First Step

Today I took the first step toward what I hope will be my future career.

Some of you may know this already, but for those of you who don't, I am preparing to go back to school to study speech/language pathology (SLP). This is a field I knew nothing about at this time last year. Obviously I've become well acquainted since then.

I am famous for going to school. I have spent only about three years since I was 5 years old not enrolled in some scholastic endeavor. When I started to get that familiar longing in June, I decided that I'd take some classes in SLP so I could learn some techniques to assist J.J. Our previous insurance rocked in many ways, but it covered only 20 sessions of speech therapy once J.J. was outpatient, so within about 2.5 months of his stroke he was done with these. He still had (and continues to have) quite a ways to go on his recovery journey. Being who I am, I decided that if I couldn't get speech therapy for J.J. through any other method, I'd have to do it myself.

Something has changed since June. This isn't about just helping J.J. anymore. It's about helping all those other rehab patients who are recovering from stroke or other types of traumatic brain injuries. As wonderful as J.J.'s therapist was, she didn't know what it felt like to sit on the other side of that table and to cheer on a loved one while holding their hand. I do. That's got to count for something.

After taking several months to research my options, I selected a distance education program to which I will make application. And I scheduled to take the GRE. I've actually taken the test once before, but it was a little over 10 years ago and I'm sure my scores don't even exist anymore. I've taken the GMAT more recently, but that's not going to help me in this field. So last month I scheduled the test for today, knowing I had the day off.

When the alarm went off at 4:30 this morning (honestly, can't they schedule these things later in the day?) I instantly regretted my decision. But somehow I managed to get myself ready and to Prometric on time, and at 6:51 a.m. I signed in for the test.

The nicest thing about computer-based testing is the instant gratification of knowing your scores before you leave the testing center. The verbal and analytical sections of the GRE are scored out of 800. I received a 660 on the verbal section, which places me in the 93 percentile for test takers in the last year. I received a 700 in the analytical section, which places me in the 70 percentile and reassures me that I'm not becoming one of those "numbers" people after all!

I'm fairly happy with my scores, especially since I did almost no preparation. Next step is to write my personal statement (this should be easy--I think I've been writing my personal statement since I started this blog). With any luck, I'll start my program in the fall, and in about five long years I'll be ready to start working in the field.

But I'm not going to think about all the steps I still need to take. For now, I'm going to enjoy the one I've completed.