please help me edit my personal statement.. it's due in less than a week!
Hi all! I am in desperate need of help! My grad school application is due in a couple of days, and I am not sure whether my personal statement is strong enough. If anyone can please read it and make suggestions I would greatly appreciate it!!! Happy new year to everyone!
“Yes” and “no” were the only two words Frank could articulate upon our first meeting. At the time Frank was a 62 year old stroke survivor with severe expressive aphasia. I met him upon my first visit to XXX, a hospital where I now volunteer and where he was then a patient. In order to aid Frank in communicating, his speech therapist provided him with a communication book. However, his strong-will and desire to regain speech gave him the strength he needed to attempt communicating independently. His diligence and hard work have been a great inspiration to me. Walt Disney once said “all our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” As I witnessed Frank pursue his dream to start speaking again, I was reaffirmed of my dream to become a speech pathologist and inspired to work as hard as I could at pursuing this lifelong goal. Language and means of communication have played a significant role in my life, and in turn influenced my decision to become a speech pathologist. From having to learn two new languages as I have immigrated twice, to witnessing my grandfather struggle with a severe stuttering issue, speech and language have impacted me in many ways.
My migration to the United States was the second time in which I relocated to live in a foreign country; I was born in Ukraine, immigrated to Israel, and finally immigrated to the United States at the age of eleven. Although the culture shock and difficulty to learn yet another language had been a struggle, my biggest challenge similar to that of Frank’s was the inability to communicate with others. I soon realized that finding an effective way to communicate would alleviate many of the problems I had faced. Upon my move to the United States I enrolled in ESL (English Second Language) where I learned to speak, read, and write in English. Although the transition had been difficult it forced me to learn effective communication and interpersonal skills, patience, and creative problem solving skills. For a period of four years upon immigration, I would go everyday to my grandparents’ house after school where I spent countless hours doing homework and practicing English. My grandparents would often get together with friends in the living room as I did my work in the adjacent room. I recall how I loved to take breaks from my studies and join the elders. As they socialized among each other I would sit on the couch and observe the ways in which they struggled to communicate. Many of them were stroke survivors or WWII veterans whom had experienced speech difficulties. Through observing their interactions I developed an interest in understanding the power of language and communication. I believe that the time that I had spent in the company of my grandparents and their friends had been the catalyst to my interest in the field of SLP. When I joined XXX and met Frank I reminisced back to the days that I spent at my grandparents’ house where my curiosity and appreciation for speech pathology had originated.
As Frank struggled to communicate his thoughts I detected the frustration that he felt. My desire to help grew and I realized that being a speech therapist is something that I see myself doing for the rest of my life. Soon after my first meeting with Frank I was granted the opportunity to facilitate several Aphasia community groups, and Frank became an active member in one of them. In the groups we work on helping the patients attain their real-life goals, as well as improve their communication skills and quality of life. Certified speech pathologists within the hospital had directed me on what techniques to employ within the groups and how to effectively conduct them. I have followed their lead, and use techniques such as strategies of compensatory functional communication, speech and cognitive games, as well as general discussion topics in order to ameliorate the patients’ language and communication skills. The diversity of the field and the opportunity to collaborate with other departments to work on one common goal is another aspect of the field which appeals to me. While working with the aphasia groups I have gained a great amount of knowledge about speech therapy, communication disorders, and the qualities required to be an effective speech pathologist. My interests in the field have expanded at a fast rate and I am constantly finding myself eager to learn more. I am currently working on a research project along with Dr. ABC, a supervisor of the aphasia groups. We hope to measure the relationship between the number of years past the onset of Aphasia and the quality of life as well as progression of language in those patients whom have been attending the groups that I facilitate. I am also interested in the research of Dr. XYZ (a professor at the school to which I plan to apply) and would like to get involved in investigating the relationship between speech production and speech perception. Some of the aphasia group members, including Frank, have instances where they show disparity between the things that they say and what they believe they had said. I would like to study this phenomenon closer and understand the reason for it.
During my experience I have come to the realization that the career of an SLP is enormously gratifying. I have witnessed Frank progress enormously during the year that I have known him. When I first met him the only words he could say were “yes” and “no”, now he can put sentences together, order food off a menu, and have brief phone conversations. Having the opportunity to observe Frank’s speech evolve so drastically over a rather short period of time has given me insight on the real life benefits which the profession offers. I have always enjoyed a challenge particularly towards a rewarding objective, one which I find to rest in the field of speech pathology. Walt Disney said “if you can dream it you can do it.” I dream big and can’t wait to embark on my career as a speech language pathologist.
