When I was preparing for college, my senior year, I had no idea what the hell I was going to major in or what I was going to do with my life. I thought journalism, English, creative writing... something focusing solely on language. I also toyed with psychology because the idea of being a therapist was somewhat appealing to me. I wanted to combine my affinity for helping people with language somehow, and decided to dip my toes into the world of speech pathology. It was more than I imagined, but there are some struggles us speechies have. If you're a speech pathology major, you just know:

1. When people ask you what your major is, they simply nod and smile.

"Oh, cool..." We both know you have no idea what it is. There's usually a period where you and I just look at each other smiling, nodding, or some awkward combination of both. I'll ask you, "Do you know what that means?" And you'll finally shake your head no. It's okay, one day maybe people will know what speech majors are.

2. People lump you together with communication majors.

No, we are not the same. We are nothing alike actually. Yes, we both have "communication" in the title of our major, but Communication Sciences and Disorders is quite different. Communication majors fall under a field of business and can be applied to journalism, P.R., marketing, news broadcasting, education, etc. Communication Sciences and Disorders is a specific major for aspiring speech pathologists and audiologists falling under the health field.

3. "So you like, fix people's stutters right?"

You know what, yup, you are absolutely right. This is our entire career, just focusing on stutters. We fix stutters. Yes, you actually tapped into a bit of what speech pathologists do, but our field actually encompasses a lot more including multiple communication disorders, swallowing disorders, traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), etc. I won't bore you with an extensive list, use Google, my friends if you are really curious.

4. You cannot escape the constant glares in the library.

Quiet rooms are impossible. No, I'm not clearing my throat. No, I'm not talking to you. Yes, I'm okay. I'm just doing my phonetics homework. Please stop judging me... but yes, I will continue to sound out "thin" ten times to transcribe "th" into θ or ð.

5. And we're always at the library.

I constantly pen in my agenda study dates with my friends from the major and actually look forward to them. Quizlet is our best friend. Do we ever actually really leave?

6. Ain't no party like a fricative party 'cause a fricative party don't stop.

Phonetics is our jam, and IPA is our official second language. Phonetics is fun. We're kind of like our own exclusive, weird club. Spiʧ ˈmeɪʤərz ˈoʊnli.

7. Anatomical terms are practically a second language in your mental lexicon.

We like to think we know what we are talking about, but half the time we're confused and trying to grab at one of the many anatomical words stowed away in our vocabulary.

8. Oh, Oh, Oh To Touch And Feel A Girl's Vagina, Ahhhh, Heaven

Oh, get your mind out of the gutter. With all those anatomical terms we've got to keep stored away in our brains, we've got to make it a little fun with mnemonics. Spice up your life, have a laugh, and cleverly learn what the cranial nerves are: Olfactory, Optic, Oculomotor, Trochlear, Trigeminal, Abducens, Facial, Vestibulocochlear, Glossopharyngeal, Vagus, Accessory, Hypoglossal. You won't forget them. Oh, and don't forget their functions: Some Say Marry Money, But My Brother Says Big Boobs/Brains Matter Most. (Sensory, Sensory, Motor, Motor, Both, Motor, Both, Sensory, Both, Both, Motor, Motor).

9. You find yourself asking what you're looking at when looking at a spectrogram.

Wait, what is this? Is this CVC or VCV? Why the hell are there so many variations of these damn things? Why are we learning these again? My brain hurts.

10. Linguistics professors just don't understand.

Yes, speech and linguistics parallel one another, but they are not the same. It's definitely interesting and introspective to get another perspective that's different, but it is just. not. the. same. Linguistics won't ever understand speechies and vice versa.

11. You're not quite sure what NSSLHA is, what you do, or why you're a part of it.

I'm just here for the cord at graduation. As an underclassmen, you kind of show up to the meetings every once and awhile and sign up for the community service events because, hey why not? They're fun and heartwarming, but as far as what NSSLHA actually does... don't look at me.

12. The impending, looming grad school applications.

Please, don't remind me... stress on top of stress on top of stress. Is my GPA high enough? Will my internships cover for that C I got in that gen ed? Do they like when you're in greek life?

13. What are observation hours?

Should I take the class that gives me the hours? Should I do extra? Oh crap, I forgot to have the SLP sign off on the sheet. Does it not count now? Should I observe at multiple locations? Should I follow more than one therapist? Help, please.

14. Your best friends within the major are your people.

Some of my closest friends I've met through my major and they understand me in ways nobody else can. They understand your stress, your schedule, bogus tests, and annoying professors. You have silly inside jokes about phonetics. You are a special kind of weird and they just get you.

Even though we may complain and stress, we absolutely love our major. Through all the difficult vocabulary and concepts, the never-ending memorization, and frustrating professors, we wouldn't study anything else. We can't wait to finish our undergrad and move onto grad school. We are thrilled to enter the world as speech-language pathologist and make our world better, brighter, happier, and healthier.