Personal Reflection Papers

Currently in the Unites States, Americans are struggling to maintain quality health without proper healthcare. As a result, health disparities have become a widespread epidemic plaguing minorities. Many of the various health disproportions stem from the government’s inequality and racism. In other cases, genetics and socioeconomic status may cause health disparities. Overall, these disparities may be avoidable or unavoidable depending on the individual. Recently, health disparities have begun to implicate the field of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Speech pathologists have developed a larger caseload stroke

When I first decided to expand my education, it had been so long since I had been to school, and I was very hesitant. I talked at length about my decision with my husband and with his encouragement, decided to enroll but still was not quite sure which degree program to enroll in. I knew that this was something that I had always wanted to do since I obtained my Associates Degree in Nursing, but I did not have the courage, nor did I want to give up the time with my family and children. I second guessed my abilities and my knowledge because it had been so long since I had been in college. Now that my children are about to graduate high school and

A bit surreal today as I sit down and write my first paper in almost 20 years. I’ve spent the last 10 years trying to be very concise in my communication, to the point and easy to skim the important facts to ensure what I need to get across will be read. The fact that I am having some emotional response to the stress related to routinely writing papers that ‘feel long’ is just a great example of some of what I learned from my MBTI/Firo B results.

Fortunately, there are numerous resources available for people with disabilities that offer assistance and programs to meet their everyday needs. The Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind serves as an educational resource for individuals who are deaf, blind, deaf-blind, and multi-disabled. I decided to research this agency because it has been referenced in my communicative disorders classes. As a future speech language pathologist, I want to learn about this agency and discover the programs it offers to help me with my future clients. The Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind is relative to this course because as mentioned in the textbook and other course material, resources and programs that offer assistance to individuals with disabilities are essential to their successful futures. This agency is a means in which people who are deaf and blind can seek assistance to improve their skills of communication, and this is ultimately my goal as a speech language pathologist.

“‘Atticus, he was real nice….’… ‘Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them.’” is a dialogue written by Harper Lee that stuck with me after reading To Kill A Mockingbird in high school. Despite physical appearance or intellect, everyone deserves to be valued at their core; what better way to affirm someone than by conversing with them as Scout did with Boo Radley. Thus, my aspiration is to enable a voice to those with communication disorders. This desire to be a speech language pathologist has been influenced by personal and professional exposures to the field.

The purpose of this assignment was to place ourselves in the position of someone who we will be working with in future years as a speech language pathologist, or someone within the area of communication disorders. To relate to others we know we have to know what they’re going through: to be sympathetic or empathetic to their feelings so we know how we should react and what we should say to make them feel better. A similar mind-set can be applied to speech pathologists: how can we attempt to treat those with communication difficulties when we don’t understand what it’s like to live with one? By undertaking this assignment I hoped I would gain a better understanding of not only how those with communication disorders function (how they adapt to their situations) but also how they feel, be that excluded, anxious or apprehensive to go into public situations.

A speech language pathologist is transcendent; their ability to explore options, in addition to, providing an optimal form of communication, speaks volumes about the depths they go for patients. The idea of barriers impeding our form of communication, and impacting our everyday ventures, is a difficult concept to grasp. Thoughts gain meaning when they transcend into words; despite the communication platform, everyone deserves to have a voice and be heard. For this reason, I choose to be a part of a field where you impact a patient’s communication in a positive manner, it is what I aspire to do with future patients. Ultimately, I seek admittance to the communication sciences and disorders graduate program at Texas A&M Kingsville.

In this paper I plan to briefly review what happened during the counseling demonstration. Next, I will discuss two basic counseling skills that I believe I used well, and one that I struggled with. Finally, I will discuss the next steps I will take in order to improve my counseling skills.

