Encouragement for the Upcoming Semester

So... the first week of classes is officially over. Syllabi have been handed out and now we all know just how much work is ahead of us this semester. Sometimes, it seems like that mountain of work ahead of you is overwhelmingly abstract and impossible to tackle. Why even bother? One answer to that question may help get you through this semester of tough classes.

As Speech Pathology & Audiology students, we are privileged to be headed into a pre-professional program that prepares us to learn the skills we need for our career. We also have the privilege to learn about how to help people. On top of that, you are bound to find a population to work with that impassions you and interests you. We are being trained to be communication specialists. Does that mean we like to talk and socialize? Most certainly. And that will be part of our lives everyday. Something we get PAID to do.

Of course, we’ll learn that there’s a little more to it than talking... but essentially it comes down to your meaningful interactions with individuals.  

Although you may not see the application of some of your classes when you begin your freshman or sophomore year, by the time you reach graduate school, all the knowledge becomes fairly applied. You’ll start working with clients and realizing that one day, when you finally graduate, you’ll get to do that everyday. Pretty cool deal.

If you are looking for a story or example of just how cool Speech Pathology can actually be, keep checking this blog. We are going to be posting our favorite speech related books, articles, news stories etc. to help bring the academic side of things to real life.

So, remembering why exactly you are slaving over your readings and assignments might help you make it through a particularly tough day or week or... semester. Having a reason behind the stressful student life can motivate you to power through.  
If that’s not enough... here are some quotes that might help... 



It's never too late to be what you might have been. - George Eliot

The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you'll go. - Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. - Confucius

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. - Theodore Roosevelt

Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love. - Mother Teresa

For most of history, Anonymous was a woman. - Virgina Woolf

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

-quotes courtesy of Goodreads.com-