How did you learn about SLP as a career option?
After graduating and taking a semester away from school, I was torn with where I wanted to take my next step. The semester between graduating and going back to school I began learning sign language, which had been a goal of mine for a long time. It was midway through the first-level course at VCC that I considered becoming an interpreter, but with the reality of the limited job opportunities, I started asking family and friends for suggestions on what profession they saw me in and how I might incorporate sign language - several of them mentioned working as a SLP. Coincidently while working a shift at the Granville Island Toy Company, I had the pleasure of speaking with a SLP who left me with her business card telling me to contact her if I had any more questions. So with the encouragement of my family and friends I contacted her a few weeks later and we met up to chat in detail about her career as an SLP. That meeting, paired with previous research I had done (online, and talking with several other SLPs), helped me decide to pursue SLP.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the SLPs who have been such phenomenal supporters of my goals, who have taken the time to answer my questions and teach me about their specific areas of work - from hospital to school district and the private sector. In particular Shelia Threndyle, a current SLP, has been such a blessing in helping encourage and educate me on my journey to applying to the SLP program.
What do you think made your application a success?
I was fortunate enough to work with two research labs at SFU. I first worked as a research interviewer for the Department of Psychology’s Children’s Memory Research Group and then moved over to the Department of Linguistics’ Language and Brain Lab (LABlab). It was in the LABlab that I learned how research labs work and the opportunity to assist in running experiments, as well as help create and edit stimuli for a study looking at fricative perception in native and non-native English speakers. I think my work in the labs helped me show my initiative to learn and helped me demonstrate analytical abilities.
Besides volunteering at two of SFU’s research labs, I have been a blood donor since I was 17; and more related to wanting to become an SLP, for the last three years, I have been a volunteer reading tutor for an amazing program called ONE to ONE. During my undergrad, I was a part of the SFU cheerleading club as an athlete, secretary, vice president and then president. While not directly a volunteer organization, the team worked with several organizations/events to lend our support and encouragement for topics like cancer awareness and diabetes health initiatives.
On top of volunteering academically and within my community I have worked with vulnerable populations, working two summers as a camp counselor and programmer for a fantastic organization, the BC Easter Seals Society. In addition, I have been working part-time as a personal support worker and behaviour interventionist for over a year. Collectively these different positions have given me a vast set of skills and perspectives to better assist and support those that may have challenges communicating and interacting with others. As such I am grateful for the experiences, as I believe it has enabled me to effectively work within a myriad of environments and taught me how to positively connect with and read others.
Writing the Letter of Intent was challenging - 500 words is very limiting when you’re trying to describe why your experiences make you a good candidate and why your passion for the profession means you deserve a seat in the program. The most important thing I wanted the reader to understand was how I viewed the profession and my desire to be a part of it. Simply said, I believe being an SLP means you have the power to help change lives because you help enable someone to express their own thoughts and feelings by helping them verbally communicate. So my advice to future applicants is to know why you really want to become an SLP and let your reader know that. I don’t think it should be all about tooting your own horn, but more about why you want this opportunity, and what you’re going to do with it.
One of the more important things I would like to say is that no matter what you plan on doing with your life, I highly recommend volunteering as much as you can. It’s the best thing one can do to give back to their community, period. If I were to consider what my collective volunteer experiences have given me, it is that they have taught me how I best work with others, and what areas I really enjoy working in, which ultimately, guided me to wanting to become an SLP.
