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Emily Yuan has accepted an offer of admission to UBC’s MSc in Speech-Language Pathology program. After discovering the field of SLP during the third year of her undergraduate degree, Emily sought out every opportunity she could to explore the field and deepen her understanding of it. This is her first attempt at applying to a graduate program.

What inspired you to pursue speech-language pathology?

As someone who majored in Psychology, I did not start my undergraduate journey knowing I wanted to be an SLP. I was having a hard time connecting to the career outcomes that I was introduced to in Psychology, and frankly felt a bit disconnected from the field. 

I knew that I loved the study of development, and growing up, I loved reading and writing as they allowed me to manipulate and understand the English language. I was working as a behavioural interventionist at a special education school, where one of my 13 year old students could not read. I was shocked that no interventions had been able to help him yet. Under the guidance of an SLP, we worked on phonics together and after 5 months, he was able to confidently decode paragraphs of text. 

I found that experience to be incredibly special and impactful. It felt like all of my interests in development, the English language and helping others were aligning in one place, leading me to investigate the field of speech language pathology.

Please tell us about your work and volunteering experience. Which positions were most significant in achieving SLP admission?

I believe the clinical experiences that I was able to have were extremely significant to my admission. I have worked as a speech language pathology assistant for one and a half years, which has given me such great insight into the actual day to day in the field. This position allowed me to explore the pediatric side of SLP, learn and apply different therapy structures, as well as learn from a wonderful SLP as my mentor. Having an SLP to work closely with and guide me through my questions was extremely beneficial.

Another significant position was as a volunteer with Vancouver Coastal Health, at . This position allowed me to explore the adult side of SLP, allowing me to gain experience with older adults with aphasia and apraxia. Again, working alongside a knowledgeable and supportive SLP allowed me to gain many clinical skills regarding common therapies and treatment practices.

Most of all, these experiences allowed me to connect to the individuals that the field of speech language pathology impacts most — those experiencing therapy. A large bulk of my letter of intent was dedicated to these significant experiences as they had continued to increase my passion and understanding of the field. Without these clinical experiences, I don’t think I would have been able to articulate my reasons for pursuing speech language pathology as well.

Describe the ´óÏó´«Ã½ courses that had the most impact on your success.

Phonetics (LING 330) with Sylvia Cho taught me to think critically about the anatomy and physiology of the body in connection to speech sounds, in an applied way that I had not been challenged to do before.

First Language Acquisition (LING 350) with Dr. Henny Yeung allowed me to interact with and consider factors in development that brought together all of the disciplines of Linguistics.

Which ´óÏó´«Ã½ instructors helped shape your journey to SLP admission?

Dr. Eva Tchizmarova was highly significant to my journey of pursuing speech language pathology. She was my instructor for Language, Culture and Society (LING 160), (LING 220), and Writing for Linguistics (LING 282W). She helped inspire my initial passion for Linguistics. 

As someone who started with a major in Psychology and had figured out that I wanted to pursue SLP in my third year of undergrad, I wasn’t sure that I would be able to complete all of the requirements and finish all of the preparation needed by the time I was to graduate. 

In my times of doubt, Dr. Tchizmarova remained a positive mentor who believed in my abilities and urged me to continue on my journey. I cannot thank her enough for believing in me and motivating me to continue pursuing my dream.

Please explain your approach to the Letter of Intent.

Rita Parmar, the Linguistics Student Advisor, gave me incredibly impactful advice upon reading my first draft — you need to write a letter, not an essay. From then on, I focused on capturing my raw passion for the field through articulating what I had gained from each of my experiences. It was incredibly important to me to capture the integrity of my character and to show the admissions committees my genuine desire to contribute to the field. I used my letter of intent as a way to tell the admissions committees about who I am, not just what I have accomplished.

I started to think about my letter of intent as soon as I had decided I wanted to pursue SLP, and I documented significant experiences that I wanted to talk about in my notes. Writing my letter took months, and I made a point of not reading anyone else’s drafts or completed letters of intent during my writing process. 

Again, I wanted to make sure that I was capturing my authentic experiences without influence from anyone else. I got my letter edited by many people — academic and professional mentors as well as my peers. However, at the end of the day, I knew when it felt done to me, and no amount of feedback or editing could change it anymore.