Most Distinguished Alumni

Last night I read the alumni newsletter from my graduate program. It's a wonderful school, and I am extremely grateful for the time that I spent there...even if it wasn't my best financial decision. One of the posts in the newsletter was a call for nominations for the annual distinguished alumni award. A brief moment of disappointment came over me as I realized that I'll never be nominated, and I will certainly never be given this honor. You see, I really love my profession, and when I graduated I had decent potential for establishing a very meaningful career. Now I only work about one to two afternoons a month; work being defined as getting paid for a service rendered.

So I'm left to wonder if I am using my degree in a distinguished fashion. Daily I conduct a pragmatics group (pragmatics being the use of language, better known as social skills), and I'm seeing great gains for both of my clients. Lydia is now able to enter a social situation such as story time at the library with confidence, and she even initiated a conversation about ice cream with the dining room attendant at Chick-fil-A. Claire is mastering eye contact and turn taking with vocalizations. Goals are also being achieved in both receptive and expressive language. I'm a little suspicious that Claire may be beginning to recognize and understand her name as well as Mommy, and Lydia is speaking in little adult sentences. I am also seeing progress in pre-literacy skills as Lydia "reads" restaurant and store signs on billboards and "reads" her favorite books like Brown Bear, Brown Bear word for word.

My university may not recognize my accomplishments, and my children will not acknowledge them for many years yet, but I hope that my family is reaping many blessings from the education I received.