The final leg....

Well, I knew it would come sooner or later.....finally the last leg of the program! I am one week into my final placement at St. John's Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto. I am working with two S-LPs with out-patients and in-patients on the Neuro/Stroke, Burn/ Trauma, Transplant and Cardio Units in the hospital. I am one week in with 9 more to go. It has been very intersting and eye-opening so far. In the past few weeks I finished my final semester of coursework, my final portfolio, and had our graduation party! Here are some pictures....

Our LAST day of classes!

Handing in the "proof" that I deserve to graduate....my portfolio!

GRAD PARTY.....

Kids are SO cute...

These videos make me smile! Enjoy...

Last semester...

Well, it sure has been an intersting ride so far. I am about to begin my last semester of coursework tomorrow. I will not completely deny the fact that I may someday complete my PhD, but it is nonetheless exciting to think that this will be the last of my formal schooling forever (or at least for a long while). I am SO excited, relieved, and (to be honest) a little bit nervous. Who wouldn't be? School is what I have known or the past 20 years of my life! Can you believe it? I sure can't! The next few months will be tough (lots of work, portfolio development, job interviews etc.) and I am tiring of the routine (homework, papers, reading academic texts, exams, etc.) but I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel! At the end of this month, we will have our career fair, which is both exciting and nerve-wracking. We are in the process of planning our graduation party and having interview, resume-writing etc. seminars. I am sure that the months to come will bring much excitement and future changes. I am looking forward to figuring out where I will be working after finishing school.

As you may have guessed, I survived my two placements. In the end, I came away having learned ALOT. As I become more indpendent and comfortable in the day-to-day activities of being an SLP, I feel an increased sense of confidence that I have made the right career choice. Each placement has taught me ALOT about myself as a person and professional.

For now, I am savouring the last hours of my week off before I start bright and early in the morning. I have spent the last week relaxing, watching movies, shopping, catching up with family and friends and re-ordering my life after placement. It has been lovely!

Pictures as promised....

View from the top of the CN Tower
Fearless....Grandpa and Jake on the glass floor!

All smiles on the trolley



At the Old Mill for lunch

The navigators...

Casa Loma

JQ Update!

This one is for you Steven.... here goes my super speed update of the past 2 and a bit months.

In September...
Dan and I moved into our new apartment. We are really enjoying living above ground (sounds strange?!?!?) and love our new neighborhood. Everything is at our fingertips as the intersection for the major subway lines is less than a 3 minute walk from our place. So far no rodents, crazy bugs, floods, break-ins etc. So things are looking up!

I started my final year of school and it is so hard to believe that in less than a year I will be a practicing SLP. This semester has been a tough one so far. Lots of exams and group assignments! I learned that I will be receiving an award in November for the best overall performance in my Child Language courses and internship. I was very proud and honored to find out that I will be receiving this award in particular because it is the area that I am eventually interested in practicing in.

I found out that my next placement for January and February will be at West Park Healthcare Centre in the AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) Clinic. I was originally disappointed as I had really hoped to get a placement in Sudbury which had additional learning experiences in the areas of interprofessional practice and Aboriginal healthcare, but think that the placement I received will be a great learning experience. I will be working mostly with clients who are entirely non-verbal for a variety of reasons and who need alternative means to communicate with others. It will be my third placement in a highly specialized area, so I am hoping that my final placement will be a more "generalist" experience.

We also had a lovely weekend visit with Dan's mom on her route to New Brunswick to visit her family. We enjoyed visiting with her and exploring Nuit Blanche in the evening.

My cousin Rodney also visited Toronto and was kind enough to deliver a package of things I forgot at home during the summer. I enjoyed a lovely dinner with him and his friends at Wayne Gretzky's restaurant.

In October...

I endured 6 weeks of exam....lets not go there!

AND THEN...
Grandma and Grandpa Dietrich came to visit me for a weekend and we had a lovely time seeing each other and enjoying some sightseeing. We rode the sightseeing tour bus and made stop-offs at the Hockey Hall of Fame, CN Tower, and Casa Loma. It was really nice to take in some of the sights that I wouldn't have necessarily went to on my own. I really had fun showing them around my environment and just enjoying their company. ( I will add pictures later)

In November...

not too much to report so far.... lots and lots of group projects and presentations!

I have been working feverishly on my research project that I am completing in my "spare time" with a professor in the SLP Department Alice Eriks-Brophy. The title of the project is Part of the Problem or Part of the Solution? Issues of Potential Bias in Communication Assessments of Aboriginal Children Residing in Remote Communities. What a mouthful.... It is a really interesting project. Definitely the best I have ever worked on before. Currently, we are working on a paper that will be submitted for publishing in a textbook on Crosscultural assessment. If all goes well, I am proud to say that it will be my second published work. So exciting! We are also going to present the findings in a work group session in March.

Mourning the loss of free cable...

While I am not much of a TV enthusiast, I must say that there is nothing more soothing after an impossible exam or mind-numbing day of lectures than sitting back and watching a little TV. It is mindless entertainment and sometimes that is just what I need. While Dan and I easily survived an entire year with a mere six channels we were recently re-introduced to the wonders of cable (and the preview channel...oh how I love the preview channel) when we moved into our new apartment. When the previous tenants moved out, Rogers conveniently did not disconnect the cable for a whole 2 months and a bit...so Dan and I have been enjoying the "large" selection of channels for quite some time now. We knew that it would have to end sometime, but I secretly hoped that the mistake would never be caught. Unfortunately I came home exhausted yesterday evening, much in need of a quick study break in front of the TV and was thoroughly disappointed when I turned on the TV and saw a blue screen....now we are back to 6 fuzzy channels and NO preview channel. I am sad...but like Dan said, "we have better things to spend our time doing than watching TV." Still I can't help but wonder what will happen on that next episode. At least I will still be able to watch my staple show, Grey's anatomy!

Summer Fun!

Well....what can I say I kind of fell off the blogging train for a while there, but can you blame me? I have been enjoying a wonderful summer filled with family, friends, and fun! So to hit the highlights of the past two months (in a blog that will not ramble on forever or make my fingers tired from typing) may be difficult....but I will try my best!

First of all, in June I completed my second placement at ISTAR which was an absolutely wonderful experience. I learned SO much and actually felt like a "real" SLP for the first time. That was pretty exciting. It made me think that fluency is an area that I could really picture myself working in.

During my time in Edmonton, I headed home to Lethbridge for a quick one day trip to attend the Dietrich family reunion...which was fun as always and full of drama! That one will not soon be forgotten by the Dietrich clan....did someone say "ponytail"?

Then at the beginning of July I headed home to Lethbridge for the rest of the summer. Only a few days after being home Mom, Nicole and I headed off for a road trip to Vegas to celebrate Nicole's 21st Birthday. We had a really fun trip together and I enjoyed the HOT weather and some relaxation by the pool.

After a week in Vegas, we headed home and I had a full two weeks of visiting and get-togethers which I loved. Although it seemed like a long time to be home, the time just flew by. It was great to visit with and catch up with friends and family. I especially enjoyed my time visiting with Emily, after we hadn't see each other for a whole year. We got together for a bachelorette and bridal shower for Lyndsay (as her wedding is coming up in September) which was a fun time for all!

In other exciting news, my family adopted a dog who we named Maxwell (Max for short) from the animal shelter. He is such a cutie and SO smart! He fit right in with our family and I really loved being there to welcome him home.

After a whirlwind of visits, I headed home to TO on Monday the 20th and started packing to move to our new place the day after that. Only 8 more days until we move and I cannot wait to be out of our current place.

So, that is the quick version of the past two summer months....I hope yours are going as well as mine!