As college has gone on, along with the fear and anticipation for what is to come next, the toll the weekends have on your liver, the friendships that grow deeper, self-actualization and coming into your own, increasing ingenuity in terms of food (you don’t have a meal plan anymore, and you’re broke, time to get creative), the inevitable happens, classes get more challenging. Big intro for something that is kinda rooted in common sense, huh? You’re learning and and being tested on what you’ll be doing for the rest of your life, so it only makes sense for it to be more difficult. However, with this, you’re older and have the seemingly (but, actually) unnecessary core classes out of the way, and you get into classes of the things that actually interest you. And, that is the point I am trying to get to with this whole thing.
Today as I was leaving the fishbowl, I was telling someone the plans for the rest of my day with my schedule, and I noticed something. Every single class I had on Tuesdays and Thursdays have something to do with disabilities in psychology. The fact that I have a day full of only psychology does not surprise me, I’ve had that before. (Psych nerd, here.) However, what I hadn’t realized before today, was that all three of my classes today were psychologically based with the emphasis on disabilities. Something that has been a part of my life, for over seven years now, is Special Olympics. When I came to Rockhurst, I then joined my sorority, whose primary philanthropy was Special O, and it starting pulling on my heart strings all over again. Since being at school, I have been fortunate enough to have more exposure to something that had held a special place in my heart and my life for so long. I then met Kailey. Kailey is a twenty-year-old woman with severe intellectual disabilities, which means she is on the low functioning side of the autism spectrum. Working with Kailey has taught me that patience is a virtue, and that sometimes strength and commitment are required with it, I’ve also grown in the appreciation of language and the ability to say what I want, the unconditional love that her family gives her is inspiring, and Kailey taught me to find joy in the simpler things. Next, I met Adam. Adam is an incredibly bright little boy who just turned seven. I gave him speech therapy over the summer of 2013 and fell in love. He is on the high functioning side of the spectrum, so it gave me experience on both ends. Adam showed me that even when you don’t want to, you have to work hard before you play, in his case playing on the iPad (where he would beat me in all games), he made me realize that the ability to whistle is actually pretty sweet, hide and seek and the tickle monster are fun for all ages, and showed me first hand how rewarding the career I am pursuing can be. Still, how does this all tie together? Well, since I had decided on going to school to become a speech pathologist, I wanted my primary focus to be on the older population, in particular people who have had a stroke. Obviously that is not the case with these two amazing humans, but it shows me just how rewarding my future career can be. After working with people through Special O, Kailey, and Adam, and learning through my classes, it has solidified my focus. I read a quote and I feel as though it pertains to my life: “The things you are passionate about are not random, they are your calling.” - Fabienne Fredrickson I truly am interested in my passions, and passionate about my interests. Obviously, things change, and not saying my love for this passion will change, but I may not end up with the focus I think I want to pursue right now. Like I said, I have no idea, but it’s nice to think that you have the ability to pursue your passion for a job.
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AuthorJust a twenty-something attempting to create the illusion that I have a clue what's going on... Archives
May 2017
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