Hi y'all, I guess I'm in charge of the blog this week. I've got a few questions that hopefully you all can help answer. First question, what are your majors and what would you do with that major? Second question, why did you choose that major? Third question, if you could have any job what would that be? I think majority of the group is planning on teaching in some sort of way. I know these questions might seem silly, but when you sit back and find the core of yourself and why you are doing what you are doing hopefully that motivates you throughout this semester. This semester is going to fly by so sometimes a little reminder is a good thing.
Hi, my name is Victoria McKay, when I graduate from Eastern Kentucky University I hope to be an Occupational Therapist. When I was asked as a kid, even in high school, what do you want to do after you graduate. I never really had an answer until the end of my junior year, that is when I was introduced to Occupational Therapy. From that point on I have shadowed several different occupational therapist in several different locations, each time motivating me more and more to be an occupational therapist. When people ask me what does an occupational therapist do, I try to come up with a simple answer by giving them examples of what they do. Occupational therapist help people become independent or regain their independence. They can work with any age group and the techniques tend to be the same. The work on fine motor movements such as being able to button clothes, tie shoes, or hold a pencil. One of the most common patients that I saw while shadowing was a hip replacement. One of the moments that has stuck with me is when one of the patients showed me how he washed his face, brushed his teeth, and put on deodorant. That doesn't sound to impressive until you realize he doesn't have arms, his right arm ended at the forearm and his left was above his elbow. I have always wanted to help people and I think that this career is a perfect fit for me.
Can't wait to read what y'all post! :)
Hey Victoria! I am a Elementary Deaf and Hard of Hearing major with a minor in ASL. With my major, the ideal plan is to be employed by a deaf school and spend my career within the deaf education setting. I chose this major very last minute, I knew that I wanted to do something more than General Education. I thought about jobs using ASL and Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education was the perfect place to practice and use ASL. I want to make a difference within a child's life. I want to be the teacher for my students that I did not have.
ReplyDeleteIf I could have any job I would love to move to a foreign land and do photography. I love taking pictures of land, skies, and outside scenery. My first stop would be in Ireland.
Hello Victoria,
ReplyDeleteTo be completely honest, I still have no idea what I want to do with the rest of my life. I have a general idea, and what I want as an ultimate goal, but no idea how to get there. I am currently a junior at EKU. I am a Deaf Studies major, but need to pick a minor, which not an easy thing to do when you don't know what you want.
But, my main goal is to go home to my family. I am from Florida, and though have lived in Kentucky since I was 11, my boyfriend and his children still live in Florida. I am no where near ready to be a mother, so I continue school here, and once I graduate, I will move back to Florida.
The plan is to move to Saint Augustine where I can, hopefully, work at a School for the Deaf as an advisor, or just in the office. I have no desire to teach, but wouldn't mind working with children.
Another reason we chose Saint Augustine, not just for the school, but because my boyfriend and I have every intention to adopt a Deaf child. My view is, if I can sign and provide a home for someone who needs it, then why wouldn't I do that.
I apologize for rambling on and on, but the point is that, career wise, I am not exactly sure what I want to do. But, hopefully I will figure it out along the way!
-Abigayle D.
Hey Victoria!
ReplyDeleteI am majoring in Deaf and Hard of Hearing Teacher, and I'm minoring in American Sign Language. I'm only into my second semester as a freshman, but I have thought a lot about my future. I obviously don't have any guaranteed future; however, I know where I'd like to go. I would love to at least start of in a school for the deaf to have the total experience. Then, I would like to find a career in a public school - or something like that - where I could work with one or two students throughout the year in some type of co-teaching situation. I believe this would further my experience as a teacher.
I have known that this is something I wanted to do since seventh grade. I joined a sign language choir and I absolutely loved everything about the language. At first, I thought my only option would be to become a sign language interpreter. I had wanted to be a teacher for years before that, but I loved the language so much that I knew I needed it to be involved in my future. Once I got into high school, I had an amazing English teacher who talked a lot about the need for good teachers in public schools. She was very encouraging and supportive of my dreams. I realized I wanted to combine these two passions. EKU happened to have this major, and I was set. I believe teaching is so important, and I've only just started "Speech and Language" and "Deaf Education" classes, but I know I chose the right path for me.
Also, great topic!
Hi yall my name is Tionna Sanders and I'm majoring in Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education. The reason I picked this major was because of my middle school best friend; she had hearing disabilities. She taught ASL and about the deaf community to me. I have always wanted to teach but I didn't know what field or what type of education I wanted to do but after meeting Rebecca (my friend with profound hearing loss) I knew I wanted to do DHH Education. If I could have any job I would honestly like to travel and teach DHH at the same time. I think that would be a really awesome job but I really don't know if that is actually possible but just a thought:)
ReplyDeleteHey Victoria! My major is Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education- Elementary Teaching. I want to teach in Fayette County school system for a couple of years and then move up to something else. I chose this major last semester because I have three people in my family who are deaf so that is near and dear to my heart. Growing up I was always around my family that used ASL and was taught as well. I believe this is what I am supposed to be doing with my life. My dream job would be to travel around the world and teach English. I love traveling and I think it would be interesting to see how people from other countries pick up on a new language.
