Speechie Spotlight!

Whitney Camlis: 
1. Hometown: LaSalle, Ontario
 2. Undergrad Degree: Honours psychology with thesis, minor biology
 3. Interests and Hobbies: I love sports mostly baseball and football (go packers!), going to the movies, going out on a boat and doing watersports, reading (non-textbooks), I also love to dance and break out in song at random points in time.
 4. Where were you when you found out you were accepted?:  Well, I was in my room, I had just woken up and of course checked my email (which had become quite the obsessive compulsive ritual-often waking up during the night and checking as well) and got the email.  I started screaming and my brother came running in the room to check on me.  I was only half dressed when he came in and I was so excited I jumped on him.  I think he was scarred for life.
5. Your favorite part of the program: I love the people.  I also love summer clinic, which is happening right now.  Getting to put all the knowledge to use and feeling like I have actually been working towards something useful for the past 6 years feels great.  I love the clients and I love seeing that my work can make a difference in their life.  Really, it just feels great to still feel like this is exactly what I should be doing with my life.
  6. The hardest part of the program:  Summer clinic.  It has been interesting working with different people and different personalities and different work styles.  The school part I was used to, I can’t say it was easy, but it was in my comfort level.  I had been doing ‘school’ since kindergarten and that’s what I know how to do.  When we started clinic, it was a whole new, amazing, but scary experience.  Having to take my student mind and transform it into a clinician’s mind was the most challenging thing for me.
7. Your favourite part of living in Edmonton:  I actually love Edmonton; compared to my little town of LaSalle, it is huge.  However, I feel like it is the perfect combination between ‘big city’ and ‘small city’.  I feel like the University is in the small city area and the big city area is across the river.  So I find it easy to separate the ‘big city’ from the ‘small city’.  It’s the best of both worlds.
8. One piece of advice you would give to incoming students:  Make friends and go out, get out of school mode and don’t get too overwhelmed with school.  Enjoy your time here.  Learn to learn not to get the grades and ENJOY!

Bobby Williamson

1. Hometown: Beaumont, Alberta
2. Undergrad Degree: B.Eng, Petroleum Engineering, University of Alberta
3. Interests and Hobbies:  Playing sports, being outdoors, and going out with friends.
4. Where were you when you found out you were accepted?:  I was initially rejected from the program, then wait-listed, and finally received an acceptance email in mid-summer.  I was working at the Misericordia hospital (west side of Edmonton) at the time.  Needless to say, I took the rest of the day off and celebrated late into the night.
5. Your favourite part of the program: The friends I’ve made during my time here.  We’ve all worked very hard to get to this point, and it’s great to be able to enjoy the fruits of our labor together.
6. The hardest part of the program: The arm-wrestling competition and obstacle course were pretty tough.  I guess I’d go with the obstacle course you need to do on the first day.  It took hours.
 7. Your favourite part of living in Edmonton:  Long cold winters, Edmonton drivers, and potholes.
8. One piece of advice you would give to incoming students:  Relax.  Nothing we do is more important than taking the time to look after yourself.  The hard part is over.  You made it.  Enjoy.

Jenn Fung

1. Hometown: Edmonton, Alberta
2. Undergrad Degree: B.Ed, Elementary Education, University of Alberta
3. Interests and Hobbies:  Eating out, watching TV, working out, and doing all sorts of Asian stuff (you know, like dim sum, drinking bubble tea, and karaoke).
4. Where were you when you found out you were accepted? I  had just arrived back home after a long day of student teaching when my mom met me at the door telling me that I had received a letter from the University of Alberta.  After opening the letter, it took three read-throughs before I realized that the letter was saying that I had been accepted!  I celebrated by planning my lessons for the next day – exciting, I know.
5. Your favourite part of the program: Being able to share this experience with my new friends!  We are truly a family and I never thought I’d meet so many great people in the program.
6. The hardest part of the program: I was sore for days after the obstacle course (I couldn’t believe how long it took to finish), but I guess I’d go with the mandatory arm-wrestling competition.  A lot of these girls are stronger than they look.
  7. Your favourite part of living in Edmonton: There’s always something to do, especially in the summer!  The farmers’ markets are a great place to hang out on weekends.
8. One piece of advice you would give to incoming students: No matter how hard something seems at the time, you’ll always get through it… so relax and just enjoy it. It all goes by so quickly.

Pamela Miller 

1. Hometown:  Montreal, Quebec
2. Undergrad Degree: Double Major in Psychology and Linguistics
3. Interests and Hobbies: Watching TV, Hanging out with friends, Eating frozen yogurt, Working with kids, Snowboarding, and Reading for fun (it does exist, I promise…!)
4. Where were you when you found out you were accepted: I was driving home from work and I heard my phone buzz…but obviously I couldn’t check it cause I was driving and you don’t text and drive! Also, just in case you were wondering, the only time that you never get a red light is when you want to check your phone! When I finally got to a red light, I checked my phone and saw I got an e-mail from U of A that said Congratulations in the subject line! Then of course the light turned green and I had to pull over to read the rest and make some phone calls…
5. Your favorite part of the program: The 56 amazing people I met on the first day! (And that all the profs know your name and genuinely care about you! Which may or may not have been the case in my undergrad…)
6. The hardest part of the program: Living away from home (but your 56 instant friends definitely help with that)
7. Your favourite part of living in Edmonton: It’s (almost) always sunny outside!
7. One piece of advice you would give to incoming students: Don’t stress! The applications were the hard part 🙂 Enjoy every day and learn as much as you can. I promise it will all start to come together in spring clinic! Oh, and buy a pretty agenda!