School has started! It has shocked me how much higher the professors' expectations are in graduate school than in undergrad. Looking around the classroom at my fellow speech-language pathology (SLP) graduate students has also fascinated me. I am not the only beautiful, intelligent, responsible, straight-A student in the class- I'm just one of 80. We all graduated with honors, we all would cry if we made a C, we all have our daily planners filled, and we all have our notes color-coordinated.
In order to be considered competent as an SLP, I must complete at least 400 hours of clinical practicum throughout the next two years of school. This semester I am working with one and two-year-olds who are considered "language-delayed" but who have no other developmental delays. This practicum is basically a language-rich preschool where we strive to increase the children's expressive vocabularies through different activities, fun literature, and lots of repetition. I even get to wear a cool lab coat! I feel like God has really prepared me for this experience- it's nearly exactly what I did last year with my special needs children! Wednesday was our first day, and hopefully it is not foreshadowing how the rest of the semester will be. Out of three kids, two of them wailed the entire time, and one of them vomited. Yuck. It was still enjoyable, and I think I'll really love it!
Friday, September 5, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Farewell to Freedom
Reality has hit. My days of freedom and fun are ending. School starts in exactly one week! Yikes! Today I went up to Richardson to the University of Texas at Dallas campus to buy a parking permit, get a student ID, and discuss racquetball opportunities with the recreational sports office. My schedule is set: clinical practicum in the morning, classes in the afternoon, work in the evening and on the weekends, and studying and fun squeezed in there somewhere. Although this dramatic change in my lifestyle seems like it could be a bit overwhelming, I am very excited about starting classes, learning information most people don't care to know, working with preschoolers, and making new friends. In the meantime, though, I will enjoy reading for pleasure, quilting, playing piano, feeding turtles and ducks, riding bikes, dancing, and playing Settlers of Catan. Wow! Just one more week left of my amazingly fun summer!
Just in case your curiosity was peaked by my previous mention of racquetball, I am hoping to have enough time to commit to the Racquetball Club at UTD. This is a competitive club (kind of intimidating) that is funded by the university (to provide uniforms and travel expenses) that will give me the opportunity to improve my mad-racquetball skills, meet some good players, relieve stress, stay fit-and-trim, and compete with other university teams. My racquetball buddies live in Abilene and I have barely endured this summer without them and this incredibly awesome sport- these are dire times that call for desperate measures- like joining the Racquetball Club while taking 14 hours in graduate school, doing clinical practicum, and working at least 20 hours per week!
Just in case your curiosity was peaked by my previous mention of racquetball, I am hoping to have enough time to commit to the Racquetball Club at UTD. This is a competitive club (kind of intimidating) that is funded by the university (to provide uniforms and travel expenses) that will give me the opportunity to improve my mad-racquetball skills, meet some good players, relieve stress, stay fit-and-trim, and compete with other university teams. My racquetball buddies live in Abilene and I have barely endured this summer without them and this incredibly awesome sport- these are dire times that call for desperate measures- like joining the Racquetball Club while taking 14 hours in graduate school, doing clinical practicum, and working at least 20 hours per week!
Friday, August 1, 2008
A New Job and a Road Trip
Immediately after my week full of fun and games I was offered a job at Bath & Body Works which drastically altered my lifestyle! No longer do my days consist of reading good books, playing the piano, feeding the turtles, and beating people in Catan; instead I am a grown, working woman in the "real world". *sigh* Alas, it has been a great experience thus far, and I believe it is a wonderful opportunity for me to be Jesus. This three-hour-drive east has placed me in a community that is desperate for the peace and joy that God has given me to share with whomever I encounter.
On another note... I went to see Amber Joy (and Kent Brantly, of course) in Indianapolis with my family last week! The luscious green landscape of their abode was a perfect greeting for five exhausted and squooshed people who had been on the road for 15 hours. Amber, I absolutely love your place! (How do you always get the greatest living conditions?) We enjoyed "shower-ing" with the well-respected and deeply loved Brantly clan and their church family, and seeing where Amber and Kent work and go to school. I suffered through a terrible beating in PIXAR/Disney Monopoly on account of my new brother-in-law. But, no worries, I am still the Queen of Catan! It was wonderful to see my dear sister so happy in her new home with her new family.
Just for the record, your life is not complete unless you have gone on a road trip with the Carroll family! It is always crowded, and the car just seems to shrink as the time passes. We listen to Adventures in Odyssey, Radio Theaters, Michael W. Smith's "Freedom", Latin- yes, we learned Latin on the way to Indiana (amo, amas, amat, amamos, amatis, amant), grammar (this one was rough), and other random music while we color, read, sew, sleep, and sprawl our legs in search of a more comfortable position. And when we stop, we look like a bunch of clowns filing out of the clown car. Great times! I love my family- thank You, God!
