What inspired you to pursue speech-language pathology?  

I didn’t always know that I wanted to become a Speech-Language Pathologist. In fact, I discovered the field unexpectedly at SFU. I originally entered SFU’s Education program with the goal of becoming a teacher, but during my first year I took an introductory Linguistics course recommended as an elective for future teachers (LING 220), and it completely changed my academic trajectory and career path.

As I learned more about language, communication, and speech sciences, I immediately fell in love with the field of linguistics. Through a mix of Linguistics coursework, volunteer experiences, and especially through my work with people with aphasia, I saw firsthand the impact communication has on daily life, and the meaningful role SLPs play in supporting individuals across the lifespan. What began as a simple elective course ultimately led me to a career path that combines my interests in education, language, and helping others.

Which aspects of preparation had the most impact on your success? 

I think the factor that impacted my success the most was the well-roundedness of my application. I made a strong effort throughout my degree to balance academics, volunteer work, and paid positions, showing that I was a well-rounded applicant. The breadth of my experiences highlighted a well-rounded application as well, as I had opportunities to work with individuals of many different ages and backgrounds in a variety of educational, clinical, and community settings.

I believe the experience that had the most impact on me and my application was volunteering with the Stroke Recovery Association of BC, in a virtual aphasia peer-connect program. Witnessing the progress participants have made through individualized support and a safe, affirming community sparked my strong interest in aphasia rehabilitation and research. Not only did this solidify my passion for the field and potentially highlight the focus of my future work, but this diversified my experience to more than just working with children, which may have helped strengthen my application. 

My work as a Research Assistant with the Language and Brain Lab working under Yue Wang was extremely impactful in my application as well. This experience allowed me to gain more hands-on work with analyzing speech using Praat software, and continues to teach me more about research, phonetics, and experimentation processes. 

I also believe that a lot of my work and volunteer experiences outside of the SLP field added value to my application. I included my years of work in customer service and coaching on my CV, as a lot of the skills needed for these roles directly apply to the skills needed to be a future clinician, so don’t rule these experiences out.

While maintaining a strong GPA was one of the strengths of my application, I knew grades alone couldn’t capture the interpersonal and human side of an SLP’s role. Grades are great on a CV, but I found my hands-on volunteer, research, and work experiences complemented my academic achievements and helped tell a more complete story about who I am and what I can bring to the field.

Please explain your approach to the letter of intent. 

My approach to the letter of intent evolved significantly throughout the writing process, with guidance from Student Advisor Rita Parmar and several mentors, family members and friends. Rita was a critical component of my letter writing process, and as someone who sees hundreds of these letters, she helped me stray away from a “cookie-cutter” letter and helped guide me to express my unique story while still touching on necessary points. My first draft was essentially a list of my achievements and experiences and how they would relate to the field, and it completely lacked my personal voice and my “why”. I realized I was so accustomed to academic and formal writing that I found it difficult to write freely about myself and my journey.

Eventually, I scrapped that first draft entirely and shifted to a more narrative approach. Rather than focusing on accomplishments already listed on my CV (that Rita reminded me they will be reading alongside my letter already), I focused on the reasons behind them: what motivated me, what I learned, and how those experiences shaped me as a student, future clinician, and person. I then put all of these thoughts down on paper, and condensed and tweaked further from there to fit the strict word counts.

The biggest lesson I learned is that the letter of intent is a process. It is okay to write multiple drafts, revisit ideas, and change directions. My writing process was far from linear, but that allowed me to create a letter that felt genuine and reflective of who I am. While it can feel uncomfortable to highlight your own achievements, this is one of the few opportunities to tell your story, and that story matters!

If you could give one piece of advice to yourself as a first-year student, what would it be? 

I would tell myself to trust your instincts and remember that you are not behind! When I first became interested in speech-language pathology, a professor discouraged me from pursuing the field based on how competitive it is, the extensive volunteer hours needed, the lab(s) necessary to join, the prerequisites necessary on top of a degree, and the high GPA needed to even be considered competitive. They also suggested that many students had already begun preparing years earlier, highlighting the fact that I may be too far behind to catch up. While I appreciated their honesty, I left feeling discouraged and worried that I had discovered the field too late. However, I believed I was capable of achieving those goals and decided not to let that conversation define my path, and within two years, I built the experiences, academic background, and application I needed. Looking back, that conversation ultimately prepared me for the realities of a competitive application process, but it also taught me the importance of trusting myself and my abilities.

My second piece of advice would be to start the application process earlier than you think! I started writing my letter and getting my application together in the fall of my last year, though if I could do it all over again, I would have started the process earlier to give myself more time. Full-time school gets busy and I underestimated the process, so start drafting your letter and compiling your application as early as you can to leave room for a lot of editing and to help manage your stress while still in school. 

Is there anything else that you would like to share? 

The application process is competitive, but it is absolutely achievable. A significant contributor to my success was having a strong support system around me. Friends, mentors, and peers helped review my application, provide feedback, and offer encouragement throughout the process. Luckily for me, many of them were navigating the same journey, which made the process feel much less isolating, as well as helped me stay on track for important deadlines, and help work through difficulties.

Therefore I would say connect with others in the field. The application process can seem very intimidating, but speaking with current SLPs and other students and peers who had successfully navigated the process helped me realize they were all once in the same position, and succeeded. Each one took a different approach to their application, and those conversations reassured me that there is no such thing as a “perfect” application; admissions committees are interested in who you are as a person, not just your grades or resumé. 

Most importantly, advocate for yourself. This is a competitive field, and opportunities often come from taking initiative. Reach out to professors, apply for research positions, connect with clinicians, cold call, and speak with other students. In my experience, people are often excited and willing to share their experiences to support those following a similar path, and I have made some truly great friends in the process who I now get to share this experience with.

You have come this far for a reason. Trust yourself, put yourself out there, and take opportunities even when they feel intimidating. You never know what might happen unless you try!