What would our classes be like? (Fascinating!). Who would we sit with? (Megan, Karmit, Suzanne and Lisa, at the keener table, front row!) How hard would it be? (REALLY hard!). There were only 18 of us back then, which, in retrospect, was so special. In truth, the class of 1999 was special for many reasons. For myself, returning to school after ten years of working, I feel blessed to have met and become close friends with so many fabulous people! 

During March of this year, Karmit, Suzanne, Megan and myself decided to celebrate our 25 years as SLPs in the city of light, Paris. How amazing that a trip actually made it out of the group chat! During our stay, we had the chance to reminisce on core memories from the program. We also came up with some big sister advice to share with current students and new graduates.

“There were only 18 of us back then, which, in retrospect, was so special.”

We had the privilege of being the first class for Dr. Elizabeth Rochon as well as Dr. Pascal Van Lieshout. A somewhat less pleasant memory was that our Speech Science classes were 4 hours long (!) as Pascal did not arrive in Canada as early as hoped. 

Dr. Luigi Girolametto prepared us for life as SLPs by framing important concepts as “cocktail party questions.” He insisted we would constantly be asked things like “how many words should my son have by age 4?”, once we told people what we were studying. He was right.

Over French wine and croissants, we fondly recalled some favourite memories. We remembered Susan Wagner’s purple and green pens, studying outside at Hart House for our “Comprehensive Exams,” and wandering the stacks in the medical library where we had to look at actual paper journal articles. We laughed thinking back to Dr. Ian Taylor’s Anatomy class, which was conducted only through storytelling and scribbled overheads. We also congratulated ourselves on being super proactive in completing assignments, (well the four of us anyway) so that we could go out and enjoy the city. We had many late nights and hilarious times despite the grueling pace of the program.

“He insisted we would constantly be asked things like “how many words should my
son have by age 4?”, once we told people what we were studying. He was right.”

During our long flight home from Paris, we generated some advice for newbie SLPs and soon to be SLPs.
We remind you that you may feel like an imposter at the beginning. We all experienced this. It’s true, you will not know everything when you graduate but you will learn on the job, and you will also be really good at learning as the program prepares you for this. Try not to sweat the small stuff. Mistakes will happen. Very often things will not go as planned. Give yourself grace and reframe fumbles as “formative” activities. Take every advantage to learn with and from other professionals because they will make you smarter. 

You will forever be looking for a better system to get more organized and be more efficient but this does not exist, so don’t be too hard on yourself. Be open to all experiences, even if you are not sure if they are “for you” or if you feel ready. Dip a toe in. 

Finally, yes, the program is busy but you will get through it. Make time for fun and enjoy meeting people who may well become friends for life!