Why do you want to become a speech-language pathologist? What was it about being a speech-language pathologist that drew you to this profession?

People often ask me, “What are you studying in college?” I usually say, Speech Pathology and Audiology or Communication Disorders. Many respond by, “Oh, that’s good” with a puzzled look on their face. I proceed to tell them about Speech Pathology, in laymen’s terms of course, and they usually ask, “What made you decide to do that?” There are many different ways to respond to this but I just explain to them that I am a social person and I could not imagine not being able to communicate my thoughts and/or ideas effectively. I feel that if I can help someone do/learn a simple task to help them in their everyday lives then I will have made a difference. I know that I will not be able to “fix” everyone, however, I may be able to help improve one’s communication skills. The more I learn about speech-language pathology, the more eager I am to become an SLP.
When I was young I always wanted to be a teacher, that’s what my mother is and everyone wants to be like their mother, right? Anyway, I loved to play school but I also liked playing doctor and nurse (with all those cute gadgets from Fisher Price.) But, in all actuality, I couldn’t imagine me in a room with 25 kids or in a cold hospital wearing funny looking shoes. For a while I was undecided, but after my freshman year at Marshall, my mom suggested that I go into speech. I researched it and thought it was very neat so I tried it. Now, I know it is what I want to do it interests me and there seems to be a demand for SLP’s in many places. I think speech-language pathology is a very interesting and many people aren’t aware that it exists.