All Aboard!!

Good morning from beautiful, foggy San Diego! I am so blessed to wake up in this incredible city for another day of networking, learning, and teaching! I’m not sure how today can top yesterday, but I thought Wednesday was the best day ever, too!

To pick up where I left off, I shut my computer on the train ride from L.A. to San Diego when we were about 30 minutes out of San Diego! I pulled out my suitcases and chose my clothing for the reception I was headed to as soon as I stepped off the train! The President of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA), Paul Rao, invited Cathy Ross and me to his private welcoming reception on a yacht in the San Diego Bay! What an incredible honor! Paul was so thrilled to have a speech-language pathologist representing our field in the Miss America Organization and I couldn’t wait to meet the other speech therapist involved in hosting the conference!

So, I rushed to the bathroom on the train, held my clothes and makeup bag between my knees and I changed into business casual wear! It was quite the experience trying not to fall over in the bathroom while putting a finishing touch on my eyeliner! As soon as I stepped off the train, I hopped in a taxi which took me to the Marriot Marina for the reception. I didn’t have time to stop at my hotel to drop off my bags before heading in, so my dear friend Lynda and some of her acquaintances met me at the Marriot entrance and swiped my bags so that I could head to the reception unburdened! It was an amazing exchange and couldn’t have happened without careful planning, communication, and the grace of God!

Cathy and I boarded the yacht and were immediately accepted by excited speech-language pathologists and their children, all surprised and wondering why Miss Wyoming was in their midst! Paul Rao, President of ASHA introduced me as both Miss Wyoming and a speech-language pathologist attending the conference! This opened so many doors for incredible conversation about my platform of traumatic brain injury prevention as well as my journey as a speech language pathologist in a school setting. I was completely blown away by the Board and Foundation members I met, as well as previous ASHA Presidents and their spouses. These people have built a lasting foundation and legacy for the field of speech-language pathology and audiology and I am so proud to be a part of it!

I was able to talk with the people involved in planning the articles for the ASHA Leader (a publication sent out by ASHA to its members) and we are excited to move forward with an article about my journey as a Miss Wyoming and a speech therapist! My platform of traumatic brain injury is very near and dear to my heart and sharing my brother’s story of tragedy and miraculous recovery has been so amazing! To have this opportunity to spread the word about traumatic brain injury prevention and awareness!

It was amazing to spend time with Paul Rao, his wife Martina, their daughter and her two little girls. A whole family of speech-language pathologists, truly! That was very inspiring to see!

On the way back to the hotel after the reception, Cathy and I ran into another speech therapist, Lindsay Curran, who graduated the year before me! It was so exciting to see another UW alum and although we were exhausted from the evening’s festivities, we stayed up a little while longer to catch up.

After a fabulous sleep (nothing could have kept me awake), I woke up to hit the gym and get ready for the day! After showering and changing, Cathy and I headed down to the Opening Ceremony of the convention. The room for the ceremony was HUGE! There are approximately 15,000 people who attend the conference out of the 100,000 some members in our association! What an amazing gathering of speech therapists!

The theme for the 2011 ASHA Convention is Beacons of Inspiration: Innovations of Action. Paul Rao spoke to us about his term as ASHA President and gave us specific examples of people in our field that have led as inspirational examples. I had the amazing, INCREDIBLE honor to be included in this list! One of the pictures that I posted on facebook included a slide of two pictures of me with a picture of Paul Rao on the side. As he introduced me, he explained how I am a speech therapist in a school district in Wyoming while also standing as a beacon of inspiration as Miss Wyoming, sharing knowledge of TBI and how we can prevent it! I almost cried with how thankful and blessed I truly felt at that moment. I am so beyond thankful that God has opened the doors for this moment to have happened!

After Paul was finished speaking, we had the opportunity to listen to Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroanatomist who experienced a severe hemorrhage in the left side of her brain. She wrote a book called “A Stroke of Insight,” and she was our keynote speaker for the event! She had amazing insight as a patient going through speech therapy and it was mind-blowing to listen to her speak! She left us with a quote, “Please be response-able for the energy that you bring into this space.” I LOVE this because of her reference to how our amygdalas in our brains have to be comfortable and non-threatened in order to learn. I am more aware now than ever at how people respond to the “energy” I bring into a space! I pray that my energy is comforting, healing, and peaceful for people I meet!

After the opening ceremony, Lindsay Curran and I headed to the poster sessions in order to learn about topics specific to our needs as school-based SLPs. On our way to our first session, we ran into Dr. Doug Petersen and Dr. Melissa Allen! While we were excitedly greeting each other, Doug asked me whether I was headed to “my” poster with Dr. Mary Hardin-Jones and Dr. David Jones on the horn-blowing hierarchy of Non-Speech Oral Motor Techniques (NSOMTs). I was confused by his question because while I knew that Mary and David were presenting a poster including research data that I had collected for my undergraduate senior honors thesis project, I had no idea that I was being included in the presentation! I hustled over to the poster and saw my name, shining brightly on the top of the poster! Talk about being FLOORED! Thank the Lord Doug had told me to head that way or else I would have missed the opportunity to present at my own poster session!

