Time is flying by...

I haven't updated in awhile because it has been C R A Z Y busy between my LEND obligations, class, and beginning clinic this week, but overall things are going pretty darn good; Monday marks the 5th week of school beginning... insane, right?

I have chosen by research topic for my LEND project as well as my CAT project for my research methods class... I'm going to be looking at Goal Attainment Scaling as a possible assessment tool for students who are taught through use of iPads. I began my literature review last week and I already have a good 15 articles stored that I have to dissect and put in my evidence matrix. This stuff is so much work, but its a means to an end. I am super excited to present my findings next year at the LEND research presentation day.

Class is going lol, I wasn't feeling swamped with things until this week. Perhaps this is because of clinic beginning, I don't know. In any case, I am finding that my brain just simply shuts down after a certain point in the evening. I went to bed at 8:00p on Thursday because I just couldn't keep my eyes open any more. Things aren't all that negative, however. I had my first exam as a grad student on Friday and I am fairly certain (cross fingers) that I did well on it. It is interesting getting to know new professors, their teaching styles, and personalities, it would be way different had I gotten in to EC where I  know all the professors and what to expect; not knowing is proving to be a very fun adventure though. I am super excited to be writing a research paper for my acquired disorders class on mTBI and blast related concussive injuries.

This leads me to another piece of news: I may be beginning another research venture next semester with one of the audiology professors, she is studying mTBI and blast related concussion in the military and its connections to CAPD (central auditory processing disorder). I am way way way excited about this as I have decided that I would love to do my CFY (clinical fellowship year) which is sort of like a residency for a MD, at a level 1 trauma center such as the VA in Minneapolis, but as I have only completed 4 weeks of grad school I have 23 months to contemplate where I want a CFY to take place.

So I might be biting off more than I can chew, but I see grad school as a time for me to be way too busy, stressed, and soak in every opportunity I can possibly conceive of, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

Clinic is just so much fun. I can't wait for the day that I just have to do clinical things and not school work, yes I know, paperwork is horrible as a practicing SLP, but working with patients is worth it I am sure/I hope. ;) I am working with 2.5 clients this year, which is an increase from the 1.5 clients I worked with as an undergrad. The .5 means I only see that kiddo once a week. All my clients are above the age of 10 which is a change from working with primarily toddlers - elementary aged students. This semester is going to be difficult in that I will have to do more adaptation of myself to fit the needs of my clients... I am very loud and large meaning I love to talk (sometimes loudly), am straightforward, direct, and move kind of fast when I converse... my clients for the most part have processing issues so I will have to adapt myself to slow down so they have time to think of an answer before I move on to another thought. Its things like this that I really need to learn before I head out into the real world. I love my supervisors and the whole clinical atmosphere, they are so laid back and willing to help. The only negative thing is that I do not enjoy having to drive 45 minutes twice a week to get to clinic, this is slowly getting stressful and really makes me appreciate days when I don't have to drive.

In non-school news I miss WI, my friends, and family a lot, but am slowly meeting new people and starting new friendships with some awesome people here. My biggest worry in moving down here was that I wasn't going to have any friends and I would be pretty my alone through these 2 years of grad school... yes I have Phil, but having others to help you with questions on homework or discuss speechy things with is just such a blessing (yes, Phil is a blessing too)... I can try to talk to Phil about this stuff, but he just doesn't (understandably) understand.

Wedding planning is still trucking along. I think I have a good idea as to what I want, now the trick is figuring out how it is all going to happen. My mom and aunt are going to a wedding fair this weekend so hopefully they come back with lots of ideas as to good vendors, etc. They are going as future wives (fiancees) lol.. I hope they have a ton of fun!

Anyway... that's pretty much all for now. I will try to update at least when something big happens or honestly when I get spare moment.

 I will leave you with graduate school tip #1: Save EVERYTHING that is professionally relevant. I wish I had done so in my undergrad as it would make inputting all my professional experience into my KASA so much easier. Anyone have an idea as to the short courses that were at the 2010 ASHA Convention in Philly? If so, please let me know. :)

The dreaded needle stick...

So it's been a VERY long time since I last posted. It's been very crazy getting everything ready for grad school, etc. My latest adventure has been overcoming my fear of needles. I should clarify, it is not the needle itself that scares me, it is the fact that something is going to puncture my skin; I am fine once the needle is in...I'm weird I know. So for clinic we need to show proof that I am immune to chicken pox, hepatitis b, and that I am TB among updating Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis which is whooping cough) shots. It turns out that I am a lot stronger than I give myself credit for and that needles aren't the death objects that I remember from my childhood. I went in for my step two of my TB test today and didn't have heart palpitations or panic attacks. The one thing that I am still apprehensive about is the possibility of an epidural (HUGE needle) when I decide to have kids...baby steps, baby steps lol. In any case, I am extremely proud of myself for overcoming my fear, maybe I can start to work on other irrational fears... anyone want to go sky diving?

