As I sit here reflecting on my journey through graduate school I think about what an exhausting road it has been. When I graduated with my Bachelor's degree, I was rejected by every school that I had applied too. I found a way to gain the undergraduate credits by working full time as a first grade teacher and attending night school 4 nights a week. I knew that I must find a way to pursue this amazing dream that I had set for myself. After finishing that program and landing a job as a speech teacher I knew that was not enough to satisfy my career goals. I decided to try again and was finally accepted into the program at Western Kentucky University. Excited because I was given a chance, nervous about the responsibility of going back to school, proud because I was one step closer to achieving my lifetime goal.
The past two years have been so hard. Working full time as a speech teacher, being a full time graduate student, and fulfilling my wifely duties often made my life a three ring circus. It has been such a challenge to juggle the craziness that often lurked at my door but luckily I had an amazing supportive husband. There have been many tears, late nights, and paper written but I have arrived. I am so excited to start this new journey in my life. I will be starting my new career with Amedysis Home Health. I will be the only speech pathologist in my area so I am excited but feeling overwhelmed. I am looking forward to starting my journey outside of the school system. I am seeking freedom, independence, and more flexibility in the patients that I see. It is going to be an amazing learning experience and I am excited to begin.
I don't know what I will do with myself now that I won't be constantly working towards a deadline or planning my life around my school schedule. Knowing that I am done with school and plan to never go back is the best feeling I could ever imagine. I have spent the past 21 years in school with the exception of sitting out for a year to get married. Losing my study habits, endless amount of post it notes, and my APA sourcebook cannot come soon enough. Realizing that the rest of my learning skills will be completely up to me and voluntary is even more exciting.
Perhaps the most exciting thing about finishing graduate school is beginning my life. We are expecting our first child in January and I am so thankful that I won't have to worry about school, studying, or clinicals is like a breath of fresh air. I am thankful to be at the end of one journey and resting up for the next.
0 comments: