....a doctoral student!! I got a letter from the chairman of the graduate admissions committee at LSU that said I am formally accepted into the doctoral program and I start in the fall. I've been taking classes, which will count for credit, for the past 3 years, but now I am a full-fledged student working on my PhD in Communication Disorders. I'll get to pick my advisor/mentor soon and figure out just how long the whole process will take and what I've gotten myself into. I'm so excited...the pursuit of a lifelong dream!!

By Kate on Tuesday, May 18, 2004 - 11:05 pm:

Congratulations!!!!

By Bobbie~moderatr on Tuesday, May 18, 2004 - 11:15 pm:

YEAH!!!!!!!!

By Emily7 on Tuesday, May 18, 2004 - 11:57 pm:

Good for you!!!

By Christylee on Tuesday, May 18, 2004 - 11:59 pm:

What wonderful news CONGRATULATIONS!

By Tink on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 12:24 am:

YAY!!! Congratulations. Way to go!!

By Texannie on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 01:10 am:

FANTASTIC!!!

By Fraggle on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 08:54 am:

Congratulations Pam! I hope to be able to pursue my PhD in Communication Disorders, too. Do you have an idea of what topic you would like to research? My DH is working on his PhD in Engineering Management. Right now, he is putting together his research proposal. Keep me posted (if you don't mind ) on how the process goes for you.
-Meredith

By Trina~moderator on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 08:58 am:

WOO HOO!

By Happynerdmom on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 09:45 am:

That's awesome, Pam!!! Congratulations! Just think, someday you'll be "Dr. Pam!"

By Emdee on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 09:51 am:

Congratulations! I am in the process of finishing up my dissertation for my ph.d in math--I am finishing the writing and will defend this August. It is a long process and I have wanted to quit many, many times--but it is worth it and you will feel wonderful when you are near the end (although the end seems to be my hardest part!!!). Good luck

By Debbie on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 11:46 am:

Congratulations!!!!!!! Sounds like you are going to be very busy for awhile!

By Janet on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 11:59 am:

Is this the same woman who was fighting tooth and nail to get all the paperwork done so she could go back to school? LOL Way to go, Pam! Persistance pays off--now go knock 'em dead!

By Vbw1978 on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 12:14 pm:

[b]CONGRATS[/b] !!!!!

By Boxzgrl on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 12:50 pm:

WOO-HOO!!!! Congrats to you, you've come a long way and its gonna pay off!

By Palmbchprincess on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 01:34 pm:

Congrats Pam!!!

By Amy~moderator on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 02:43 pm:

Congratulations!!! That is great news!

By Bellajoe on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 02:47 pm:

YOU GO GIRL!! Congratulations PAM!!

By Karen~moderator on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 05:27 pm:

Congratulations, Pam.

By Melanie on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 05:34 pm:

Congratulations!!

By Ginny~moderator on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 06:31 pm:

FAAAAAAANTASTIC!!!! Congratulations, Pam.


BTW, wasn't the day you took this exam/interview the same day you were painting the church kitchen with a bunch of teenage girls?

I am impressed, lady.

By Dana on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 09:43 pm:

It won't be long before we have to start calling you DR PamT Congratulations.

By Pamt on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 09:55 pm:

Thanks so much for your well wishes and support! Remind me how excited I was when I am griping about being stressed out and having papers due. I really am thrilled and a little scared, but this is something I have ALWAYS wanted to do, but figured we would never live anywhere that had a doctoral program in my field. I have certainly been blessed with this opportunity and a very supportive husband.

Emdee, okay a PhD in math!!?? You must be one smart cookie! I can't even comprehend such. My undergraduate calculus class kicked my butt! I might like to email you sometime about the doctoral process and how you balance family life, if you don't mind.

Meredith, I'll keep you posted. Do you have any schools in your area? I am pretty sure I will ultimately do my dissertation on something relating to language-learning disabilities (dyslexia in particular) or developmental apraxia since those are my two biggest interests, clinically and theoretically. In the 5 classes I have taken so far, every paper I have written has related in some way to reading impairments, so I am building up quite a stash of journal articles and resources on the subject and find it utterly fascinating.

And Ginny, I didn't have to interview...just an extensive written application, transcripts, take the GRE, and have ltrs of rec written. But yes, I did take the GRE and then paint the coffee shop in the student center at church---which we are STILL working on. It's very difficult trying to coordinate schedules with a group of 9th and 10th grade girls!!

Thanks again everyone!!

P.S., Janet, won't we be reading your post about going to school soon? If I can do it, anyone can!!

By Emdee on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 11:08 pm:

Pam, email me anytime. It has definitely been difficult juggling it all, although I have only had to do that for a year now--I have a precious one year old. I would also like to know how your process is--I think the math world thinks much differently than everyone else and things are done differently, but I would still like to know how things are done with your phd. My email is:

eshores23@yahoo.com

Again, congratulations!

By Bea on Thursday, May 20, 2004 - 12:14 am:

By Lauram on Thursday, May 20, 2004 - 08:43 am:

Congratulations!

By Fraggle on Friday, May 21, 2004 - 08:52 am:

Pam, If I had to choose a topic today I would choose language learning disabilities and reading. I worked with Grades 3-5 (before I had my girls) and this was the greatest area of need in our school. Our school was actually using a new reading approach (called SPIRE-probably most similar to Orton Gillingham) that seemed to be working for some of my LLD kids.

I'm hoping to go back to work part-time in two years (when my youngest goes to Kindergarten). I'm planning on going back into the school system. DH would like for me to go back to private practice so the pay would be better (I would have to get recertified first), but I really enjoyed working in the schools-I can consult with reg. ed teachers, sped. teachers, specialists, etc. all in one place. Plus it gave me an opportunity to team teach and to observe kids right in the classroom.

There are not any schools in my area that even have an undergraduate program in Communication Disorders, so right now a PhD is really a long term goal. I anticipate that we will be moving at some point since my DH would like to live closer to a college where he can teach. He actually is in the PhD program at the U of Alabama at Huntsville-they have a distance learning program and they structure it so that the students only have to travel to Alabama for classes once a month for several semesters in a row (to fufill the residency requirement).

-Meredith