What were some of the values and attitudes toward education expressed in your family? How have these influenced your thinking and your practice (as a student)?

My family has played a big role on what kind of student I am. They always made us feel that education was not only very important, but a way of life. Whenever I was little my mom would play games with me that taught me things. She made it fun for me so that I wanted to learn. After school, I would have to show her the work that the teacher handed back. If I ever did poorly on a paper, we would talk about it. She never made me feel unintelligent, if she knew that I could do better, she would tell me and ask me why I didn’t try my hardest. Also, my parents showed praise when I would do well on my report card. They would never bribe me or tell me that if I did well I would get a new toy. Now that I look back, I really appreciate them not doing that. I think that taught me to do well for myself and to get that feeling of accomplishment…not to get a physical reward.

My parents continue to play a major role on my education. I love telling them that I did well on an assignment or having them receive my grades in the mail when they are good. Not only do I feel better about myself because all my hard work has paid off, but that shows them that I AM working hard. It is my way of showing them that I appreciate all the hard work that they are doing to be able to send me to college.

Why do you want to become a speech-language pathologist? What was it about being a speech-language pathologist that drew you to this profession?

It is kind of a weird story as to how I came about wanting to study communication disorders. It’s similar to Mrs. McCommas’s actually. My freshman year first semester I was studying engineering. I wasn’t sure if that was what I wanted to do or not, I just knew that I liked math and science, so becoming an engineer seemed like a good idea. Half way through the semester I knew that engineering was not what I wanted to be doing the rest of my life. I didn’t care how much weight a rope could hold when you consider the weight of the rope and the angle of it, etc. No thanks! Luckily, I was taking UNI 101. One day I was sitting in the class and I got to talking to a girl about her major: Communication Disorders. I asked her what classes she needed to take and what being a speech-language pathologist consisted of. I soon became very interested and convinced that being a speech-language pathologist was what I wanted to do.

My mom was very happy and supportive when I brought the idea up to her. She is a special education teacher and most of her students go to a speech-language pathologist.
After I got done talking to her, I had made up my mind. It seems like a perfect job for me. I love children. Helping them learn to communicate with others would be very beneficial to me. I believe that I will enjoy working with them and seeing how my knowledge & instruction has helped them.

I also like the fact that I will have very many options as a speech-language pathologist. Yeah, I love working with children and right now, I think that I want to be in the school system, but what if I decide that I want something different, or need a change? There are many other places I can work. I can work in a clinic or in a hospital with all ages. To me, I feel like being a speech-pathologist is going to give me the best of both worlds: I get to help people and have the option of being in different settings.