My SLP Story

I think I have shared with y’all before that I’m kind of nosy. I love learning new things about people, especially those connected to me in some way. This week I am in luck. The Frenzied SLPs are hosting a link-up called My SLP Story. Because Speech-Language Pathology is a relatively unknown field (many people have no idea it even exists), I am always fascinated by other SLP paths to this career. In case you are curious (or nosy) like me, I am sharing my story.

I, like several others in this linky, was in college and unsure of what to major in. Choosing a career is a HUGE decision! There are a million choices, and you are supposed to stick with one FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. I wanted to help people, so some of the (many) majors I considered were nursing, pre-med, and psychology. I wanted to do learn everything, and possibly I wanted to do ALL of the jobs! There were three people in my life that helped me figure it out.

First, my middle sister is hearing impaired. She had speech therapy in elementary school and continues to exhibit an articulation impairment as an adult (side note: she has refused to wear hearing aids her entire life). I knew about “speech teachers” because of her, but my knowledge was limited. Second, my mother is a special education teacher. She suggested speech-language pathology might be a good fit, since I wanted to help people, but didn’t want to be a teacher. The third person that influenced my decision was my daughter. I was already a mom when I started college. I was working, going to school, and trying to raise her all at the same time. I thought long and hard about my options, and finally chose the SLP route. As much as I wanted to go to medical school (or at least I thought I did), I wanted to be with my daughter more. It took six years to become a school SLP, but the University of West Georgia program was pretty flexible at the time. I was able to work as an SLP with my undergrad degree and provisional certificate while going to grad school part time. This path lets me help people in need, satisfied my craving for life-long learning, and gave me flexibility to spend time with my sweet girl (and later my sweet boy). I am so thankful for this career! What’s your SLP story?