Mary and David were confused as to why I hadn’t received an email from ASHA explaining that I would be presenting! I told them I had a received an emailing explaining that their research would be displayed as a poster at ASHA but I had thought they were sending me an email to share with me that they had culminated the study they had helped me start 3 years prior! They started CRACKING up because I had sent them an email after receiving the notification saying, “congratulations, I’m so excited that this is finally happening!” and none of us picked up on the fact that I didn’t realize I was included in the presentation! SO FUNNY!

So I strapped on my “presentation boots” and greeted people for an hour and a half, explaining the purpose, method, results, and implications of our study! It was absolutely incredible! I get so fired up being able to share the results of a controversial study with speech therapists, in hopes that they will take the information back and implement it accordingly! This was practice-altering material! J

After the poster session was completed, Lindsay and I headed to lunch at Dick’s Last Resort (which was quite an experience) and finished the day with an incredible session regarding Concussion Education and the Role of SLPs. I was inspired by the presenter’s message and her work that she had done in TBI prevention. I have new guidance and ideas for the spreading of information regarding concussions and TBI. Get ready, world!

After an amazing session, Lindsay and I got together with the rest of the Wyoming crew at an incredible Italian restaurant! We spend about 3 hours at dinner and walked back down the beautiful GasLamp District of San Diego!

After a fabulous night’s sleep, I am ready for another incredible day! Can’t wait to see what God brings today! I will continue to share! Thank you so much for following me in this journey. I cannot even explain what it means to me to receive your encouragement and hear your excitement for the amazing things that God is working in my life. THANK YOU! I will “see you” again soon!

Love,

Catherine

California, Here I Come!

Hello from beautiful California! I know it’s been FOREVER since I’ve updated my blog but I decided to just jump right back in! I will update you on all the recent happenings as soon as I can! This morning I boarded a plane in Gillette to head to Denver, where I jumped on a connecting flight to Los Angeles, California! Today was my first day to fly out of Gillette and it was quite an experience! It’s a beautiful little airport but the poor gal attending the check-desk wore about 50 different hats! She checked us in, accepted our baggage, made announcements, took our tickets, de-iced the plane’s wings, and then sent us on our way! The only things she didn’t do were the security checks and she left the flying up to the pilots! J She was wonderful and an inspiration in her ability to handle the entire experience without appearing flustered in the least!

Some of you probably know this about me: I am a hopeless plane (and car) sleeper. I think from years of road trips between Texas and Wyoming, I trained myself to fall asleep to the vibrations of a moving vehicle! I’m writing this from a train (L.A. to San Diego) and I’m shocked that I’m still awake and functioning! So I slept from Gillette to Denver and had an even better nap from Denver to L.A.

Once I got to L.A., the REAL adventure began! I had my first sighting of ‘smog’ and it was different than I had envisioned… It reminded me of how it looked outside this morning in Gillette when I looked out my window and the snow was obscuring my normally clear view into the north of town. The smog was shocking but it was an interesting change from the snow! My jacket was no longer necessary in the beautiful weather. Awesome!

After grabbing my bag, I met my wonderful friend from the University of Wyoming, Douglas Owens. We haven’t seen each other in YEARS and it was a fabulous reunion! Straight away, we headed to the Santa Monica pier and walked around smelling the deliciously greasy aromas and watching the performers at their best! We snapped a couple fun pictures and I absolutely reveled in the fact that I was in California for the first time EVER! To have this experience on such a beautiful day with an incredible friend was such a huge blessing! I could hardly contain the joy in my heart. J

After exploring the pier, we headed to In-N-Out Burger for a delicious lunch! I was able to get two hamburger patties on the “secret menu” that I learned about today! Did you know there are items you can order that are not posted on the menu? You have to be a “regular” to know the lingo and fortunately my tour guide had the inside scoop!

Right after filling our bellies, we headed to the ranch where Douglas works in his spare time. The ranch is located right above the neighborhood of “Hollywoodland” and right below the famous “Hollywood” sign! Did you know that the Hollywood sign was originally supposed to say “Hollywoodland” and it was intended to be an advertisement for the Hollywoodland neighborhood lying underneath it. The idea of Hollywoodland was originated in 1923 before the Great Depression and while it was never realized, the dream still lives on!

Douglas and I saddled up on our horses and took off for the Hollywood hills! My horse was so sweet and gentle and we ambled around, checking out the gorgeous scenery. Of course, I wore my helmet and was so pleased to learn that each rider at the ranch is required to wear a helmet or else they are not allowed to mount a horse! What an excellent rule in place to help prevent traumatic brain injury. Douglas and I finished the breathtaking tour and headed to the Los Angeles Union Train Station. I am on the train as I type heading to San Diego for the national American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) conference. The first event I will attend happens AS SOON AS I step off the train! I will be attending the welcoming reception held by the president of ASHA on a yacht in the San Diego bay. I am praying that the train gets there on time and everything goes according to plan!

I am so excited to be introduced at the opening ceremony to the ASHA conference tomorrow morning! My platform of traumatic brain injury prevention and awareness is near and dear to not only my heart, but to many other speech-language pathologists that work with hundreds of thousands of people living with traumatic brain injuries. I am thrilled to have the opportunity not only to talk about what we can do as speech-language pathologists to prevent traumatic brain injury, but also to learn about the most current research and happenings regarding the topic! This is going to be an AMAZING week! I will post more pictures soon! Thank you for all your prayers and believing that are helping to make this such a magnificent journey!

Much love,

Catherine