“Yes” and “no” were the only two words Frank could articulate upon our first meeting. At the time Frank was a 62 year old stroke survivor with severe expressive aphasia. I met him upon my first visit to XXX, a hospital where I now volunteer and where he was then a patient. In order to aid Frank in communicating, his speech therapist provided him with a communication book. However, his strong-will and desire to regain speech gave him the strength he needed to attempt communicating independently. His diligence and hard work have been a great inspiration to me. Walt Disney once said “all our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” As I witnessed Frank pursue his dream to start speaking again, I was reaffirmed of my dream to become a speech pathologist and inspired to work as hard as I could at pursuing this lifelong goal. Language and means of communication have played a significant role in my life, and in turn influenced my decision to become a speech pathologist. From having to learn two new languages as I have immigrated twice, to witnessing my grandfather struggle with a severe stuttering issue, speech and language have impacted me in many ways.
My migration to the United States was the second time in which I relocated to live in a foreign country; I was born in Ukraine, immigrated to Israel, and finally immigrated to the United States at the age of eleven. Although the culture shock and difficulty to learn yet another language had been a struggle, my biggest challenge similar to that of Frank’s was the inability to communicate with others. I soon realized that finding an effective way to communicate would alleviate many of the problems I had faced. Upon my move to the United States I enrolled in ESL (English Second Language) where I learned to speak, read, and write in English. Although the transition had been difficult it forced me to learn effective communication and interpersonal skills, patience, and creative problem solving skills. For a period of four years upon immigration, I would go everyday to my grandparents’ house after school where I spent countless hours doing homework and practicing English. My grandparents would often get together with friends in the living room as I did my work in the adjacent room. I recall how I loved to take breaks from my studies and join the elders. As they socialized among each other I would sit on the couch and observe the ways in which they struggled to communicate. Many of them were stroke survivors or WWII veterans whom had experienced speech difficulties. Through observing their interactions I developed an interest in understanding the power of language and communication. I believe that the time that I had spent in the company of my grandparents and their friends had been the catalyst to my interest in the field of SLP. When I joined XXX and met Frank I reminisced back to the days that I spent at my grandparents’ house where my curiosity and appreciation for speech pathology had originated.
As Frank struggled to communicate his thoughts I detected the frustration that he felt. My desire to help grew and I realized that being a speech therapist is something that I see myself doing for the rest of my life. Soon after my first meeting with Frank I was granted the opportunity to facilitate several Aphasia community groups, and Frank became an active member in one of them. In the groups we work on helping the patients attain their real-life goals, as well as improve their communication skills and quality of life. Certified speech pathologists within the hospital had directed me on what techniques to employ within the groups and how to effectively conduct them. I have followed their lead, and use techniques such as strategies of compensatory functional communication, speech and cognitive games, as well as general discussion topics in order to ameliorate the patients’ language and communication skills. The diversity of the field and the opportunity to collaborate with other departments to work on one common goal is another aspect of the field which appeals to me. While working with the aphasia groups I have gained a great amount of knowledge about speech therapy, communication disorders, and the qualities required to be an effective speech pathologist. My interests in the field have expanded at a fast rate and I am constantly finding myself eager to learn more. I am currently working on a research project along with Dr. ABC, a supervisor of the aphasia groups. We hope to measure the relationship between the number of years past the onset of Aphasia and the quality of life as well as progression of language in those patients whom have been attending the groups that I facilitate. I am also interested in the research of Dr. XYZ (a professor at the school to which I plan to apply) and would like to get involved in investigating the relationship between speech production and speech perception. Some of the aphasia group members, including Frank, have instances where they show disparity between the things that they say and what they believe they had said. I would like to study this phenomenon closer and understand the reason for it.
During my experience I have come to the realization that the career of an SLP is enormously gratifying. I have witnessed Frank progress enormously during the year that I have known him. When I first met him the only words he could say were “yes” and “no”, now he can put sentences together, order food off a menu, and have brief phone conversations. Having the opportunity to observe Frank’s speech evolve so drastically over a rather short period of time has given me insight on the real life benefits which the profession offers. I have always enjoyed a challenge particularly towards a rewarding objective, one which I find to rest in the field of speech pathology. Walt Disney said “if you can dream it you can do it.” I dream big and can’t wait to embark on my career as a speech language pathologist.