a word from….Jess Write a staff blog” they said “we want to know about YOU!” Hmmm, okay well here goes. I am a brand-new speech pathologist, or ‘speechie’ as I tend to call myself. Other people might use the term speech therapist, speech-language pathologist, SP, or SLP. I am a Casino local, born and raised here. I went to Casino Baptist Preschool, Casino Public, and then Casino High. I have always loved this friendly town. During High School, I worked in a casual job at Target. After finishing year twelve I had a gap year which I spent working at Target and doing a few other things. After this, at the ripe old age of eighteen I ventured out to the ‘big city’ of the Gold Coast where I was enrolled in a Bachelor of Health Science at Griffith University. I was hoping to get good enough grades to get into the Masters of Speech Pathology when I finished my first degree. I was terrified to leave Casino, the town I knew and loved, where most of my family, and my high school boyfriend stayed. I moved in with my big brother who looked after me really well and was able to help me get settled into busier life on the Gold Coast, used to dealing with university, and all the other changes that came with moving out of home. I was very grateful to my years with Target, as it helped me get a great casual job at Forever New, a shop with the nicest dresses ever! Five years and two degrees later I found myself at the end of my Speech Pathology program, planning a wedding to my high school sweetheart (we made it!), and thinking about what my next step would be. Fate stepped in and I managed to secure a position as a speech pathologist at Jumbunna. I found myself nervous and excited to move back to what would always be my ‘home town’. • What if it had changed and I didn’t like it after all those years on the Gold Coast? • What would it be like to work as a speech pathologist? • How do you even begin to organise moving states again? (Hint: I had a LOT of help!) • What will I do when I don’t have to study? • How will I cope without my Forever New staff discount? Here we are leading up to the end of my first term. Every day I am excited to come to work, I have no idea what my day will hold but I know it will involve helping children work on communication skills and there is no doubt there will be laughter! I have been lucky enough to already learn more than I could have imagined. Everyone at Jumbunna has been incredibly welcoming and supportive about me continuing to learn as a professional and as a clinician. I am very excited to see how my journey with Jumbunna continues to unfold. If you see me around Jumbunna, feel free to say hi! Jess Miller
