Scholarship Essay Entry – Crystal A.

What are hopes and dreams? In my mind, they are what you would do if you had unlimited resources and money. Ever since I was a little girl my hopes and dreams were to help others and give back to my community. After high school I decided to take a step in the direction of achieving those dreams and enrolled in post secondary.

I knew I wanted to work in healthcare and decided to head in the direction of rehabilitation; furthermore, I wanted to study Speech Pathology. Once I began my studies I soon realized that my goal needed to be expanded. Not only do I want to help people with communication I also want to educate my community and the public about what speech pathology is.

There is a major lack of public education around the topic of Speech Pathology Services in the province and my community. Furthermore, people are not aware of available services and/or the help that they could be receiving. I wanted to change that.

A common misunderstanding is that speech pathologists only work on stuttering and lisps. Fortunately this is not the case. Speech Language Pathologists perform hearing screenings, work on speech sound disorders, swallowing disorders, language disorders, stuttering, apraxia, dysphagia, dysarthria, etc. They work with people of all ages, ranging from paediatrics to geriatrics and in a number of different settings including homes, schools, and hospitals.

Ever since I joined the field of Rehabilitation I have been spreading the word about Speech Pathology. This journey began when I enrolled in MacEwan's Speech Therapist Assistant program. While in this program I was recorded for an A Channel television show where I talked about the work we do as Speech Assistants, and what the MacEwan program was all about. Throughout my studies I also participated in the program's advisory committee, where I helped give feedback and improve the program. Towards the end of the program I was asked to come back and do an interview and photo shoot for the college to help promote the Therapist Assistant program to the public and future students. The media exposure I participated in was an excellent way to help inform the community.

Once I graduated from the program I began working for East Central Health as a Speech Assistant. While in this position I promoted speech therapy by: attending schools offering speech therapy services, building displays and newsletters for speech and hearing month, presenting at the Active Babies group at the community Parent Link Center, and doing seminars in the district.

During the above noted 2 years I was working towards my Bachelor of Community Rehabilitation degree. Within this degree I participated in a number of focus groups related to deciding appropriate forms of media advertisement for Rehabilitation services in Alberta; as well as created a parent handbook concerning incorporating speech therapy into daily life.

While learning about the services provided by Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) I also learnt that there is a major demand for SLPs in small rural areas. It is very hard to recruit professionals to small remote locations, and because of that, rural Albertan's are not receiving the services they need. It was at that time that I enrolled in the Master's of Science in Speech Language Pathology. Upon graduation in July 2011, I plan to return to rural Alberta to provide Speech Language Services to the under-served communities and complete my goal and dreams.