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...