Love My New Career!

Well…it appears that I am not getting off to a great start with this blogging thing.  I planned to post at least once a week and I have clearly missed that goal!  I was just enjoying my break between grad school semesters too much, I guess.  I've still been working and seeing students for therapy, but at home I just enjoyed my family.  It was a nice break.  I say "was" because today is the first day of my summer classes.  One class (statistics) opened a little early and I've already read 2 chapters and completed 2 quizzes.  It's so much nicer to be ahead than it is to be behind.

So this year was my first year as a speech language pathologist assistant.  As I mentioned before, I had been a teacher for 7 years before making the career change.  I have to say, it was a fabulous year!  Even my husband commented on several occasions how much happier I seemed.  So I decided to post today about a few things I love about my new career. 

1.  I get to work with some amazing kiddos. They are all very unique and have their own strengths and struggles, but they are all so fabulous.  This year I worked with a wide variety of students.  Ages ranged from 3 to 18.  Some just needed a little extra help in the language department (using more complex sentences/language) and some were completely non-verbal.  One thing that remains constant with every student I see is the joy we share when they experience success with a goal.  I just love all my kiddos!

2. I get to help people improve their communication skills in so many different ways.  For some, it's improving grammar and overall use of language.  For some, it's working on articulation so they can be better understood.  For some it's working on finding a way for them to communicate at all.  Every student I see has a desire to be heard.  It's my job to help them do that effectively. 

3. This is just the best job ever!  

I am still a student and I have a lot to learn about being a speech language pathologist.  It's not an easy job by any means, and being in grad school has its own challenges and stresses, but boy am I having fun!