Erica Hensley, 1st-Year SLP Master's Student

Ball State University
Expected Graduation - July 2009

BA, May 2007, Indiana University

My interest in the field of speech-language pathology didn't develop in the traditional way. I started out at Indiana University 3 years ago with no idea what I wanted to do with my life. Like the majority of the other freshmen, I took classes that interested me and satisfied core requirements, hoping something would guide me in the right direction. One class in particular, titled "Born to be a Genius," really sparked my interest. It was a class about language acquisition, and it introduced ideas that were new and fascinating. I learned, to my astonishment, that our parents don't just teach us language. Part of it is innate in us and is the very essence of what makes us human. We talked about how languages have developed over time and how the human brain processes language. I had all of these ideas swimming around in my head, but I never considered it as a career choice. I didn't think about it much at the time, but now looking back I see that this class was the turning point in my academic career.

Once I committed to the major and started learning more about it, I thought back to my childhood when I visited the speech pathologist at my school. I never thought of myself as having a disability or that I wasn't as good or smart as everyone else. I loved my visits to the speech therapy room. I got to leave class and go play games, read books, and do tongue twisters. I didn't realize how much I was learning at the same time. I want to do this for other people now. I want to make them feel like they are special and know that being different isn't always a bad thing.

For as long as I can remember, I have been involved in activities related to a variety of academic studies. In particular, I loved science because it involved problem solving, and English and music because they involved being creative. For the longest time, I thought I was weird because I liked both ends of the academic spectrum, but now I realize that that is part of the reason why I have chosen to be a speech-language pathologist. It's the best of both worlds. I get presented with a problem, and I have to develop a specialized plan to help remedy it. And while I get to solve problems, I'm not locked into a monotonous everyday routine. I will get to come up with my own activities and methods of teaching sounds.

I never thought that I could find a career that incorporated all the things I love-helping people, working with children, solving difficult problems, and using my creativity. I used to think that I was strange because I was interested in a range of subject areas instead of one, but now that I have grown to understand myself better, I realize that that is what makes me an interesting person and gives me great potential as a speech-language pathologist.