Summer!

It is going to be 2 degrees tomorrow morning. So, let's talk about summer. :)

Summer is a great great time to gain experience and make connections that can help you move along in the major and into grad school. Now is the time to begin brainstorming/applying for summer work! If you are a sophomore or junior and thinking more specifically of graduate schools and applications, be strategic! Think of what opportunities would best diversify your experience as an undergraduate.

Here are some ideas/tips for summer:

 Paid summer internships specifically in SLP/AuD are rare. (I've only heard of one person who worked as a SLP intern and got paid.) But, most hospitals, nursing homes, or clinics are willing to let you shadow or work as an unpaid intern over the summer. Meetings SLPs and AuDs can help you gain practical knowledge relating to the field and give you job connections when you graduate.

Summer camps! Camps are great because they are always hiring for the season and you get paid. Special needs camps are especially great.. more challenging, but that shows people you are willing to work hard! Here is a list of special needs camps all over the United States:

http://www.veryspecialcamps.com/


Or, babysit! Work in a lab! Do Pete's Pals! Study abroad! SLP is people-oriented, so anything related to serving others is fantastic.

A final tip: Talk to people in your classes and at NSSLHA meetings! Upperclassmen might have neat opportunities to share. Don't be shy :)

A final final tip: Read about some summer experiences of NSSLHA members here & here

First semester thanks

Hi, friends! Hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas break. :)

Thank you all for participating in NSSLHA this first semester. Your smiling faces are the heart & soul of our club. We so much appreciate volunteering for Crossroads, coming to paint potter at All Fired Up, faithfully volunteering with GLASS.

Our callout for spring semester is Tuesday, January 15 @ 6:30 pm in ME 1061. There is much to look forward to this semester. . . ARC dance, Relay for Life, Student-Faculty snack, officer elections. All great ways to be involved in NSSLHA!

P.S. If you like to read, here are the top 15 SLP blogs of 2012. http://erikxraj.com/blog/top-15-speech-language-pathology-blogs-of-2012

Why did you pick this major?

Sorry for the delay in posting, friends! I suppose I could blame graduate school applications, and I think y'all would respect that. :) I thought it might be fun to start a discussion about why you chose to pursue Speech Language Pathology or Audiology. Comment or email me and I'll post your thoughts! Feel free to be as cliche or sappy as you'd like. Here's one of the reasons I chose this major:

Because I love words! Maybe because I am a senior or it's Christmas or friends have been so good to me or I am just a sap, but this week I've been thinking about how much I love words. Something about meaningful conversations with dear friends makes my heart swell and gets me all thankful. Written or spoken, words of encouragement have changed how I view the world. Language lets us share life with others, to laugh and cry and pat each other on the back. To know and be known.

So that's one VERY basic reason of why I love the "language" part of "SLP". I'd love to hear why you do!

Grad School, Part 3

So, grad school. I wrote about it on here before, and since it’s the end of October and applications are due soonish, I thought I’d write some more. It’s Crossroads time and when you have NSSLHA members sitting at tables together, grad school comes up in conversation. A lot. J People ask me all the time, every day, “Sooooo where are you going to go to grad school?” (I’m glad I have sweet friends who want life updates!) But I usually reply “Uhhh, ask me again in the spring! We’ll see!” And that can be a scary answer. Here are some things I’ve learned through this whole process that will help you stay sane. Not a to-do list, but a healthy (I hope!) dose of perspective:

Do NOT be intimidated by people who seem like they’ve done more than you. The girl who sits next to you in anatomy who’s volunteered at stroke camp since high school? Great! Good for her. But if you switched into the major during your junior year, that’s great too. A different kind of great, but just as great.

Or maybe you never worked in a lab? Or volunteered at a clinic? Or you did a varsity sport and didn’t have summers? Transferred from a faraway school? Retook anatomy?

That is all fine. Your story is your story, and no one else’s. Playing the comparison game will drive you insane.

Still, there is a nagging fear in my mind… what if I don’t get in anywhere? What would I do?

 Well, the sun would still rise in the morning and my friends would still be my friends. I would still be me, things would just be different than I had hoped for.

Don’t misunderstand me, I want so badly to get into grad school and become an SLP. With all my heart, I do. But that’s not the end. This is not who we are, it's what we do with the time given us.

Grad School, Part 2

           

 

{This post is from Maggie Flynn, a senior in SLHS. Hear her thoughts on applying to grad school. Thanks, Maggie!}

 

            As a Speech Language and Hearing Science major graduate school is something you hear about from the day you walk in the door. It is the next necessary step on the road to becoming a Speech Language Pathologist or Audiologist. For my first three years the application process seemed to loom in the distance; but now the time has arrived. While deadlines are still a few months away, it is easy to become overwhelmed by the amount steps I still need to complete in addition to managing 18 hours of course work.

