse, to ask a new person, "What do you do for a living?" Perhaps this is because what you do 40 or 50 or 60 hours a week truly does have a bearing on who you are. What you practice daily does influence a lot of who you are daily, throughout the years, and beyond the end of your career. I love that I need to grow in compassion, active listening, and letting go each day as part of my work. I want it for not only my career, but for my growth as a human being.
What is on your WHY list?
This blog is about my first year as a speech-language pathologist.
*Disclaimer: All posts are opinions only. They only reflect the thoughts and feelings of the author.*
I started my first job TODAY at a school district after finishing my last clinical externship on Friday. I still have my comprehensive exams coming up in October, so blog posts may become less frequent around that time, but until then, I hope to post the day in and day out about everything speech-related. Posts will also include evidence-based practice, information about practicing on a student waiver (only in certain states at certain school districts), the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) national convention coming up in November, Aha! and Oh Sh$%! moments, and everything in between. I'm happy to also take requests for posts such as grad school questions, clinic questions, how to earn money while in school, and ways to maintain a balance between relationships, school, career, and self--or at least what has worked for me and what I'm learning along the way.
For my first post, I'd like to talk a little about the WHY.
As a returning, non-traditional student myself, I wish I had truly thought more about my WHY before I went down my first career path (as an English professor), before I did my first masters. Although ultimately I think every experience I've had and educational route I've gone down have led me to being happy in my profession, I do still often think about my WHY.
The WHY is the big picture, the reason behind the late nights and missed events due to studying or writing a final clinic paper, the reason that gets you up in the morning when you're tired, and keeps you motivated throughout each day. This may seem like a trendy or even trite way of thinking--a way of thinking akin to the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Of course there are many jobs we could have, roles we could play, and many reasons we could be any number of things, but I've found that my why brings me back to a home inside myself. I've spent many years doubting myself and why I was following certain paths. Paths that I hadn't truly explored the why behind; paths that were not fruitless, but not essentially me. Paths along which a twinge of "What am I doing this for?" cropped up more than once and more frequently the longer I stayed on it.
Speech-language pathology checked every single box of my WHY list, and it continues to every day.
So what's on the WHY list?
-This is a profession where I could work in which I could specialize. I love the neurology aspect of speech and have friends who love other aspects: voice, language, articulation, stuttering, the list is extensive. Not only can you specialize in an area, but you can work in many different settings around that specialty. I've had experiences in a school with children with complex disabilities, in a clinic with clients with aphasia, and another clinic with clients who've experience traumatic brain injuries and stroke.
-Along the same lines, you can switch in the course of your profession depending on the rest of your life. That is, you can find balance in another setting, yet still serve clients and help people.
-You truly do help people--mostly through giving hope and positivity. It's important to me to find a profession that played to my strengths. Helping people and being positive or optimistic are my strengths, but I've found they can lead to professions that are often idealistic and financially unsustainable. This isn't true for all helping professions of course, and speech pathology is one of those exceptions.
-Although I did not ultimately pursue a career as an English professor, I was passionate about writing (I continued to be a writing instructor online for my previous university throughout my SLP grad program--more on this in posts to come) and above all, stories. I LOVE that storytelling and narratives are essential pieces of speech therapy. I love even more that we get to focus on personal stories, stories that are important in real time to tell face to face to another person. I love that we can use technology to assist in telling stories to connect with others, not to have it as a barrier as we do in so many other parts of our lives.
-The values of the national organization and most members of this field emphasize equality and cultural understanding. Although Caucasian females currently dominate the profession from a demographic standpoint, the profession welcomes and mandates cultural sensitivity, multilingual training and intervention, and socioeconomic understanding. The field is still young, but I think with its values, it will grow and change demographically in the coming years to reflect the multicultural society we live in.
-Central to speech-language pathology is lifelong learning. Since we are an evidence-based field, there is no end to what we can learn from research, research ourselves, or learn from our clients.
-Counseling and social-emotional healing is an essential part of becoming a great clinician. I still have much to learn in the way of "soft skills," but I really love that I need to get better at this in order to be good at my job. They say it's a very American thing, for better or worse, to ask a new person, "What do you do for a living?" Perhaps this is because what you do 40 or 50 or 60 hours a week truly does have a bearing on who you are. What you practice daily does influence a lot of who you are daily, throughout the years, and beyond the end of your career. I love that I need to grow in compassion, active listening, and letting go each day as part of my work. I want it for not only my career, but for my growth as a human being.
What is on your WHY list?
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