I was first inspired in obtaining a career in communications disorders during my second year of college. While enrolled in an introductory course, I researched the different options that the discipline of Communications Disorders has to offer to those affected by communication impairments, and came across the profession of Speech Pathology. I became fascinated by what the job of a SLP entails. Never before had I realized what an important job SLPs hold; not only is their job essential in helping individuals to better communicate with others, but they can also save lives as they help protect the airway passage of premature babies, and make feeding a safe and positive experience. I admire their role in society, and can only

Regardless of whether the disorder is related to cognitive aspects of communication, fluency, articulation or swallowing, a speech-language pathologists’ relationship to the patient is rooted in service. After college I took a break from school and began working at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site through an internship position with a non-profit called Greening Youth Foundation. I enjoyed learning about the historical Old Fourth Ward and the legacy of this great American hero and revolutionary. Following this opportunity, I joined Americorps, a national service organization known for making positive impacts in local communities. My first term was spent with Hands On Atlanta and the Office of Mayor Kasim Reed. I reported directly to the Chief Service Officer, promoting the Mayor’s service initiatives and leading volunteer projects throughout the city. I worked with many individuals, groups and corporations to create successful beautification projects in impoverished areas, better reading skills in elementary school children, improve public recreational centers, and more. Upon completion of my service term, I was already signed up to start a new term as a Volunteer Manager with a local non-profit called Truly Living Well Center for Urban Agriculture. Truly Living Well is an urban farm with multiple locations throughout Atlanta that serve “food desserts”, or communities with restricted access to fresh, organic produce. In this role, I was able to make a long-lasting impact by creating and reshaping the organization’s new and existing volunteer programs. During those years I gained experience in every sector, from government to private, from corporate to nonprofit. I am proud to say that I was a part of implanting change that affects very important socio-economic causes. These experiences were life-changing, yet they all

The clocks at LIH appeared to be online and communicating to the WDM. I began my check to start data collection that is when I realized the clocks are not operating normally. I tried to reboot, initialize, and test both clocks though it appeared the clocks were in the process of successfully completing the task, it failed. Within the last two hours, I managed to get both clocks to complete a data collection successfully. I contacted Kari, LIH Coordination Center and request to have a TSO swipe their badge on both clocks located at the Checkpoint and Break Room, respectively.

I am now approaching the conclusion of my college career and starting to adjust to work life. This is a period of self-reflection and an attempt to put everything I learned into perspective. During this period of my life, I have been constantly thinking and contemplating my future. I feel very anxious yet nervous during this time while I am adjusting to this new stage of my life. When I was in High school my life was very structured, because I could be very dependent on peoples help and I obviously still lived with my family. When I went to college, I had to break away from that feeling of dependency and start the adjusting to adulthood. In college there was more responsibility and I started to become more independent. This was a crucial step in my life but choosing a career is going to be an even bigger step. It is a bigger step because; I have to start structuring my career goals and family goal for the future. At this moment all I can think about is my career, and how I can I keep improving myself for work life.

Reading, PA was named the poorest city in the United States with a population of sixty-five thousand or more. The three families in the video are residents of Reading and each have their own individual challenges that they face everyday. They also have their own strengths that help them overcome these challenges as well as the community that provides each family with different resources that have a positive impact on their daily lives.

Mrs. Nin encapsulated how I feel felt through the whole semester every time we were assigned a new project. From the first assignment to the argumentative paper, I feel like I have reflected on moments I already have lived through, but when writing about, I revisited those moments and really discussed the impact it had on either me or the world which led me to understand that specific moment in time better. Especially the argumentative paper because I learned something completely new— “poverty porn”— which was something I have grazed over years. This course, although, not easy has taught me to be more attentive to details but specially to details that seem insignificant but possibly can help me strengthen my argument from a different angle. Furthermore, the units made me reflect on the overall importance of a photograph and the impact it can have. I never spent time deliberating on what pictures really represents and how it affects people. I saw it in its simplest state of being a gateway to nostalgia, but alas I was wrong.

Imagine living in a country, where the average life expectancy for men and women in the year 2017 is 49 years old. Imagine living in a country where electricity is one of the hardest things to obtain. Imagine living in a country with over 60% of the country’s population living below the poverty line. Imagine living in a country that has suffered greatly through civil wars, epidemics, and environmental climate disasters. Just imagine being from a country that is rich in the world’s most precious minerals but still classified as a third world country. What country is that you ask? Its Sierra Leone of course, named the 11th poorest country in the world located in West Africa. A country who has been going through economic, political, and social challenges for over two decades now.