Well, what the heck have I been up to! It's been a really long time since I posted last, huh? Where did I disappear to? Answer: School. Last semester literally sucked up all the time I had. Long story short: I was taking all non-SLP related courses that left me a bit burnt out. Sorry I disappeared like that, though!
Sometimes, I hear from singers thinking about getting into SLP themselves. I usually tell them to prepare for a time-intensive, difficult journey, but I realized that the difficulty is one area of my journey I had kind of been avoiding on here. So, truth time. This post is all about that point from deciding to be an SLP to the point of beginning graduate school in it, which for me, will be this August.
My journey to being a speech pathologist hasn't been a smooth one. I'm actually just going to be starting my master's program this coming year. Which, if you've been counting, means I've been taking undergraduate courses for two years now just to get to the point where I could do the two-year master's program. I honestly did not expect it to take this long.
Rewind to fall of 2010. I decided to become an SLP. I applied to my local university, since they have a three-year program for non-SLP undergraduate majors. I didn't get in, and that kinda sucked. I mean, I had finally gotten that fire-in-the-belly feeling about my life direction, so not getting in felt like just another failure on top of all the music-world failures I had accumulated over the years. Ain't that how it goes, though? You feel like life is getting back "on track" after a set-back and, low and behold, there's another set-back waiting right around the corner. I didn't want to wait any longer! I wanted momentum in my life! I wanted direction...but I got rejection. Good times.
See, I knew I had at least one year of undergraduate courses I would need to complete before I could start a clinical program. That's just how it goes for folks who weren't SLP undergraduates, but the day after the rejection letter came, the school told me their "leveling" program (as it's called) was full already. Luckily, they also informed me there was another leveling program at a state school in *big city* nearby. I applied to the state school's program right away, and I was registered for fall classes by the end of the week. Whew! Momentum was back, and I was on my way! *happy dance*
During that fall semester, I applied to about six graduate schools across the nation. My then-fiance and I tried to line up our schools, since he was going to graduate school in a STEM field. We played the waiting game, and it turned out that I got into one program out of the six. (Turns out, SLP is kinda hot right now just cause there are still jobs in that field, so schools are getting waaaaayy more applicants than it used to, but slots are still quite limited. Therefore, getting into grad school has become quite the challenge to many of us levelers out there.) However, our problem was that the program wasn't in a city where he got admitted. In addition to that, the cost of that particular program was ridiculous! About two-thirds more than most SLP programs, and the city where it was located is one of the most expensive to live in. Meanwhile, my SO got admitted with full funding and a stipend to a top-ten program in his field, which also happened to be in a town with a low cost of living. So, I turned down the one crazy-expensive program and we headed out to where he was going to school.
I took a gamble on new plan: Take some science and math courses, which I would need eventually for my licence anyway, and apply to the two programs in our new state. I reviewed math, with the help of my now-husband, and passed my way into Calculus I, and I also took a psychology course that fall I would need later. This past spring semester, I took Calculus II, Introduction to Mechanics (which what calculus-based Physics I is called here), and another psychology course online. Do SLPs need calculus and calc-based physics? No. But I took them because during my leveling program, I starting thinking I would actually continue to get my PhD after my master's degree, and strong math/physics knowledge would help in one of my research interests immensely. (I'm kinda an over-achiever like that. And besides, I also figured taking some classes beyond what most SLP undergrads take would set me apart, so I figured it was a win-win...as long as I got good grades.)
And luckily, my gamble paid off! I got into both schools! Yay! *Big happy dance* So now, here I sit. Waiting to actually begin my journey of becoming an SLP. Well, I suppose that's not entirely true, since I've spent two years studying to get here, but I sorta feels true. It's been a much longer journey just to begin the privilege of clinical training than I ever thought it would be. If this journey was shown in some movie-montage, it would be probably be a very boring montage; mostly consisting of me sitting and studying at a coffee shop, at home, and at school. (Huh...I guess there's a good reason Hollywood has stayed away from the study-themed montage.) If I had known it would take this long would I have done it? I'm honestly not sure, but now that I've learned what I've learned so far, I'm glad I did it. If I have one talent and passion for any one thing it's learning. (I. am. a. geek.)
I'm sitting here with aspirations of greatness...not too unlike my 18-year-old singer-self back in undergraduate days. The only difference is, my 18-year-old self was doing her best not to be crippled by the fear of failure, but my thirty-something self has no such fear. Not because failure couldn't happen, I know enough of probability to never say never, but because experience as taught me that failure really isn't something to fear. I know, I know, could I be more cliche? Here's the distinction I really want to draw for you, though: Not fearing failure isn't the same as inviting failure. I'd be quite content if failure never showed up ever again and I'm going to plan my ass off and work my ass off to keep it at bay. But by not fearing it, I can look at any challenge square in the face and say, "Bring it. Cause I'm all in." Cliche? Yes. Freeing? Absolutely!
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