School Excitement and Ramblings

**The random pictures in this post are just pictures I've taken around the campus of The University of Akron, which will be my school in a matter of weeks!

In three weeks, I will be a student again! I almost can't believe it. I never thought I would be going back to school full time at 26 (almost 27!) years old. Basically, my entire life looks differently than I ever pictured it looking. But I'm so excited about it!


I'm one of those nerds who loves school and always has. And the thought of being back in a classroom as the student rather than the teacher makes me so excited! And not only that, but I think I've found something that I am going to love so much, and be so interested in with speech-language pathology. To be completely honest, all through college I was never 100% sure that I wanted to be a teacher. I always had my doubts, and it made me terrified. Unfortunately, I was sort of right to be worried. Once I got out of school and began teaching, I didn't love it and I wasn't naturally good at some aspects of it. I definitely wasn't one of those people who all through their lives just KNEW that they were MADE to be a teacher.


However, when I think about my life in the future as a speech therapist, I get very excited about it and have no worries. It is just something I am fascinated by, and something that I think is a much better fit for me. I still plan to work with children, and maybe even in the schools once I'm a certified SLP. But I'm excited about working one-on-one with students, and watching and monitoring their progress so closely. I think it will be very rewarding!

Now that I'm in the last few weeks of my summer, I'm busy getting last-minute details figured out like buying books, gathering school supplies, and touring the building where all of my classes will be held. I can't wait to start and be immersed in the world and language of SLP!


My class schedule is pretty perfect this semester. I am taking two online classes, I have two on-campus classes, and one on-campus lab. So I only have to drive to Akron's campus on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I can substitute teach at the school where I used to work on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (I'm so excited about being able to do this, because I LOVE all of my old co-workers so much, and I'm glad I will still get to see them and my old students a lot). Also, on the days that I do have to drive to Akron, I have a 4-hour break in the middle of the day on Tuesday, and a 6-hour break on Thursday! I am excited about this, because I will have ample study time and time to work on my online classes during those breaks. Or I could hang out with my sister who lives right by campus, or we could both take my aunt out for lunch some days because she works on campus. I just think it will be great :-)
And speaking of my classes...I am so excited about them! I'm taking principles of audiology; anatomy and physiology of speech and hearing mechanisms which is an online class and one I've been told I'll need to study nonstop for, but one that I think I'll love because I find that sort of thing really interesting; anatomy and physiology lab; Introduction to Clinical Phonetics where I've been told I'll have to learn a whole new alphabet full of symbols for each phonetic sound...yikes; and Language Science and Acquisition which is another online class. I am really excited to be getting into a field that is more scientific and medical than education, simply because that is so much more ME. I so wish we could all look into our futures when we're 18. It's really hard to decide what you want to do for the rest of your life when you're just 18, and people change A LOT in the few years that follow. Oh well, you live and you learn.

Sometime last January, I prayed that God would give me the strength and direction to take a leap of faith regarding my career, because things just hadn't turned out the way I thought they would. I feel such a peace and excitement about going back to school and about the career path I have chosen, I know it can't have come from anywhere but God. My prayer now is that He will continue to guide me, and open and close doors for me based on His plan. I am really excited to see what the next three years of school will bring!