To Hear Your Voice by Catherine

To Hear Your Voice by Catherine - February 2019 Scholarship Essay

My dream job is not a glamorous one. I don't wish to travel the world or to be famous. Money is not my motivation. And I do not care how long it takes to achieve this job I have in mind. If I were asked what my dream job was a couple of years ago I would've never expected to have answered the way I just did. But my perspective has been drastically changed.

I volunteered at All Children's John Hopkins Hospital about a year ago. I had no clue what I was looking for but I knew I had to start somehwere. I started my first day in the speech therapy department not having any idea what speech therapy was. Was it helping little kids sound out words? Maybe they helped children with a speech impediment where they just needed help with their "r" and "s" sounds? It was so much more than that. It was children who never spoke a word. Children with down syndrome, autism, and behavior specialist needs. I was thrown into a world I never knew existed. Speaking seems like such a natural tendency none of us think twice about in our day to day lives. We started when we were young and only got better each year. But that's not the case for these children I was introduced to. Communication is so important, especially for a little kid. It's the foundation of their personality and their relationships and memories. Being a part of a child's journey to speak, even if I was just a minor part, was the most indescribable feeling. I wish to continue to make that diffference on a larger scale and dedicate my life to making sure these children discover the voice inside of them.

Right now, I'm a student at St. Petersburg college completing my Associate's Degree. Next semester I plan to transfer to the University of South Florida and pursue a degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders then (fingers crossed) be admitted into the graduate Speech Therapy program at USF. During school I'll continue to receive clinical hours in speech therapy. Broadening my experience to nursing homes and possibly special education. I'm so hopeful that is the career for me. I'm willing to work hard for however long it takes. I know I can make a difference in the lives of those who don't have the ability to speak. Something all of us take for granted. Everyong deserves to have a voice and I plan to do everything in my power to give it to them.