I’m so excited to be starting a series called Humans of Speech! Periodically, I will try to invite guests and ask them to share their experiences. My first lovely guest is a student currently in the Speech-Language Pathology program at McMaster University. For a program breakdown of Canadian universities, check out this post. But let’s begin!

What experiences did you have in undergraduate? (ex. clubs, extracurriculars)
  • Asian Christian Fellowship
    • I was part of this community throughout my undergrad and they were like my second family!
    • It was important for me to continue pursuing and exploring my faith during university and ACF was one of the places I could do that.
  • Let’s Talk Science
    • This was an awesome organization focused on teaching elementary and high school students about science! We would go around to different community events or classrooms and conduct fun science experiments with them.
    • My undergrad degree was in Medical Sciences at Western, so being a part of this club allowed me to combine my love for science and teaching.

 

Why did you choose McMaster?
  • Initially, I knew that getting into any SLP program was going to be competitive and I only applied for schools in Ontario. So you can imagine how excited I was when I found out that McMaster had opened up a new SLP program!
  • Here were a few things that stood out to me about McMaster:
    • Their application process was different than the other schools since they only looked at your marks and MMI performance. This was appealing to me since it took off the stress of having to write a statement of intent and because I knew writing was not exactly my greatest strength!
    • As well, I didn’t have much volunteer/ shadow experience compared to other applicants.
    • The in-person interview would be a chance for them to get a better idea of who I am, beyond the academic performance and writing style.
    • McMaster has a great academic reputation and graduate students from their medical, OT and PT programs are trained to think on their feet. Other rehab science program graduates from McMaster were telling me how they focus heavily on self-directed learning or problem-based learning, which was really different from regular didactic lectures in undergrad. This made me a little nervous if I got into the program since I would have to adapt to a whole new learning style, but it also made me excited that class would be more based on discussion, rather than just sitting and typing furiously to make notes.
  • The city of Hamilton offers such diversity!
    • If you’re into hiking, there are a bunch of trails and waterfalls just a short drive or bus ride away. For others who just love to try new food places, there are endless options and I have yet to be disappointed in the quality (and aesthetics) of each restaurant I’ve been to. Hamilton also gives local artists a chance to showcase their talent with Supercrawl happening in the fall and Art Crawl once a month. I know school location may be a minor factor for choosing a place to continue your studies, but I do think that the city in your in definitely impacts your overall experience! It’s like a bonus, haha.

 

What was the in-person mini multiple interview (MMI) for McMaster like? 
  • If I’m going to be brutally honest, the MMI process was really new and intimidating for me. Once finding out about my invitation to attend the interview, I was so stoked! But then it came to my realization that I had only a week to prepare. So on top of all my midterms and assignments, I found it stressful to find time to prepare. Luckily, I had friends who had gone through the MMI experience at Mac and offered to help me practice.
  • Here are some tips that helped me for the interview:
    • Take time to learn and understand this style of interview and what they are looking for. I wouldn’t go blindly into it, but just make sure you at least know the basics.
    • Practice going through some examples; find some samples online and maybe grab a friend to help you go through them and critique each other.
      • Some campuses have MMI practice available; make use of your resources!
    • Articulate your thoughts well; they’re observing your thinking process.
    • Consider ALL sides of the situation; many of these questions involve multiple stakeholders and you must acknowledge their thoughts and feelings.
    • Show compassion.
    • There is no ‘right’ answer; it can be tricky, but as long as you back up your answers, you’re good.
    • Try not to ramble; it’s better to be succinct with your answers than keep trailing off about irrelevant information.
    • Dress appropriately. Be professional.
    • Smile!! Honestly, just be genuine.
  • The interviews are conducted within separate rooms and you have a set amount of time to get to each station, read the prompt and prepare your answer.
    • Once you go into the room, you can introduce yourself.
    • The interviewers are actually really nice and not scary at all.
  • The moments leading up to the interview, I was really nervous and afraid that I wouldn’t know what to say, but the process ended so quickly that I barely even remember what happened hahaha. So for anyone going for the MMI, I understand the feeling! For sure, I felt like I could have done better in some portions of the interview, but you never actually know. You’re your own worst critic! Give yourself a HUGE pat on the back for getting through this stressful moment!

 

Has anything about the program surprised you? 
  • As a completely new program style for SLP (problem based and self-directed learning), I found it hard to adjust to and wasn’t sure if I was learning the things I was supposed to be. I’ve talked to other people in my program who feel the same way, but we’ve realized that we actually do learn a lot through discussion. Our “Problem-Based Tutorial” is where we get placed into small groups to discuss a case study. Every week, we come up with learner objectives, go home to do our own research, and come back to share. There can actually be more value in creating your own goals! So yeah, information isn’t handed to us anymore, and we have to take the initiative to go find it on our own. You get what you put in.
  • We’re also trying to understand that it might seem like we don’t know much yet, but slowly exposing ourselves to all aspects of the SLP world is going to take time and much of that knowledge will be gained and solidified in our placements.

 

When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you like to do?
  • It’s so easy to feel overwhelmed especially with balancing all the tasks that need finished within the week! In between classes, I like taking a stroll outside to get some fresh air and clear my head or even going home for lunch helps to take my mind off school work. I find that staying on campus the whole day stresses me out even more and it’s better to have a change in environment in the middle of the day.
  • Taking breaks in general is so necessary! I tend to gravitate towards cooking, watching a show, going to the gym, meeting a friend for a meal, reading, journaling. I realized I just need to do something that ISN’T related to school. Balance is key. Life isn’t just about school! There are a lot of things out there you can enjoy doing, along with studying.
  • Just recently, I’ve started attending a beginner’s yoga class with a few SLP friends and we’re loving it! None of us have any experience, but we just love going to get our minds away from school.
  • Take care of your physical/ mental/ spiritual/ emotional health.
  • Of course, it’s so important to let out your concerns and to be vocal about the stress. Sometimes a good rant session with a friend is enough to release all the negativity that’s been built up!

 

What advice would you give to students considering to apply for a SLP program? What’s bad advice that they should ignore?
  • Figure out the pre-requisites and requirements for each program; they differ slightly per school.
  • If you’re volunteering or shadowing somewhere, know that it’s such an awesome opportunity. Since I didn’t know I wanted to pursue SLP until later in university, I do wish I had gotten more experience from observing SLPs working in different settings. Do not be afraid to ask questions to gain a better perspective of what can be expected from this profession, I would say SLPs are more than happy to answer these questions because they were once in your shoes too!
  • If you have minimal SLP experience and a background that is NOT in speech sciences and linguistics, don’t let that deter you from applying– this was me! If this is something that genuinely interests you and you have a heart for helping people with their communication, go for it! The one thing I love about the McMaster program is that it includes so many people from a diversity of backgrounds; everyone brings something meaningful to the program.

 

How do you reach for the speech?
  • Hmm, I don’t know if I’m interpreting this correctly! BUT to me, I’m continuously reaching for the speech in the sense where I still have SO much to learn. Since I do come from a medical science background, all I’ve known is molecular processes and body systems, whereas my knowledge of speech and language is not as on par with some other classmates. Not going to lie, this can be discouraging sometimes. As a budding SLP student, I’m continuing to challenge myself to not be afraid to ask for help and to “reach for the speech.” In the end, as clinicians I would hope that ‘reaching for the speech’ means advocating for clients’ speech and language needs in the realm of communication.