No longer a requirement...

Well library class is over and blogging is no longer a requirement, but I think I am going to keep doing it every now and then. SO...

We are all on the back side of the quarter and I'm pretty sure said back side has a steep, downward slope and it might be icy! So much learning has taken place over the last five or six weeks. And I don't mean just in the classroom. While all of that is such a necessary part to completing this whole process, I am referring to the other learning. I have learned so, so much from the most uncomfortable moments this quarter (and in the last few years of school really) that have been so far outside of my comfort zone. A couple of years ago I never would have walked into such situations. I don't know what happened to make me follow this path to do what I want - or when exactly it happened - but I am so grateful that it did. I don't think it matters how many times people tell you that you can do whatever you set your mind to. It took trying things that were hard and scary and so far outside of my comfort zone and seeing that I really could do all of them - not necessarily well - but I could do my best, learn from the experience, and try again the next time.

I guess this is more of a pep talk for myself that for some reason I'm putting out to the world. I have a page-long to-do list, but just needed to get some thoughts out of my head. To you, who is reading this, I hope that you can recognize the small victories in your day, week, year, whatever - and be grateful for them. Write them down somewhere to refer back to when you can't remember why you are doing whatever it is you are doing - I think that's what this is for me. I know I can come back here to remember why I continue to push myself. Now to-do list...

Update

So - this hasn't turned out to be the communication tool I thought it might. Mainly because I feel weird about it. But here's a general update for those of you who have requested it. We are in the middle of week 5 - ALREADY! I think this has been so much fun, so much work (and yet not even close to what is ahead for us), and just so different every single day.

So far I have learned that I need to just accept that I do not know what I am doing exactly, but I will figure it out to a degree and very likely it will be just in time to change clients. There have already been good days and bad days, and the bad have yielded the most useful information I have to say.

I feel really fortunate to be surrounded by people who want to succeed and who want to see others succeed. I love having such a positive environment to walk into every day. I am trying to maintain some sanity - Megan and I found that Mon/Wed night kickboxing is really helpful in that department! Now wish me luck with the rest of the quarter, as the real work begins next week!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

I very recently learned of this series of books and so far from what I can tell, they are really great. There are four books in the series; the fourth just came out on the 12th of October. The idea for these books actually started out as an online comic, written by Jeff Kinney. The comic eventually became so loved and the demand became so high that Kinney pursued publication of his ideas. The first book came as a result of nine years of brainstorming, writing, and illustrating. Kinney said in an interview that he "wanted to write a story about all of the funny parts about growing up, and none of the serious parts." I think this is exactly why kids love these books - they are able to relate to the main character. I imagine they see a bit of themselves in Greg's awkwardness; I know I did when I was reading through the first book.

Greg Heffley is the main character and owner of the diary, which he attempts to convince readers is actually a journal. The stories follow him through the quirkiness of his life. Some of the events we as readers get to experience with Greg in this first book include trick or treating on Halloween, Christmas morning and not getting many presents that he likes at all, and being a part of the school production of Wizard of Oz.

Check 'em out, they're kind of fun!

Temple Grandin

I find Temple's perspectives to be so interesting. The concept of people having more of a photographic brain/library is not new to me, but I think for the first time I actually sat and tried to imagine what pictures my brain would retrieve in response to hearing certain words. My responses to my own inquiries were not instant, I had to really think and do word association. I wonder if that is sort of what it is like for her to try and think in words.

She does amazing work by making the corrals as peaceful and non-threatening to animals as possible and she makes it sound so matter of fact. When Temple said that "doing practical things can make the world a better place", I thought to myself - if only it were that easy. But why is it not that easy? It is impossible to know what a person really thinks based on one essay but when Temple says she wouldn't give up her way of thinking to be "normal", I just thought - why would she. She has made an amazing impact on the world and who knows what she had to endure in getting to the point she is at today when her whole life she's been placed in this category of "abnormal" because she's on the spectrum.

Why Blog?

Well, mainly because it's an assignment. I'm thinking it may turn in to a great way to purge all things Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) that I tend to think about during each quarter. We've now only finished week one - technically week 0.5 - and my brain is already flooded with so many things to think about and decide on and add to my to-do list. So what topics might a reader of my blog find in the future? Well to start I feel like I have to start thinking about which route I will take next year in terms of thesis, comps, paper that isn't a thesis but generally turns out basically being a thesis. (I know this seems way out there in the future, but welcome to my brain) Then there's the day to day report writing and reflecting that will take place in this program, I'm sure I could share about this. The impact the next two years of CSD will have on my social and personal life will likely be an easy topic. Blogging may turn in to a way to keep friends and family informed about what exactly I'm doing here at school all the time. The possibilities are endless really - even if the topic has to relate back to CSD.

I love to read a few blogs - mostly they are written by friends and family. Being the writer is very different however; this makes me feel a little exposed and vulnerable so we'll just have to see how this goes.

Welcome to Blogging!

So this is my blog for all things CSD. Thank goodness for Library class for making me get started!