What drew me into Speech-Language Pathology? That is a really good question that I do not have a great answer for. My mom is a teacher and when I was in about the 10th grade she started talking with me about what I wanted to do after high school. She suggested either Speech or Occupational Therapy because she had seen many kids in both therapies in her school. I shadowed a few OTs and SLPs, and it did not take long for me to decide that I wanted to become a SLP. I shadowed SLPs at schools, in clinics, and hospitals, which brings me to the reason why I want to become a SLP. My cousin’s sister-in-law is a SLP at the VA hospital. I went there and was fascinated. I got to see a barium swallow test performed, along with many other things. I loved it. I know that grosses some of people out, but when I left I thought “I can do that.”

So why do I want to become a SLP? Well, while I was shadowing, I saw that as a SLP I would have an opportunity to help someone improve their quality of life. There are so many jobs out there where you will never know if you make a difference in someone’s life, but a SLP will make a huge difference in their client’s life. SLPs help people communicate better, thus improving their quality of life. Without communication, what is life? So, one reason I want to become a SLP is to make a difference in someone’s life. Another reason is that a SLP has so many options; they are not restricted to working in one particular setting or with a specific group of people. For example if I were to become a teacher I would only work in a school setting and only work with a certain age group. As a SLP, I can work with people from the ages of 4 to 90. I could open my own practice, teach at a university, work in the school system, work in a rehabilitation facility, or a hospital. A SLP is not restricted to working with only one area either, like the way a science teacher can only teach science. I could work with people who have trouble communicating or even swallowing. The possibilities are endless, which also means I can never get bored. Variety is the spice of life.