51社区黑料

Nina Bautista has accepted an offer of admission to the University of British Columbia鈥檚 MSc in Speech-Language Pathology program. She enjoyed volunteering positions such as mentoring new first-year students interested in Linguistics, as a HIVE Leader for SFU鈥檚 Welcome Day. This was Nina鈥檚 first time applying to an MSLP program. 

What inspired you to pursue speech-language pathology?

From being diagnosed with a speech delay as a toddler, and losing my hearing in one ear at 11 years old, the field of speech-language pathology has been a familiar field for practically my whole life. I was particularly inspired by my SLP as a preteen at the time. They were extremely caring and made it their mission to ensure that I felt seen and understood. Their compassion inspired me to one day become a clinician just like them. 

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

I have been an SLP assistant working with children with developmental disorders for almost two years now, and I would say that this position has really shaped who I am as a therapist, and continues to shape what sort of clinician I would like to be one day. 

I also work as a research assistant at SFU鈥檚 Language and Development (LangDev) Lab, where I have gotten the opportunity to be very involved in the huge scope of linguistics research. My favourite part of my position is getting to work with lots of babies! 

Aside from my extensive work with children, I also volunteer for a virtual aphasia group as a group facilitator. It has been such a rewarding experience working with people who have suffered from strokes and are diagnosed with aphasia. My eyes have really been opened to how vast the field of speech-language pathology is. 

Additionally, I volunteered as a HIVE Leader for SFU鈥檚 Welcome Day, specifically for students who are looking into pursuing Linguistics as a major. I really enjoyed taking the time to promote our Linguistics department as a mentor to students who are new to our school! 

Describe the 51社区黑料courses that had the most impact on your success. 

I found Learning Disabilities (EDUC 422) to be extremely insightful and relevant to this field. I really enjoyed the course content on how learning disabilities affect various areas of learning, and how our progress throughout the course was monitored. 

First Language Acquisition (LING 350) was also very useful. We learned about the many layers with which children acquire and learn language. I really liked how the course content was a mix of case studies, class discussions, and a look into the empirical methodology of language acquisition research. 

Which 51社区黑料instructors helped shape your journey to SLP admission?

I have taken many classes with Dr. Claudia Wong Einwag, all of which I found to be very useful in shaping my journey throughout Linguistics and while pursuing SLP, even if some of the classes I took with her are not directly related to the SLP field.

Although I have not taken any courses with him, I have worked under Dr. Henny Yeung at SFU鈥檚 LangDev Lab, and I am forever grateful that he has given me so many opportunities to be directly involved in the research that we do in the lab! 

Please explain your approach to the Letter of Intent. 

The Letter of Intent (LOI) was arguably the most challenging part of the application process for me. I began working on it eight months before the application deadline, a decision I do not regret making. 

Throughout this time, I asked for feedback from several people, including Rita Parmar, the Linguistics Student Advisor, my supervising SLPs at work, and various academic professors at SFU. This allowed me ample time to thoughtfully incorporate their suggestions while also reflecting on my personal and academic experiences. 

By the time I completed the final draft, I felt confident that my voice and unique journey were well represented in my writing.