NEWS: The Speech-Language Pathology Society General Assembly
7:30 PM
by Mico Untalan (2SLP) and Courtney Chua (4SLP)
The strange thing about climate change is that it is very conspicuous and people highly appreciate it when the weather seems perfect – just like on that day when there was no hint of grayness in the sky nor was the sun beating on everyone's backs. The timing couldn't have been more impeccable as on that Saturday morning, August 9, 2014, the SLP GA was held.
The Thomas Aquinas Research Complex (TARC) Auditorium was flocked by damsels and a few stags sporting either the Rehab Sciences uniform or their Thomasian casual outfit. After a beautiful prayer sang and led by Maikee Arlegui and the national anthem by Jacquelyn Uera, Chot Javier, Dazelyn Ku and Maikee, the program, hosted by Carmela Tria and Eli Samarista, kicked off with Ma'am Georgina D. Mojica, MHPEd, CSP-PASP's opening remarks. She gave only one challenge for the aspiring Speech-Language Pathologists to meet: To topple last year's record of exemplary academic performances.
After the SLP Society's mother and cornerstone spoke, the scaffoldings of the Society – the hardworking Executive Board and their equally hardworking Executive Committee members – were then acknowledged through amusing and lively video presentations. It was then followed by the eye-opening and inspiring talk of Ma’am Mae Catherine S. Sadicon, CASP-PASP about bridging relationships through effective communication. She gave the aspiring Speech-Language Pathologists advice on how to do great in their future profession and told them to armor themselves with knowledge, prepare to be questioned and prepare the answers to those questions, be humble in all their undertakings, and know that although sometimes they are brilliant, sometimes they are also not and that is okay and that those moments are all part of the lifelong, never-ending learning process. She also shared amusing anecdotes about her experiences as an intern, featuring her mentor at the time, Ma’am Gigi herself, much to her embarrassed but amused delight. Lastly, she shared with some of the gifts she has received from the profession: former patients succeeding in life as independent and working individuals, messaging her to update her about their lives after therapy with her, or just simply messaging her to meet up and catch up with one another’s endeavors. As she so wisely said:
“The profession will take care of you, so long as you take care of it.”
Despite having the clock tick so at such an early hour, amidst the presence of the embodiment of what the audience wanted to be, they were not forced nor obliged to listen. They willingly invested all of their attention as they were instilled upon by the words of Daniel Webster through Ma’am Mae, "If all my possessions were taken from me with one exception, I would choose to keep the power of communication, for by it I would soon regain all the rest."
And so the assembly went on, from the penguin dance by our SLP freshmen, the presentation of projects by SLP Soc President Adrienne Dela Cruz, Treasurer Carl Lozano's budget proposal, the Education and Research Committee's Learn and Progress: SLP Tutorial System, and of course, the console for every aspiring writer, Courtney Chua's AMPLIFIED, the online newsletter of the Speech-Language Pathology Society.
Along the ravines of every part of the program, the hosts draws from a bag names of the lucky winners of planners, sponsored by Belle De Jour, and so the program continued until it was time for the team building activities: "Candy Crush", "Flappy Bird", and the traditional "Save The President." Before concluding the event, a few "awards" were bestowed upon those who shone, in one way or another, that day. As everyone was exchanging laughter produced by the games, the project head, Andy Jurilla, spoke the words that would flag and call it a day.
After a few hours, we could already picture what we, the aspiring SLP's, would be doing: Hitting the books, packing our brains and loading our guns with every piece of valuable knowledge that we will eventually be using against a heavy bombardment of quizzes as well as our first shifting examinations.
All for applying to life the things we have learned to help our future patients.
At the end of the day, we were reminded of one thing:
That we are more than just words on a page.
We might fall short from some pictures in our minds, but what sets us apart is that we change lives, one word at a time.
What makes us divergent is that we are SLP's.
0 comments