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On Camp Success

"A career in speech-language pathology challenges you to use your intellect (the talents of your mind) in combination with your humanity (the gifts of your heart) to do meaningful work that feeds your soul."-Megan Hodge

For the past few days, I've been trying to figure out how to sum up my experience as a reading specialist for Baylor's reading and speech camp (Camp Success). I've finally figured it out. Camp Success ignited my heart with a love for the kids who attended camp as well as for my future career. Every time one of my kids improved in fluency, I rejoiced with them. When sounds-symbol relationships began to click in their brains, I couldn't contain my excitement. When they read short stories and answered comprehension questions perfectly that they were unable to answer before, I wanted to jump up and down. When I saw their confidence increase by tenfold, I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. These kids learned so much in just four short weeks, not only about reading and language but also about their ability to communicate and about their own self confidence. Parents came up to us with tears in their eyes about how much we made a difference in their child's life. The kids left with bug, beautiful smiles and with a new outlook on reading and language. The fourteen kids I worked with will always be on my heart. I won't forget their amazing hard work or quirky personalities anytime soon!! 

Through camp, God confirmed in my heart once again my future career as a speech-language pathologist. As the quote above says, I love combining my intellect with my heart and my desire to help people communicate more effectively. Being an SLP makes a visible, lasting difference in our clients' lives. Communication is so important to life. If you can't communicate well, life can be pretty lonely and isolating. I know that God gave me talents and gifts to become an excellent SLP so that I can serve people in the future by teaching them how to communicate and giving them secrets to language. I am so exited to see how God uses my future career as an SLP!! I wouldn't trade being a speech pathology major for anything. 

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