I’ve found my niche on campus.
At the beginning of the semester, I dabbled with the idea of switching majors to Secondary English Education. It seemed logical: blogging is my favorite part of the week, honors composition is my favorite class, and a few of my favorite women teach English. However, my work-study position granted me a new perspective.
As Clinical Assistant in the Communication Disorders and Deaf Education department, my job description sounds like I partake in the typical hum-drum processes of office work: filing paperwork, answering phones, making copies, brewing coffee. But, it is so much more than that—I am immersed in the Speech Pathology culture.
Every morning the graduate students start to trickle in around 8 o’clock. Even with heavy coarse loads, they are dressed to impress and eager to begin their days. Shortly after their arrival, the hallways are filled with laughter, clomping feet, and exhausted moms trying to keep up their energetic kiddos. This excitement is only intensified when our graduate students greet their young clients. Everyone is eager for therapy to begin.
While I am witnessing everything from behind a desk, I can’t help but be reminded that this will be my life in 3 years.
I don’t know if it is the serenity of the sage green walls, or the dedicated graduate students, but something here is comforting. There is so much going on, but the peaceful aura is never lost.
I know this is where I am supposed to be.
Tagged as:
career,
Education,
speech-languge pathology
Hey there! My name is Brooke, and I am a first-time freshman here at Fontbonne. My journey to Fontbonne was quite an exciting one…
In the middle of my junior year (a mere nine months ago), I realized I had reached my full potential on the high school level, and I was ready for my next chapter. Since I had all the credits required to graduate, I received my diploma a year early. While Mizzou had captured my heart many years before I started the Perfect College search, Fontbonne’s Speech and Language Pathology program swept me off my feet. The choice seemed simple: Fontbonne was where I needed to be.
Coming from a small, agriculture-based community, I was starving for the taste of the city. When I found out Fontbonne was a commuter campus, I was SO, so excited to start looking for an apartment in the city. After tour, after tour, after tour, I finally found a charming apartment to call home. I moved into my apartment in July, a month before school started, because I was eager to soak up the St. Louis culture. And in those 31 scorching days of July, I embraced everything St. Louis had to offer me.
Now we know how I came to be a Griffin, but I haven’t shared how I became a blogger. Over the summer, I became obsessed with anonymous blogging. I stayed up all night reading the heart-wrenching stories of people who didn’t want to reveal their true identity, thinking about how I could start my own blog. Even though I haven’t developed an online persona (yet), like the blogs I became addicted to, when I received the email on becoming a Fontbonne Blogger, I knew I had to join.
Before I go, I want to make some promises:
1. I promise to write every week.
2. I promise to be honest.
It’s also important for you to know that I’m a hardcore perfectionist and my biggest critic. I can’t promise that you will enjoy my posts as much as I enjoy writing them, but I CAN promise to try.
Stay tuned; I have lots to share. 
What is better than a blow-up Slip-n-Slide in 100+ degree weather?
Just a quick photo shoot before Warped Tour began.
Meeting the bands.
Celebrating my first holiday in St. Louis the right way: in traffic.
Our view.
Does it get better than good friends and baseball?
Showing some Cardinal love.
Tagged as:
first year,
speech-languge pathology,
St. Louis,
St. Louis Cardinals,
welcome
I want to first begin this blog by saying that this post is long overdue. It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged on here…busy schedules and the hustle and bustle of college life can take over. However, it’s nice to be blogging again. It also helps that Spring Break has already begun!
Now, to explain how I ended up where I am today in my studies…
If you’d like to know how I ended up at Fontbonne University, feel free to read my past blog post on my personal story here: http://blog.fontbonne.edu/2011/03/choose-fontbonne-fontbonne-chose/.
As far as how I ended up choosing Speech Language Pathology as my major is a slightly different story. (You can learn more about the major here: http://www.fontbonne.edu/academics/undergraduate/departments/communicationdisordersdeafeducation/speechlanguagepathology/.) It all started in high school, during that period of time where I was being pressured to start having my future plans all mapped out. Trust me; my path to “Speech Path.” was not as straightforward as one might think. I contemplated all sorts of careers/majors. At the beginning of high school, I had wanted to major in Engineering, but that quickly changed after a year or so. Then, for the longest time, I had my heart set on working in Music Business/Communications, but later reconsidered that decision. If anything, I knew that I wanted my future career to be involved with a good cause and that my career would positively impact society/the world as a whole. Non-Profit Organizational work or Environmental Studies were also on my radar. Speech Language Pathology didn’t come in until my Junior/Senior year in high school, when I was on the Willowbrook High School Speech Team. Little did I know that this decision would affect my entire decision on a major.
Now, I should probably give a shout-out to my Dad, who had A LOT to do with my major decision. Since I had been so involved with Speech Team, my Dad thought it would be a good idea for me to look into “Speech” Language Pathology as a career. I had been absolutely AGAINST going into Speech Language Pathology, since that was what my Dad wanted for me and not what I actually wanted. However, looking at things from a realistic perspective, Speech Language Pathology made sense, because it’s a field that is fairly high in demand and the job security is supposed to be good. Plus, if I wanted to work in a school setting, I’d be able to have something similar to a teacher’s schedule; there were even various other settings I could be in as well. Therefore, it was difficult for me to argue against it, since a stable job is important to me.
Of course, since I’m currently a Junior at Fontbonne now and looking into Graduate Schools/My Post-Undergraduate Plans, it’s normal to doubt myself in making the right decision. I’m really looking forward to doing Pre-Clinic next semester to get a taste of what being a Speech Language Pathologist is like, since classes and schoolwork can sometimes make me dread the major (I’m the kind of person who likes to be out in the world doing proactive things and not just sitting in a classroom). However, the great thing about Fontbonne is that there is an on-campus Speech Language and Hearing Clinic where Students are able to do observations and work in the clinic. AND there is both an Undergraduate Program and a Graduate Program for Speech Pathology here (a Graduate degree in Speech Pathology is needed in order to be a practicing/licensed Speech Pathologist).
At this current point, I’m looking into Audiology for Graduate school, which is related to Speech Pathology, but I’m still open to getting my Master’s Degree in Speech Pathology as well (it’s one of those ongoing stories/debates with myself that I’d rather not get into right now). However, only time will tell.
Peace, Love, and Spring Break!
I’ll leave you with a picture of people playing in the Medaille Meadow during one of the Fontbonne Spring Events…
Tagged as:
choosing a major,
speech-languge pathology
Figuring out what you want to do is always a tough decision. When I was a little girl I wanted to work at McDonald’s. Thankfully, your idea of a perfect job changes as you get older. Up until high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I didn’t even have ideas of what I would want to do. When I was high school, I had many ideas of what I thought I wanted to do with my life. I thought I wanted to be a teacher, a psychologist, or even a photographer. Honestly, those were careers that I was telling everyone because I was scared. I was scared because I did not know what I wanted to do with my life. I finally figured it out the middle of my senior year. Not exactly the most convenient time, but it worked.
At that time, I had realized that I wanted to be a speech pathologist. I was in between that and special education. There was a chance that if I majored in Special Education I would not get a job right away. I decided it would be best for me to choose speech pathology. My brother had gone to a speech pathologist when we were younger and it had always been interesting to me. Since I had finally decided on my major, it was time to pick a college! What better place to go then Fontbonne! They are known around the country for my major, and it would be stupid of me to go anywhere else. I am still in my freshman year, so I may still change my mind, but I am loving this major so far. Every class has been so interesting, and I have never dreaded going to a speech pathology class. It really is the right major for me.
Tagged as:
choosing a major,
Majors,
speech-languge pathology