ReplyDeleteI apparently joined the band wagon, as I too am a DHH major in elementary teaching. As most know I have a 4 year old. She was hard of hearing until her second birthday and the only way we could communicate was through ASL. She had about 150 signs down before her first word. She ended up getting tubes put in on her second birthday and that helped her speaking flourish. But because of the delay in speech shes about 6 months behind her class. To teach her ASL i had to teach myself and fell in love with the language and the ability to learn something new. Last march I was in a freak accident in my previous career as a chef and boiling water was poured on the right side of my body. Burning roughly 15% of my skin. I spent 42 days watching netflix and growing new skin and decided that part of my life was done with. So I started EKU in the summer. I brought over 32 credits from my culinary schools day but because of my profession I've still got 4 years left.
ReplyDeleteOne of the reasons I love the blog is learning more about my students. What is your daughter's name? I am excited to have you in the DHH program with all of the experience you bring!!
DeleteHi Victoria! I love these questions! So originally I was an SLP major, but during my second semster of my freshman year I took ASL 101 and wanted to learn more about careers involving sign language. I found out that DHH education was a major at EKU and set up an appointment with Dr. Gremp to discuss what this major involved. By the end of the meeting I knew becoming a DHH educator was what I wanted to do with my life. My concentration along with this major is Middle Grades English, but ultimately, when my ASL skills are adequate, I would like to work at Kentucky School for the Deaf. I recently learned that KSD has outreach positions where individuals are assigned a region and work with assisting and informing families with DHH students. I believe I would love to do something like that one day.
ReplyDeleteI love how Dr. Gremp recruits for this major and for the field! We desperately need passionate people like you teaching our students and working in this area!!
DeleteHey Victoria!
ReplyDeleteI am majoring in DHH, but eventually I want to get a certification in special education as well. I've always been intrigued by deaf culture, first in elementary school; their was a girl who was hard of hearing and I loved watching ASL going back and forth between her and her interpreter. Then in middle school I was actually able to take a small course on learning ASL and I've loved it ever since. I knew I wanted to teach and I knew I wanted to be involved with special education but because I love learning ASL I knew that this major would fit well with me. I would like to work at a school for the deaf but I also want to get a feel for working in my hometown, Louisville, and seeing the options I have here to help deaf and hard of hearing students.
Wow! You certainly will have lots of options open to you with your variety of interests!
DeleteHey Victoria!
ReplyDeleteMy major is Pre-Communication Disorders. Since I was a kid, all I wanted to do was be a teacher. Up until my senior year in high school, my plan revolved around majoring in Elementary Education. That summer, I decided I wanted to relax and chose the job of babysitting my younger cousins for the next few months. My youngest cousin had a speech impediment and attended speech twice a week. When I would take her, I recall her coming out and telling me of how much fun she had working with her SLP. It wasn’t soon after this that I asked to observe in the speech department and fell in love with what I seen. Not only would this allow me to work with kids of all ages (my ultimate desire) but also in different settings. My profession as an SLP would allow me to choose to work with individuals of all ages and most importantly, help others. This occupation allows me to choose if I wish to work in a nursing home, clinical setting, or in the school system and be an active member of IEP meetings. Overall, I have a desire to help those in need to have a voice and feel confident when they speak!
I love how paths cross and careers are born! Who knows...maybe someday you might work as an SLP with students who are deaf and hard of hearing!!
DeleteHey, Victoria. My major is Deaf and Hard of Hearing education- Elementary concentration. With this major, I hope to go back home and teach at KSD. If I could have any job I would teach Kindergarten or First grade in a school for the deaf. I fell in love with the beauty of American Sign Language and I really wanted to use it every day and I love to teach so I decided to become a DHH Ed Major.
ReplyDeleteHey Victoria! I am majoring in pre-communication disorders. With this major, I will be able to be a speech-language pathologist. I've always had a desire to help people, and I especially adore children. Over time, I narrowed my options down to careers in the educational field and the health care field. One of my friends came to EKU to be an SLP and talked to me about the program here. After doing more research, I found that it was a perfect mix of both! I am very excited because I find our speech and language fascinating and I will have options to work in many different settings and help people of all ages.
ReplyDeleteIf I could have any job, I think I would want to open up a boutique of my own and run it! Its nothing big, but I think it would be very fun!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHey Victoria!!! I am majoring in Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education with a concentration of middle grades math education. How I got here is because of my cousin Caleb. He is blind and non verbal. I have said since I was 14 years old that I wanted to teach children who are visually impaired. I started doing all kinds of volunteer work when I was 14 in that field and knew that is what I wanted to be. Until I came to EKU and heard about the DHH program. After some research I fell in love with sign language and deaf culture and decided I wanted to learn more about deaf culture and communities. So I decided to expand and become a teacher for students who are deaf/blind now. When I graduate EKU I plan on completing my masters in the Visual Impairment program at UK. If I could have any job it would honestly teaching even if it was just math. And if I couldn't do that then I would want to become a police officer.
ReplyDeleteHey Victoria! My major is Learning Behavior Disorders (LBD) Middle Grade (K-12) and Science (K-9) with a minor in ASL Studies. I want to either teach a class of special needs students or a science class. I chose this major because in high school I worked with students who were special needs and absolutely fell in love with it. In addition, the teacher that was in charge absolutely hated her job and was horrible to the students. Seeing this has motivated me to want to do better for these students (and other students) in similar situations. If I could have any job I would want to be a special needs teacher and work with a limited number of students to ensure that they are getting a quality education so that they can be successful. I want them to come out of my classes being able to do more than they could when they entered. Of course, for each student that would mean different things but I want my students to progress and to make an impact on them.
ReplyDelete