The theme and slogan for ASHA 2017 was “focus on the big picture.” The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association did a fantastic job of working this idea into every facet of our field for the convention. For my first year attending ASHA, I loved the theme and was excited to see the theme in action. I was able to better understand the multitude of career paths within the umbrella term speech-language pathology. My perspective did not change too much on the field because I already loved it so much, but what did happen was that my passion seemed to be set on fire. The official start of the convention went off with a star-studded bang. Our opening general session introduced the president and board of ASHA, along with the heavy-hitters of the field in their respective topics. Goldie Hawn was the guest of honor as she was the keynote speaker. Hearing her speak about her passion for advocacy and the research her foundation has contributed to the helping fields was empowering. I walked out of that session excited and ready to take on ASHA with a renewed energy. With ASHA being so massive and spread out between the Marriot and the Los Angeles Convention Center, my friends and I knew we had to divide and conquer. And so we broke off to get to as many sessions on varying topics, so when we reconnected at dinner, we were able to give a recap of what we learned and found interesting. The three days’ worth of sessions kept us on our toes, and we were never bored trying to get as much information as we possibly could. In some of the downtime we had between sessions at the convention, we tackled the Exhibit Hall. This was the holy grail of free stuff. I do not know about anyone else, but I made out like a bandit with collecting pens. Not that I counted or anything, but twenty-five seems to ring a bell on my pen count total. I mean, if they were willing to hand some over to feed my pen hoarding tendencies, then so be it. Life happens, and AHSA’s freebies were top notch. Aside from the free stuff, the Exhibit Hall offered a time to meet potential employers, grad schools, interact with companies and products, and collect business cards along the way. One of the main reasons we came to ASHA was to present research some of us had worked on the previous semester. We had planned on making the trip to ASHA anyway, but having the opportunity to present our research as undergraduates at the national level was icing on the cake. Out of the six of us, four had a poster presentation. Molly worked with our university’s audiology professor for her project. Lauren’s poster presentation was on fluency, and so was mine and Yasmina’s poster. The three of us worked on two different studies with our fluency professor at The University of Toledo. To see everyone’s hard work in the Hall of Posters gave me a sweet taste of what is to come in the future as we go on to earn Mater’s degrees and, hopefully for some of us, defend a doctoral thesis. Our days spent going to seminars and meandering through the Exhibit Hall and Hall of Posters was more than I could have expected. The days were long and exhausting, but oh so rewarding. Some moments were even overwhelming, but I would not have traded going to ASHA for anything. We strutted our stuff on every red carpet ASHA had to offer and wore our badges proudly. Hayley, Yasmina, Katie, Molly, Lauren, and I made connections and gained valuable information. This jumpstarted our excitement for the future of our careers. Attending ASHA gave me a lot to think about. I still do not know exactly what avenue I want to pursue indefinitely, but I do know this: I picked my perfect career. As I traipsed around the convention center (in some not-so-sensible shoes), I could picture myself many years into my career and still say that I love it just as much, if not more, as I do now as a young and budding Speech-Language Pathologist. Sure, there have been nights spent in self-doubt and crying until I could not cry any more tears. I feared I would not like myself or who I would become as a professional, but the validation I did not realize I needed presented itself as I stood next to my peers, my professors, and my future colleagues at ASHA. At that moment, I knew everything would be okay. It may not always be easy, and there will still be many more tear-filled study sessions, but I know it will always be worth it because of the strong passion that motivates me to keep going. As for me and my career goals, I am calling for lights, camera, ASHA! Stay Curious, Kayla ©Inquisitive Perspectives 2017
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