On another note... I went to see Amber Joy (and Kent Brantly, of course) in Indianapolis with my family last week! The luscious green landscape of their abode was a perfect greeting for five exhausted and squooshed people who had been on the road for 15 hours. Amber, I absolutely love your place! (How do you always get the greatest living conditions?) We enjoyed "shower-ing" with the well-respected and deeply loved Brantly clan and their church family, and seeing where Amber and Kent work and go to school. I suffered through a terrible beating in PIXAR/Disney Monopoly on account of my new brother-in-law. But, no worries, I am still the Queen of Catan! It was wonderful to see my dear sister so happy in her new home with her new family.
Just for the record, your life is not complete unless you have gone on a road trip with the Carroll family! It is always crowded, and the car just seems to shrink as the time passes. We listen to Adventures in Odyssey, Radio Theaters, Michael W. Smith's "Freedom", Latin- yes, we learned Latin on the way to Indiana (amo, amas, amat, amamos, amatis, amant), grammar (this one was rough), and other random music while we color, read, sew, sleep, and sprawl our legs in search of a more comfortable position. And when we stop, we look like a bunch of clowns filing out of the clown car. Great times! I love my family- thank You, God!
Monday, July 14, 2008
A Week of Play!
I love my life! All I do is play, play, play! This past week two of my friends who were counselors at LCCC came to visit me and our other mutual friend. The four of us ran around Six Flags and enjoyed every ride twice because there were no queues. Actually, I had not been to Six Flags since I was in the single-digit years of my life, so I was a bit nervous at first! My uneasiness quickly disappeared as I discovered that I REALLY like roller coasters! Who knew!? That evening we played Settlers of Catan (the complicated Cities and Knights expanded version) until about two in the morning!
Everyone awoke from the exhausting slumber party at 10am to enjoy breakfast over another game of Catan! They taught me how to play 42 that evening, which, by the way, is a great game! 42 was the "adult game" every year at Hunt, so I felt very grown-up to be playing this game. We, then, of course played Catan and fell asleep around 2:00am.
Waking up the next morning was a little bit more difficult, but we managed! We celebrated our friend's birthday in downtown Fort Worth, with dinner, a live band, and a wee bit of dancing. Then we returned to my lovely apartment for more Cities and Knights of Catan and a movie. The birthday celebration ended at 6:00 the next morning- yikes! Six hours later we began our final day. Within the hour, all of my friends had abandoned the Carroll Hotel and were off to get back to the real world.
How grateful I am that this "real world" has not yet become my world. I love my life!
Everyone awoke from the exhausting slumber party at 10am to enjoy breakfast over another game of Catan! They taught me how to play 42 that evening, which, by the way, is a great game! 42 was the "adult game" every year at Hunt, so I felt very grown-up to be playing this game. We, then, of course played Catan and fell asleep around 2:00am.
Waking up the next morning was a little bit more difficult, but we managed! We celebrated our friend's birthday in downtown Fort Worth, with dinner, a live band, and a wee bit of dancing. Then we returned to my lovely apartment for more Cities and Knights of Catan and a movie. The birthday celebration ended at 6:00 the next morning- yikes! Six hours later we began our final day. Within the hour, all of my friends had abandoned the Carroll Hotel and were off to get back to the real world.
How grateful I am that this "real world" has not yet become my world. I love my life!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
"Look! I'm dancing!"
As quickly as my ears hear the sound of music my body longs to dance, and my heart wishes that it actually could! After years of dreaming that I could dance, I finally did! Last night a couple of friends and I enjoyed an evening of fun at a dance club. I was given a 30 minute crash course on Swing Dancing and then boldly stepped onto the dance floor! The crunching of my partners' toes, the embarrassed laughter, and the apologetic expressions made it quite evident that this was my first time swing dancing, but I anticipate mastering these dance moves through many more visits to the dance floor! The evening ended with a waltz around the room, and of course, I knew how to waltz! Barbara Streisand taught me in her movie "Hello, Dolly!" This particular movie, by the way, played a huge role in PIXAR's newest movie, Wall-E, which made me very happy!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
LCCC
This past week was spent at Lake Cisco Christian Camp (the Cisco Senior session) with a hundred exciting teenagers and 40ish outstanding adults! Each day consisted of eating, singing, volleyball, softball, dirt, sun, bugs, and more eating and singing. After the campers were settled in their "cozy" cabins, some of the counselors would enjoy fellowship over chunks of brownies and glasses of milk (this time together was always a highlight of my day). I am thankful for this opportunity to serve and have fun with fellow Christians, and I am so grateful for the friends I now have because of this great week at camp!
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