On the grad school front, nothing else is really new. I registered and am expecting to take about 14 credits this semester including clinical assignments. I may be a bit of an geek (okay, okay... a majorly big one), but I am excited to pick up my books from the bookstore and start studying. I think grad school studying, staying up late to write papers, and reading very small text is going to actually be tolerable because I will be studying something I am interested in versus studying statistics and how to find the mean, median, and mode of some random group of numbers then plotting those numbers and figuring out standard deviations. Math and I are not friends.

Anyway, ending on a positive note... I am really loving the weather today, its nice and breezy and not overwhelmingly oppressive, hopefully it stays this nice for the GSNWGL's 100th Anniversary Expo at Lambeau Field this Saturday!

Forward Motion!

So its been a long time since I posted! I'm not even in school yet, but I seem to already be bereft of time to update. This doesn't bode well for the survival of this blog. lol. Ah well, I'm updating now. A lot has happened in the last few weeks. I was offered and accepted a graduate assistantship/traineeship in Speech-Language Pathology through the LEND program. Basically, this assistantship is beyond perfect. I will get to work on interdisciplinary diagnostic (dx) teams to help not only dx clients, but also to plan therapy for them as well. Interdisciplinary means that students from the psych, medical, physical therapy, occupational therapy and others will be working with myself on teams. Its completely unreal to me that I've been offered this opportunity, usually they choose their strongest students and I really don't see myself as "strong" I'm sure that other students have much much much better grades and GREs than me, but maybe all my personal experience counts for something, finally. lol.

On top of the awesome opportunity to work with amazing people, I also get 2/3 reduction in tuition which for an out of state student like myself is basically a godsend. I was getting worried about how I was going to afford to pay for grad school and not be up to my ears in debt when I graduate, but this completely solves me problem until I can apply for residency.

Other good news on the grad school front, since my undergrad course load was so heavy I might be exempt from having to take 6 credits of disorders courses (fluency and voice and resonance) in grad school. I'm pretty amped about this, but if I have to take both courses anyway it might be a blessing in disguise as I'm not sure I remember exactly how to give circumlaryngeal massage or all the disfluency types...I will never forget however how to chart disfluency types (thank you undergrad research).

Personally, my fiance has work secured for at least 1 month when we move and our apartment is officially ours starting in June. Its going to be so great to get into a place that has a washer and dryer IN the apartment. My parents washer and dryer has been getting quite a work out because we take our laundry there.

Work with the Girl Scouts is slowly coming to a very sad sad end. I'm going to miss the women I work with so much. I can't imagine a better place to spend a year than with them. I will not miss the work load or the hours I have to put in to do my job well. Last week was a 55 hour work week, ick.

I think that's all I have for now. I'm gearing up today to have a wedding planning extravaganza with some girl friends. Mostly this is me helping them plan as they are getting married this year... I have 2 years to plan mine. My fiance will be holed up in our bedroom playing Call of Duty online with his brother, so he will be in heaven I'm sure.

As April comes to a close keep in mind that it is Autism Awareness Month. Keep supporting organizations that fund and do research to find a cure or better ways to help people who have autism.

I will leave you with a bit of speechy humor. Have a fantastic day!

Is this real life?

Things are moving so fast already that it's hard to believe that in a matter of months I will finally be a full-fledged graduate student. Last year and all the heartache of rejection and wait-list letters seem so far away. I received my acceptance letter a month ago, but all this has yet to fully sink in. I feel so infinitely blessed to have the opportunity to pursue my studies and someday be an SLP. My heart goes out to all my fellow applicants who are still waiting on decisions. I myself am in my second year of applying so I understand how depressing and disheartening it is... my advice: HANG IN THERE. I am not the ideal applicant... my GRE is average, GPA in one word SUCKS, but I have been working my behind off for these last few years making my credentials, work history, and experiences off set my negative academic profile. I have learned from this whole process that although it is definitely more difficult, a low GPA is not a death sentence in terms of getting in to grad school.

So what's on the horizon for myself? Well, this Friday I am meeting with my faculty advisor to register and lay down my academic plan for the next 6 semesters. Maybe even begin discussing research and hopefully a thesis! :) I am waiting on a decision for a graduate traineeship (I should hear by next week).

The purpose for this blog is to document my day to day experiences, triumphs, set-backs, bad days, and forward motion, preparing for, during, and after graduate school. Wish me luck, this is going to be quite the ride...