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A Little About Me (11)

  • Theresa White
  • Nov 4, 2017
  • 3 min read

My profile:

I am currently a senior at Lambert High School, and I am very excited about receiving the chance to be in the Honors Mentorship Program. Besides my school responsibilities and clubs, I have also been involved in two major extracurricular activities throughout my high school career, specifically Lambert Cross Country and Lambert Track & Field. Both of these sports have played key roles in my life, both as a student and as an athlete. They have taught me how to use the discipline, time management and motivation to become the best student athlete I can be. Without these skills, I would not be the person I am today. Even though it has been quiet difficult juggling school, sports, and a job, I have learned to love all of these activities as a whole. Each one of these activities taught me that hard work pays off.

After taking a career/personality assessment over the summer the results reinforced my belief that the fields of Speech Pathology and Audiology would be a perfect fit. I decided this was what I wanted to study in in college. Ironically, as a child, I was a patient who needed speech therapy. I did not realize it at the time, but my speech therapist changed my life. I learned how to better communicate with people and fit in with society without being looked down on for being different. Just one person and the love of their job changed the way I talked. I realized that I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives, just as my speech therapist had with me. Becoming a Speech Therapist will fulfill this goal. As I began to expand my research on this specific occupation, I became fascinated with the little details involved with the day to day job of a Speech Therapist and the impact that those little details had on someone’s life. To help me achieve this goal, my family and I have been touring the colleges in the area who offer the best Speech Therapy programs with the hopes of helping me fulfill my dream.

My Mentorship:

My internship at Sharon Elementary School involves shadowing a group of four speech pathologists, five times a week for two hours each day. My mentor is Mrs. Parker, and without her, this internship would have not have been possible. On the first day of my internship, Mrs. Parker and I sat down and discussed a schedule in which I could shadow each of the four speech pathologists per week. Every week I shadow a new speech pathologist. This helps me because I can see how their teaching skills differ from all the other speech teachers in the program and I can learn from each of their styles.

Every day, I arrive at Sharon Elementary at eight o’clock am. I then check my schedule to see which speech therapist I am scheduled to work with during the week. Then I report to the class to observe their first speech group. Each class consists of 4 children. Usually, the four students are around the same age and are working on similar speech issues. When the children arrive, they choose a game to play from the shelf of “endless options”, and then make their way over to a small wooden table where they are ready to do their speech activities and play the game they had picked. Each session lasts about 30 minutes which, in my opinion, is not enough time for the children to grow weary of the activities that they were just given and to keep their attention. I shadow a total of 5 different classes of speech. Each class has a different issue with speech that needs to be met and each class consists of different kids and different personalities. My mentorship activities are completed by ten o’clock am—and the time truly flies!

My Future:

My goal next year is to attend either University of Tennessee or Middle Tennessee State University – I have been accepted to both! Each of these schools has a top tier Speech Pathology and Audiology program, and I am in the process of deciding which one will fit me the best. The ability to be a part of the Honor Mentorship program and shadow the speech therapists at Sharon Elementary has allowed me to find out if I could see myself in the Speech Pathology and Audiology program in college (and as a career). Without this internship, I would be questioning whether or not this was the right path for me. This internship has also showed me how well I work with kids and with a team of other speech pathologists. I am forever grateful for this program!


 
 
 

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