BECOMING A SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGIST (SLP) - ALUMNI PROFILE 

Erica Halabourda

"Communication is such an important (and often taken for granted!) aspect of our lives as social beings and the ability to use research and evidence-based clinical therapies to assist individuals with challenges relating to communication really appealed to me."

Erica Halabourda began her undergraduate career at SFU in Fall 2012 and completed her BA degree (Linguistics major, Psychology Minor) and Certificate in the Linguistics of Speech Science in Fall 2016. Erica started the MSc in Speech-Language Pathology at UBC in September 2017.

Why study linguistics?

My original plan when I started at SFU was not Linguistics. After my first semester I decided to take a term filled with courses from vastly different areas I had never considered just to try them out. LING 220 was one of the courses I took that semester and I loved it!

How did you learn about SLP as a career option?

I met an audiologist as part of a Careers Night event in high school and was really interested in her career. I started researching the audiology field and stumbled upon SLP, as the two fields are often closely associated. It was then I realized that SLP sounded like an even better fit for me! 

What attracted you to the SLP field?

For me, SLP is the perfect blend of arts and science. Communication is such an important (and often taken for granted!) aspect of our lives as social beings and the ability to use research and evidence-based clinical therapies to assist individuals with challenges relating to communication really appealed to me. I was also drawn to the field because of the diversity of the populations you can work with: SLPs can work with kids or adults, with acquired or developmental language disorders, swallowing disorders, etc. 

How did you build a strong SLP application?

The application for SLP includes so many components, which is great because it allows you to present a more holistic overview of yourself as a person, but as the applicant it’s a lot to think about and coordinate! I started working in the Phonological Processing Lab in Fall 2015. I chose the Phonological Processing Lab because I had a great deal of interest in phonology and I had taken a class with Dr. Ashley Farris-Trimble, the lab director, and had the opportunity to talk with her about the work in the lab. I was excited about and drawn to the research the lab was doing. Although the MSc in SLP is an applied program, research is still an important aspect of the program. The clinical therapies you will learn in the SLP program are based in research, so being able to convey in the application that I was familiar with and understand the research process was beneficial.

I personally found asking for references the most nerve-wracking part of the whole application process! I wanted to make sure I chose references that knew me well and would be able to write me a strong letter in support of my application. The academic references came from professors I had taken multiple upper division classes with and who I felt could speak to my experiences and abilities (including my research experience in the Phonological Processing Lab). For the non-academic reference I chose an SLP who had been my volunteer supervisor. I think my best advice for future applicants is to plan ahead – take time to build relationships with potential letter writers so that they know you and understand your goals.

My Letter of Intent went through many (many!) revision stages. It was challenging because as an applicant, you are given so few words to let people who’ve never met you know why out of all the other applicants they should admit you to the program.

One other thing I personally did that may have helped my application stand out a bit was that I took a couple of graduate class sections as part of my undergrad. This allowed me the opportunity to engage with research subjects I found interesting and challenge myself academically but by taking these graduate sections I was also able to demonstrate in my application that I could successfully handle graduate level coursework.

How did your volunteer experience relate to your goal?

I volunteered with several organizations prior to applying to SLP programs. I have volunteered with Family Services of Greater Vancouver, at BC Children’s Hospital, and with an SLP in a Residential Care Facility. Volunteer experience was important not just for my application but for my personal development as well. Even volunteer work that was not directly related to SLP (only one of my volunteer positions was) was beneficial because those experiences introduced me to different environments and populations and the skills can be transferable and related back to skills necessary in SLP.

How will you remember your experience in Linguistics at SFU?

How much space do I have? My experience in Linguistics at SFU has been so amazing! I feel like it would take way too long to go through and thank all the people who have helped me get to where I am! Since I began in Linguistics I have always been drawn to phonetics and phonology so all the courses (especially the upper division special topics courses) in those subject areas have been particularly inspirational to me because I was so invested in what I was learning. I feel like I’ve learned something important from every LING course I’ve taken. Even ones that weren’t personally my cup of tea have all contributed to helping piece together bits of my understanding of this big (and awesome) puzzle that is language. 

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CONSIDERING A CAREER IN SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY?

The Certificate in the Linguistics of Speech Science (CLSS) provides an understanding of the sound system and grammatical system of language and applies that knowledge to language acquisition, speech-language pathology, and more.

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SPEECH AND HEARING CLUB

Join the student-led SFU Speech and Hearing Club (Shlub) and connect with your peers on everything related to speech-language pathology and audiology.

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