Speech Pathology. What is speech pathology? Many people actually have no idea what that is. It’s a profession. A future profession of mine, maybe. And whenever they ask me what course I’m taking up in college, I tell them that. And their response? Ano un? (What’s that?)
It’s funny, the responses I get from people. It’s very diverse. Some would just say, “Ahhh.” just to show that they get what it is, but obviously, they don’t. Some would try to clarify, and they’ll be all like, “So you’re going to pursue your theatrical dreams?” or “So you won’t pursue medicine anymore?” Some think it’s some sort of English course, or something related to public communication. Well, I think maybe it’s the word speech in it.
To be honest, I never heard of it until I started filling up application forms for college during my senior year in high school. And I was uncertain of what I was going to take up for my pre-medical course. I’ve always trusted that the University of the Philippines would give top-notch education in the medical field, so I wanted to get into UP Manila. However, I had no idea what pre-med I should take.
Everyone says that Biology would be the best pre-med. My parents warned me, however, that if I decide not to study anymore after graduating from my first course, I would end up teaching with that course. I’m not degrading teachers or anything, but to be honest, it’s hard to make a career out of teaching. You would need doctorates and all kinds of titles to have a good paying job. So they told me to take a course that could give me a job that can almost be as prestigious as being a doctor.
SO. What is speech pathology? It’s SPEECH THERAPY, basically. We, as future speech pathologists, would go hand in hand with other medical professions. See? It’s in the medical field. So I can still become a doctor. We would work with physical and occupational therapists in helping those who’ve lost specific abilities gain them back. In speech therapy, we get to help those who have gone through strokes and have a hard time speaking. We help persons with disabilities and special needs express themselves.
Our scope: COMMUNICATION AND SWALLOWING
Yes, swallowing. :)) Because there are certain people who have dysphagia, a problem in swallowing where their muscles are too weak to facilitate proper swallowing. Basically, the muscles for speech production and swallowing are related.
So they say, our profession would be very fulfilling. I still can’t say so for myself because I still have no idea what I will be after graduation. I do hope, that at the end of this year, I will finally come to realize the greatness of this profession. Seriously, to be honest, I don’t want to be a speech pathologist. I really really really really reeeeeaaallyyyyy want to become a surgeon. But I know that I’m in this course for a reason just because God let me pass it. And I know that whether or not I get to go to med school after, I will be happy in my future career. And IF I do practice Speech Pathology, I know God has a perfect reason why.
Right now, honestly, I haven’t achieved that peace of mind of His perfect will for me. But I do hope someday, I would really just thank Him for placing me in a course that a lot of people(those who have awareness of it) would really want to get into.
I just want to be able to endure the difficulties of my college life with passion because if you ask me where my passion level is from the time I started college, it is waaaaay down there. Ever since majors started, I have been doubting my future profession and whether or not this is for me. But as I’ve said, I know God has a purpose for everything. I still have to work on my passion for it, though. But I know I will. I’m certain of it. In His perfect time. :)
