My professional and collegiate experiences to date

A Reflection:

In college I recall my teachers and advisers saying that we (the freshman class) would change our majors at least two more times. Of course I didn’t realize what they actually meant then but they were right! Not only did I change majors, I graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration. It was the degree with just enough flexibility but not too elusive.

As fate would have it, I landed a job at a successful telecommunications company. I worked hard and long hours. I then became a mother and wept at the thought of another raising my daughter while I simply put her to sleep at night and packed her bag in the morning. With the change in economy causing greater demands on my commitment, performance, and schedule and being the only person within my extended family not working within the educational field, for the first time in my career I began to actually think about my options.

After long and careful planning, I headed full throttle into a new endeavor: a Bilingual Speech and Language Pathologist (SLP). Oh, did you think I would just be a Speech and Language Pathologist? No! Coming from a bilingual, bicultural family and proud of my heritage, I would have never done anything less. As a matter of fact, even in the business world I worked in a bilingual office, servicing bilingual clients for over 12 years. I am fluently bilingual (Spanish and English) and passed the BEA (Bilingual Education Assessment) before applying for a bilingual extension program.

I started along the path of becoming a SLP while still working. Again, as fate would have, through the United Federations of Teachers (UFT) I found the one university with an online program, recognized by the state of New York as an accredited university in the communications disorders field, at Western Kentucky University (WKU). I was able to complete the undergraduate speech prerequisites from the comfort of my own home and pretty much after my daughter was asleep. Currently, I am in my last graduate semester, completed in the same manner.

Those in my current field may wonder how could someone actually learn and attain the required competencies with an online program. I am frequently asked how it works. Well, WKU’s online classes are held in a “web conferencing” format. Classes are “live” and attendance and participation is mandatory. My schedule follows the typical college calendar with spring, summer and fall semesters, with classes scheduled once or twice a week at specific times. The best part is that professors are flown in to New York City each semester for a full day, in person class. And just like any other SLP program, we are required to complete internships/externships.

The biggest challenge I have faced on the path to this new venture is focusing on grammar. Having not only to learn what syntax, morphology, and metalinguistics meant but to identify it and apply it in therapy was completely a foreign concept to me. All through life my area of strength lied within numbers. Words like algebra, calculus, ratios, percentages, and statistics all gave me a feeling of warmth, unlike many of my peers. In numbers, everything is constant, even in another language. However, I am a fighter! I don’t give up! I set my mind to something and I meet that goal! I studied and studied, practiced and practiced and while I am far from an expert, I am comfortable and confident in my new abilities in both English and Spanish.

I have also started and anticipate completing my bilingual extension this year (December 2012). The bilingual extension institute at Teachers College Columbia University has also pushed me to gain knowledge and practice in the metalinguistic realm. From analyzing typical monolingual speech and language development of English and Spanish speaking children to the speech and language developmental of bilingual children has created a greater love of my home language (Spanish) and stronger bond to the bilingual, bicultural community. I have learned that each child has a separate and different trajectory than that of their sibling. Each child is a separate case and therefore may experience different, yet normal patterns of language acquisition.

At every opportunity I study bilingualism and its effect on language. I read books such as “How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm” by Mei-Ling Hopgood on my own time to learn of differing parenting styles, values, and cultural practices. I listen intently to prosodic features of the many languages within my diverse borough of Queens, New York where I live. I ask questions short of prying to anyone willing to feed my hungry mind about language, culture norms, religion and practices. While being only bilingual I have become a lover of phonology, language, and culture through this field. I anticipate working with bilingual, Spanish/English, clients. Having the foresight of the many aspects of language and that I would mostly work with Spanish/English clients, I began building a network of contacts of bilingual SLPs of varying languages.

I am looking forward to graduating in December and practicing in the field. I have a soft spot for the geriatric population, which I enjoy working with but feel my current knowledge, experiences, and passion will be better utilized with the younger population. The education I have attained will help me accurately identify a language disorder versus a language difference and effectively plan and treat delays and disorders in bilingual children.