In middle school, I was involved in a STEM program at my school. Over these few years, we had many STEM professionals come to speak to us about different career opportunities in the various fields. In sixth grade, we got to hear from a Speech-Language Pathologist. I was fascinated. Though sixth graders don’t typically spend much time contemplating career options, from this presentation forward, I knew that this was the occupation for me. In my college search, I looked for schools with strong Speech Pathology programs and my decision came down to Ohio State or Duquesne University. Oddly enough, I made my decision while I was at Duquesne for a visitation day. I had just listened to a presentation from the head of the Speech-Language Pathology Department and was overly impressed with their program. Ohio State had always been my number one choice but I felt that Duquesne’s had a stronger Speech Pathology program. However, I realized that when it came down to it, all that mattered to me was becoming an SLP and helping children with communication disorders. I realized that I could have both: I could go to the school of my dreams and become a Pediatric Speech-Langauge Pathologist. It did not have to be the absolute best SLP program, it had to be the school where I knew I would thrive and be most successful. I could not be happier with my decision to come to Ohio State.
During one of my visits to Ohio State, I was given a massive handbook of all the student organizations on campus. As I paged through this overwhelming document, I found a few organizations that clearly stuck out to me. One of these was NSSLHA: the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association. Knowing that I wanted to get involved with this organization, I planned to track them down at the Involvement Fair. I anticipated the event to be very crowded and overwhelming; however, I had no idea just how challenging it would be to navigate the maze of tables and other excited students to find a specific organization. I literally spent almost an hour trying to locate the NSSLHA table. When I finally tracked them down, I felt a rush of excitement and pride. The girls running the table were extremely welcoming and friendly. I got a NSSLHA pin and proceeded to show it off to every one of my uninterested friends.
Though there have only been a few meetings so far, I am very excited to see what events and opportunities are in store. At the second meeting of the year, we played Jeopardy and my team won (see the picture below from the NSSLHA Facebook page!). Most recently, we were assigned “families” as a means of connecting you with other Speech and Hearing Science students. Overall, I am most excited for the opportunity to get to know other people who share my passion for Speech Pathology. I also look forward to connecting with Speech and Hearing Science faculty and preparing for grad school.
