I’ve gotten a lot of questions and loved getting emails from people! I will attempt to answer all of the questions, but will have to divvy them up so I don’t end up with the longest message ever! I have put them all in categories to make them flow together as best as possible.
Where are your classmates from?
There are 23 girls total in the Speech-Language Pathology program. 11 Second-year girls and 12 first-years (I am a first-year). Our hometowns span the world, yes, the world! I am the only one from North Carolina, but other girls are from the following places: Connecticut, New Jersey, Saudi Arabia, Caribbean, New Hampshire, Virginia, California, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, West Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Maryland.
Here are several girls in my program all gathered together!
Other people in graduate school here are from all over. I've met a LOT of people from New York and California, but there are many places represented here.
How much interaction is there between grad students and undergrads?
There is some interaction between grads and undergrads. I definitely know a LOT more grad students, but know a few undergrads as well. We all intermingle in the cafeteria, football games, and other campus events. I’d imagine it’s pretty similar on most other campuses.
Do you have undergrads on your dorm floor?
Sort of related to the last question…I do not know of any undergraduate students on my floor. The way my dorm is set up there are 8 floors total (I live on the top! 8th floor!). The floors are split into 2 parts, North & South, with the elevators and stairs in between the parts. The 6th, 7th and 8th floors are designed to be graduate students with the 1st-5th being mainly undergrads. I do have a good friend who lives on the 2nd floor, but she’s a minority grad student on her floor.
Here is how the halls are organized. The 7th and 8th floor South comes together!
Are you living with hearing or deaf suitemates?
My suitemates are all hearing. We might be one of the only all-hearing suites though. My roommate is Nicole and she's from California. My suitemates are Desiree (my former roommate) and Kristina. Desiree is from Nevada and Kristina is from Scotland! The floors are co-ed, both guys and girls living on the same floor, but in separate suites. There are deaf people that live on my hall.
Are all undergrads and K-12 students deaf or hearing deprived?
This is a good question, though the term “hearing deprived” isn’t the technical term. Hard of Hearing and Deaf are the official terms used for students here. In order to go to school here, you have to have a certain hearing loss. I’m not sure what the exact numbers in decibel levels are, but I think they have gotten slightly lower throughout the years. I do know that if you are a deaf adult with a hearing child, your child may not attend school here. I also know that there are some Hearing Undergraduates (called HUGs). I don’t know the exact specifications, but they must be fluent in American Sign Language because all of their classes will be sign only (no interpreters).
Are many students training to work with children?
It depends on the program/major that they are in. In the Speech-Language Pathology program, you will work with all ages. I currently have a 3-year old hearing client and a deaf adult client. I know other girls have elderly people as well. Many in the other programs do not have clients yet, but many want to work with children, like me. My roommate is in the Deaf Education program here, with her speciality being Family Centered Early Education. She wants to work with families that have hearing parents with deaf children, and planning the best way to raise their child.
Are you picturing yourself in a career yet or too busy in the learning aspects?
I like this question! If you had asked me this during the first 2 weeks of school here, I would have said that I’m too busy learning to see myself as a Speech-Language Pathologist. Since week 3, I would say that I definitely picture myself in a career. We started with clients our 3rd week here at school. Yes, I am taking 7 classes, but I also have 2 regular clients and 1 client that changes every other week. I see my 2 regular clients twice a week each, for 50 minutes each. They are very different but a lot of fun. My “other client” I work with in a team. This is someone that comes in for diagnostic testing. They come in and my team and I have looked over their file and determine what we need to test and observe. After we assess their skills and interview them (or their parents) we determine what they need, whether it be speech therapy, a stimulation group, or just more access to a good speech and language model. I will not lie to you and say this is the best semester of my life, because it has not been. I have never been this overwhelmed and stressed in my whole life. I don’t feel like I have a lot of time to chill and hang out, but as the semester progresses, I feel better. I like doing therapy more. I like classes more. I’m enjoying myself more because I have better learned how to manage graduate school as different from undergrad school. It is very different!!! I love it here and love what I’m doing so far, it’s just very hard!
