Mid-Semester:

Just like that, I have been at ODU for 2 months. I always heard everyone say that time flies in the fall semester and I never believed them. Now I get it. I have just finished mid-terms in all of my classes and it is safe to say that it was intense. I am doing pretty well in all of my classes but mid-terms made me step back and reevaluate things. Stepping back allowed me to see that I was not putting the right amount of attention into some of my classes. I think that the classes I thought would be hard are so far my easy classes and the classes I thought would be easy are harder for me. The classes that I am having an easy time in are Introduction to Visual Art, English 110C, and Health 101. I think that I am not having a hard time in these classes because they are things that I can easily remember and apply. The classes that I am having a hard time in are Acting 1 and CSD 350. I think acting is a lot more involved than I thought it would be. It also does not help that I am not a fan of my professor. It is simply a class that I do not enjoy and I do not know how to make myself more engaged in the class. My CSD 350 class is online so I have a hard time focusing. I think that what is making that class better though is I have people in the class that I talk to and work with.  Overall I think that I am doing well in all of my classes and I hope to keep it up.

The biggest expectation I was looking forward to in college was having a thriving social life. In high school, I really only saw friends in classes, and in those classes, we couldn’t talk to each other because we were learning. A lot of my friends had jobs or were in sports so we never really had time outside of class to hang out. Now that I’m in college and I’m only taking five classes I have a lot more freedom in my schedule.  I am able to see people on short notice we can hang out a lot more freely than when I was in high school. Having this much free time honestly surprised me coming into college. Maybe it’s because the semester I’m taking easier classes but in the classes, I’m in I do not feel overwhelmed with coursework. I still do sometimes feel stressed with studying and due dates but overall I’m definitely calmer when it comes to thinking about my assignments. I think the biggest challenge for me about moving away is finding an eating schedule that works for me. that may seem a little odd but I have definitely noticed a difference in my eating patterns that were not like this before I came to school. I am not eating at a regular time and I noticed a decrease in productivity when I haven’t eaten. This is something that I am currently trying to work on. The easiest challenge that I’ve overcome so far is homesickness. I thought that I would be extremely homesick coming into college and I found that I really only got homesick when I know family is coming to see me soon. What makes me feel better when I am homesick is being able to talk with them. I prefer when this is in person but over the phone has been working too. I look forward to going home for Thanksgiving. 

Some things that I have learned about Speech-Language Pathology are a bunch of different disorders and treatments for those disorders. I have learned things like articulation, fluency, and neurogenic disorders and the causes and cures (if possible) for them. I am still whole heartily in love with speech path, however; some other things have been on my mind. I still plan on continuing with a degree in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology but I do not know what I want to do after that. I had planned on getting my master’s and going the clinical route but I have been having inklings that I want to go into advocacy instead. While I can do both clinical and advocacy at the same time I think that I want to do more for disability advocacy. I have been having thoughts of going to law school after I get my undergrad degree. I know that I still have a lot of time but law is something that I want to look more into even if it is just an idea. I would love to learn more about what it looks like to be a civil disabilities lawyer.

  One problem that I have encountered this semester is struggling with writing. I have never had an issue with writing but I have had a hard time recently. I am not sure if it is just because the content I have been writing about for classes is interesting to me or if I am having a hard time processing what I am writing but something is not clicking. I know that I can go to the writing center to have them read over my paper but I am not sure that that will help me. I think all I can do is keep going and trying my best on the topics I am writing about. One person who has helped me with my writing is my friend Mia. We think in very similar ways so if I ever get stuck on something I can talk to her and she can help me work it out. When I am writing sometimes I just need another person to bounce ideas off of and she has really helped with that. She is also a really good proofreader for my papers so she has helped me a lot. One of the other things we have done together is join a club. The club that we are in together is called the National Student Speech Language and Hearing Association (NSSLHA). We decided to join because they are the ODU student chapter of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). If I choose to become a clinically certified speech pathologist they will be the ones certifying me. I thought that it was a good idea to join early on because it allows me to be fully immersed in the club and allows me to gain information from the older Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology students. It will help me learn the ins and outs of speech path here at ODU.

Final:

The main difference I have seen within myself since the beginning of the semester is how happy I am. At first, I was excited but still pretty nervous about how I would adapt to this big change. I can honestly say now that I have never been happier. This year I was expecting to be pretty stressed but I was happy when that proved to not be the case. While I had my moments, I was happy that I did not spend all semester stressing. The experiences this semester really blew away my expectations. In high school, I was never really involved in school events or club activities. This semester I got to participate in many different things and it really helped me adjust. From club meetings to different events on campus, I learned to immerse myself in campus life and couldn’t be happier. Something that I wish I would have known 14 weeks ago is how easy my semester was. I had my difficult moments this semester but overall I had it pretty easy. I think that was one of the reasons I had such a great experience this fall.

At the beginning of the semester, I planned to spend 3-4 hours a week studying for Acting 1, CSD 350, and Introduction to Visual Art, and for English 110C and Health 101, I planned on spending around 1-2 hours studying. Now I spend about 1-2 hours studying every week for all of my classes. This was different than what I was expecting because I planned on having a lot more content to review each week but that was not the case. I think another thing that attributed to my having to study less was using my study time more efficiently. In the past when I was studying, I would want to go over every detail and not miss anything. Now I find it more useful to make sure I have a broad understanding of the topics and know the key details. If I am having trouble grasping a concept, I then take the time to look at the details and try to understand what is not clicking. The biggest resource that I have learned this semester that will help me next year is Promofocus. Having a timer that I can see while working really helped me stay on task. It allowed me to see how long I have been working and how long I have left to work. I will use this along with focusing on broader topics next semester to help me get and maintain good grades. Doing these things will help keep me focused and engaged in the content so that I do well in my classes.

This semester the classes that I took really spanned across the board. While I was not enrolled in any of the Health Science LLC classes outside of HLTH 101, I still think that I was able to relate some of what I learned in health with my other classes. The main class that I was able to relate the things learned in health was CSD. Things like proper etiquette and emailing really helped when talking to people in my field. Health also made me feel more comfortable in researching and finding proper information for projects and assignments. It also helped me in my English class for those same reasons.

If I was to pick a parallel major to go along with Speech Pathology, I would choose either Recreational Thearpy or Human Services. I would be interested in rec. therapy because a lot of the time it is intertwined with speech. A lot of patients have a team that they are working with and it often includes both speech and rec. therapy. I would also be interested in majoring in human services because some speech clients need additional help outside of just speech therapy. Not being able to speak may cause severe mental and emotional stress that may need to be evaluated and treated. Having a degree in human services may be able to help me recognize the signs that they need these things and allow me to determine the best course of action. The main benefit of having a parallel plan in place is exposing yourself to another major. This will allow you to change your major if you feel your first intended major wasn’t right for you. It will make you more hireable after graduation because you have a degree in more than one thing. It could make you look better on a grad school application because you have a broader understanding of health fields. There are many benefits to having a parallel major. At the moment I do not plan on double majoring but I now know about some parallel majors if I ever change my mind.