Thank you

There are those moments in life I will never forget.  Maybe it was the time when I was in the My Little Pony playing stage and I decided to cut off all of a pony's mane so I could have a "daddy" pony because it was blue.  Go figure.  Or maybe it was when I met my very best friends in a middle school lunch room.  The first night in a dorm room with a complete stranger they forced on me as a roommate.  Or the morning the power went out in Drummond right before class.  That very moment when I opened up an acceptance letter to NSU and thought, "holy crap, I'm moving to Tahlequah for two years".  My very first class with Dr. P - Research Methods and Issues - and I wondered what the world I got myself into.  That moment when I just finished putting everything in its place in a 550 square foot studio apartment when no cable, relying on Gilmore Girls, DVD's, and Netflix as a form of entertainment.  My very first clinical experience at a school and how freaked out I was because I had never gone to a school site before.  The moment I fell in love with the little girl at the Children's Center who had Cerebral Palsy and melted my heart when she smiled.  The moment when I realized that JDMC was not for me, even though I already put in an application.  God was looking out for me on that one.  My very first adult patient in a veil bed flashing his unmentionables to me because he didn't want a blanket on top of him.  That moment when I didn't want to leave because I realized I wanted to work there for the rest of my life.  And now the present - awaiting a phone call to several places that are "in the works" and putting my faith in my Savior that He will take care of me like He always has.  These are the moments when I want to say thank you.

Thank you to everyone who has been involved in my life, whether past, present, or future, who have shaped who I have become.  I never thought my days of going to class during the summer, counting down the days until the next scheduled break, or even counting down the days until graduation would finally come to an end.  I could have not done any of this without the love and support of my loving family and wonderful friends.  Thank you, Grandpa, for letting me sit in on your speech therapy after you broke your neck - that one little session changed my life.  Thank you, Dr. former program director at OSU for telling me that I would never amount to anything in the SLP world and making me work even harder.  Thank you, Dr. G for teaching the hardest and best Neural class that challenged me in ways I never thought possible.  Thank you Dr. S for being such an amazing professor that wants to see everyone succeed and didn't treat us like graduate students, but rather human beings who would soon be colleagues.  Thank you Momma and Daddy for being patient as I moved thirteen times over the course of six years from dorm room to to dorm room, apartment to apartment ... and dealing with up to eight (or possibly more) car loads worth of stuff.

Thank you, and I love you all,

Kelsea