A Partner in My Education (12)

Discovering what I want to do in the future is a big part of why I do this internship. I wanted to make sure I was going into college knowing what major I wanted to pursue. My internship at Sharon Elementary has taught me the specifics behind Speech Pathology and what all it entails. My mentor, Mrs. Parker, acts as my “partner in education” because she strives to make sure I receive the experiences to grow comfortable with in the pathway of speech. She also make sure I learn details like the vocabulary that goes along with each sound that students are learning and she teaches me skills that go along with Speech Pathology, like being able to provide the children with a fun environment when doing their work. Her main goal is to make sure her student love coming to her during the week and do not feel like they are any different from their peers.

When beginning this internship, the main goal that I set and hoped to achieve was becoming comfortable with the elementary school environment and all its students. At first it was quiet the challenge. I was scared that the children would not like me, but soon realized that these children accepted anyone and everyone. These students had created such a warm and loving environment that I no longer worried about “not fitting in” with them. This seems like a silly goal, but when thinking about what Speech Pathology involves and the relationships that need to be created between student and teacher, you begin to realize the importance of this goal I had in mind. I did indeed change this goal, though. As weeks passed by in this internship, the students became more comfortable with me and I no longer had to worry about belonging in the school’s environment. I then proceeded to create the goal of understanding how each Speech Therapist at Sharon Elementary (4 different teachers) taught. My goal was learning how I would teach best and develop this skills through each professional I shadowed. I have begun to take notes on how each Speech Teacher interacts with their students and how they conduct a normal session of speech.

Going into the pathway of Speech Therapy has opened many doors of opportunities for other interests. One of the speech teachers I shadowed, talked about working in a hospital clinic and helping middle aged and elderly people with a disease called aphasia. Aphasia is defined as the loss of ability to understand or express speech. Aphasia is most commonly produced by strokes. I became fascinated with this issue. Each person in each hospital clinic had a story. They were old enough to understand the need to communicate and I realized that I could make a great impact on their lives by teaching them to talk again. My goal is to make an impact on someone’s life and with Speech Pathology and the many categories found within its boundaries, I could make this dream possible.