Diala's Advice For Students

Diala Saab is a fourth-year psychology major, with a double minor in biology and linguistics. She is the president of the Language Studies Academic Society (LSAS), the Senior Advisor for MSA, an undergraduate research assistant for the Sounds of UTM lab, a research blogger for Speechopedia and a volunteer at Erinoakkids. After volunteering with individuals with aphasia at the Halton-Peel Community Aphasia Programs, she was inspired to raise awareness about the disease on campus. This past month, she reached out to a couple of clubs and societies to hold a bake sale on campus and raised $170 to donate towards the cause. She also contacted H-PCAP for their support to provide resources to distribute on campus about aphasia and the programs they offer. In the future, Diala aspires to become a Speech-Language Pathologist and hopes to inspire others to realize they don’t need to be an SLP in order to support people with these disorders. Here are her top 5 pieces of advice:

Everyday is a new learning experience

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Seize the opportunity to learn something new with all that you do and those you meet. Learn and experience everything you can and use it to change the world and grow. Even when things don't go as planned, there is always a lesson to be learned.

Everything happens for a reason

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Whether it be good or bad, everything happens for a reason. You may not understand why things played out the way they did in the moment. Accept how it happened, and keep moving forward. As time passes by, you will realize that things were meant to happen the way they did and will continue to make you stronger and wiser.

Believe in yourself

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Doubting yourself can become your biggest enemy. It can convince you that you are not worthy to do something because maybe there is someone better for the job; that you may not even have a chance, so why should you bother trying. However, when something feels right, something you truly want to do, something you have worked so hard and are willing to work harder for, go for it! If it's meant to be, it shall be, so try, try and try again.

You don't have to do everything and anything all at once

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It's okay to say "no" every now and then because you already have other commitments. Take care of yourself so that you can enjoy what you have already signed up for. Put things into perspective. Start with completing what you must do, and anything that may jeopardize your ability to do so, should be off the table, until you have completed it.

Celebrate your achievements

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No matter how big or small, they are all worth being proud of. Celebrate, treat yourself, let it motivate you to continue to work towards the next step.