Getting to the ASHA Convention

Apparantly, I am not good enough! (yes Matt this opening is just for you) I applied to be an "official blogger" for the American Speech Hearing Association (ASHA) national convention taking place in San Diego, California from November 17-19. However, I was not one of the selected few. Given my hobby of creative narrative writing (www.bocabear.blogspot.com), I had some friends encourage that I go ahead and compile an "unofficial" blog about the ASHA convention. I thought this sounded like a brilliant idea. I will tell you upfront that I will not be able to include pictures until after I return home and the ASHA convention is over, but I will indeed try to take some photographs to depict the happenings of this convention. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the ASHA convention, let me just summarize it in terms of it is about 11,000 women and 1000 men who are in the field of either speech-language pathology or audiology coming together in one location. Now I'm sure you can imagine the chatter that goes on during this convention with all of these specialists in how people hear and talk. Each year, ASHA takes place in a different city. This year the city happens to be San Diego. No complaints from me, mind you, any opportunity to spend time near water I find pleasant. As I prepared to venture on my journey to ASHA, I find this time of year a good opportunity to reflect upon my career choice as a speech-language pathologist. As I boarded the plane in Tulsa, Oklahoma early on Wednesday morning, I couldn't help but try to let my mind wander to the fact that I get to go on a mini-vacation, where I get to hang out with many others who have so many similiar interests and backgrounds as myself. It does not take long for these fleeting thoughts of vacation to pass, yes the adventure to ASHA has many fun times that are vacation-worthy, but I must really begin to think about what it is I hope to get out of this tremendous opportunity. I chose a book related to the field of speech pathology to read during this journey, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly". I should digress for a moment and state that I have a tremendous passion for understanding alternative modes of communication, interaction, and intervention. I have always loved technology. I began my college career striving to become a computer science or electrical engineer. I missed the daily human interaction, and collaboration within the field of engineering, and this is how became to be a speech-language pathologist. Once I landed in Dallas, I had a several hour layover, so I took the opportunity to grab a bite to eat (trying whole heartedly to transition to pacific time). Then I proceeded to my gate area. It was at this point in time I knew that although the convention doesn't formally begin until 8:30 AM on Thursday, it was starting right there in the airport terminal at DFW. I listened quietly as students, not any that I knew personally, excitedly shared information about their future profession with strangers that had no connection to the field. The networking had begun. One thing that I am personally reminded of quite frequently is, you never know who you will encounter or where that will either 1) change your life as a professional, or 2) change your life personally. All I could think is "wow these students are going to learn so much about themselves and what they want out of this profession in the next 3-4 days". During my long flight from DFW to San Diego, I enjoyed watching the film "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly". I was very thankful to have read the book first, but enjoyed putting myself in a professional on vacation state of mind. Upon arrival at the San Diego airport, my personal and professional lives came together. I always enjoy the opportunity to engage and catch up with past friends, colleagues, and mentors. I will never forget those who have mentored me throughout both my school and through my career. I hope to have many more mentors throughout my professional career and really hope that one day I can be one who mentors someone else in a such a meaningful way as those who have mentored me. I always look forward to Wednesday evening at the ASHA convention. It is the time to catch up, to gossip, to introduce, to have fun with friends who also happen to be professionals in speech pathology or audiology. So I will end this blog entry with this...I am looking forward to learning, teaching, and gathering from other professionals. I have planned out my learning opportunities and prioritized them as I see fit. The theme for this year's ASHA convention is "Beacons of Inspiration". I know that I will be reflecting and seeking for those ideas, concepts and people who inspire me throughout the next several days, and will hold on to these 3 days for the next 365 days in my practice as a speech-language pathologist.