            Thus far the best solution I have found to avoid stress is a few deep breathes paired with some master organization. It is all about the planning. Since I am applying to eight programs my answer was to make a series of excel documents with each school’s information: website links, deadlines, application type, due date, test scores, number of recommendation letters, tuition cost, etc. This way when I need to know something it is already there and I do not have to go searching through University website mazes.  Next, every week I set out a task to complete for the week. Last week was sending GRE scores to schools, this week it is Transcripts. Breaking the application process into stages makes everything manageable and avoids a panic to get everything together at the last minute.

            To all those currently applying to Graduate school or to those planning to in the future—Don’t panic, we can do it!

Grad School, Part 1

If you're committed to this major, no doubt you've heard about grad school. It will be a good thing, clinical experiences, classes, friends, and so on... So grad school will be a good thing, but APPLYING. That's a different story. Sometimes it can be a scary story. But it will be okay, too.

Here is a list of tips for applying to grad school. Just as a disclaimer: I am a senior, applying to grad school right now. So I can't say, "Oh, this is what I did, and it worked! I got into a program!" But I think these things have worked so far.

1. If you are a freshman or sophomore, THINK. Think about where you'd like to live after college, what aspects of Speech-Language Pathology you love the most, and why you are passionate about this field. Also, DO. Do  lots of things, whatever floats your boat and relates to the field. Babysit, volunteer, work in research labs, take classes that you love.

2. Don't take the GRE too early. And if you do, think about where you specifically want to go to grad school. I took it in March of my junior year, thinking it could be one thing to cross off the list. You can send your scores to 4 schools for free, after that you have to pay. Well, it was March and I hadn't thought about grad school too much, so it ends up that one of the schools I sent my scores to, I won't even be applying to. Learn from my mistake!

3. Don't be cliche with applications. Meh, I know. I've heard countless times "Don't say you want to be an SLP because you've always wanted to 'help people'." This is hard, because I really do want to help people, and I am assuming all of you do as well! Cliches often exist because they are true, and they've stood the test of time. (Haha, "stood the test of time," that's kind of a cliche phrase). But you have to move past that and show the grad school why you are different and why you should get to study at their school. Tell them why you absolutely HAVE to be in their program.

4. Sometimes, you just have to take a night off from applications and walk to McDonald's for a McFlurry.

5. Seniors..  it's overwhelming. What helps me is to pick one thing each week to work on. So one week I'll work on asking for letters of recommendation, the next week my personal statement, the next week will be sending out transcripts. It's worked so far, I've only done it for two weeks though.

I hope that in the spring I can look back and say, "Yes! This all works because I got into (insert name of school)'s program and I'm going there! Yay!" Until then, this is my humble advice.

Thanks for listening, y'all. :)

--Katie Hingst

Summer Experiences:: Adult Edition

From Haley Borton, a junior in SLHS:

This summer I volunteered at MarianJoy Rehabilitation Hospital in Wheaton, Il. I really had no idea what to expect when I got the volunteer position. I didn't know if I would be working with kids or adults and I did not know what my job description was. The first day was amazing though! I worked with an SLP named Julie who graduated from the University of Illinois 3 years ago, so she is still young and can relate to me! I was there for four hours every Wednesday so she would have me "volunteer" part of the time and observe the rest of the time. The volunteer part was boring...just making copies and doing busy work like that haha but they really appreciated my work! The observation time was incredible! Julie works in the inpatient Stroke Unit of the hospital. I got to see swallow studies, initial assessments, and regular everyday one on one work with the patients. The most rewarding thing I got to see was the progress that people made while they were at this hospital. I saw a man the day he was admitted into the hospital and the day he got to go home and it was truly truly amazing. We really will be doing work that SO many people will appreciate. This was just a great opportunity to see stroke patients and how different and interesting all of the cases are. I do not know what I want to do in the future, but this was the best experience I could have asked for and definitely opened my eyes up to stroke patient rehab! I recommend this position to anyone from the Chicagoland area! This rehab hospital is nationally known, and is a great place to get some observation! Let me know if you have any questions or are interested!

From Courtney Wisher, a junior in SLHS:

This summer, i had the privilege of getting to intern at my local
nursing home/rehab center in Greentown, Indiana. I came in twice a week
and had the chance to observe the SLP's therapy sessions and evaluations
she had for the day. I observed everything from Alzheimer's patients to
stroke patients and even some swallowing patients. It was always fun to
get to interact with the elderly at the nursing home and they always
enjoyed hearing about Purdue and my experiences as a college student.
Now that I am a junior, I'm currently taking SLHS430, which is Speech
and language disorders in the health care setting. Everything that I
have seen at the nursing home thus far is starting to tie into my class
and its really interesting to be able to relate what I observed this
summer to what I am learning about in my SLHS 430. I definitely enjoy
getting to intern at my local nursing home and I look forward to going
back next summer too!