Story produced by ASA Peer Advisor, Tiana Bone
Sotera Mader is from Squamish, BC with Métis, Filipina, and mixed white ancestry. Sotera is majoring in Speech Sciences, and minoring in Asian Area Studies.
Could you tell us a bit more about your Speech Sciences major? (what you like about it/how you decided on it/what the courses are like, etc)
The courses for the Speech Sciences major are pretty cool, because it’s a mix of linguistics, psychology and biology. I decided on it because I was initially going for a linguistics major, but I figured that Speech Sciences might be more applicable, as I’m hoping to one day be a Speech-language Pathologist (SLP).
What inspired you to pursue a career as a speech-language pathologist?
Since I was little, I always knew that I wanted to help people when I grew up, but I wasn’t sure how. As I got older, I thought about maybe going into special-education or teaching, but ultimately decided that I don’t necessarily want to work in schools. When I got into UBC, I took LING 100 (with Dr. Strang Burton, who is amazing), because I figured I’m good with languages, so why not try linguistics? I liked it, so I declared a LING major. However, after going to a presentation about the different jobs a linguistics degree could lead to, I became interested in speech-language pathology. Then, I switched from LING to speech, and now I’m hoping to go to UBC SASS (School of Audiology and Speech Sciences) in the near future for graduate school.
You’re in a band called Death by Daisies, how did that come about?
My other band members (excluding our current drummer) and I met at a Blank Vinyl Project (BVP) Build-a-Band mixer. I think we were drawn to each other because there weren’t many other girls there, so we all stuck together. Since drummers have a tendency to spontaneously combust, we had to go through a few, but we hope to keep the one we have now! All of us come from different musical backgrounds, so our sound is sort of eclectic. We self-describe as alternative rock, because we have a pretty hard time defining it ourselves, but it’s for sure somewhere under the rock umbrella. We took this summer off because most of us don’t stay in Vancouver, so we haven’t been able to perform a whole lot. Although, we’ve been really lucky to have played a few times on campus, including at Goose Hunt this past spring. Also, my dad’s band Zombie Roof has let us open for them a couple times, which was super cool. We’re not on Spotify yet, but you can find us on YouTube, SoundCloud, and Instagram! Our Instagram is @deathbydaisiesofficial, and you can get links to the rest from there!
Editor note: since this interview. Death By Daisies has disbanded.
Do you have any other creative outlets? Would you like to share them?
Growing up I did a lot of dance and musical theatre. I would like to get back into ballet if I can find the time! I also like to draw and paint occasionally, make cosplays, and change my hair style/ colour constantly! I’ve also dabbled in modelling here and there, and I’d definitely be interested in pursuing that more!
How did you find your community on campus?
If I’m being honest, it took me a really long time to find a sense of community at UBC. It wasn’t until the end of 2nd year, or maybe even the beginning of 3rd that I really started to feel comfortable. I had some friends already from Destination UBC, Arts One, and BVP, but I didn’t really see or speak to them outside of those contexts. Also, my experience with student housing was an absolute nightmare. People always say things like, “just join clubs,” or, “just talk to your classmates/housemates,” etc. This advice is coming from a good place, but it was not helpful for me. I remember always thinking “obviously I would if I could,” but for people like me who struggle with shyness/ social anxiety/ whatever someone might have that prevents them from speaking to people, it’s much harder than that. I had to go through a lot of counselling (starting in high school!) to be able to even make those first steps, and a lot more counselling to build strong friendships and a sense of community. So, in terms of advice, I guess I’d say take advantage of the mental health resources available to you. Also, if you recognize someone from your class/ club out and about, they probably won’t be mad if you say hi.
ASA Tip: check out the UBC drop-in counselling and wellness advising services.
PC: Hair/ make up is by Samantha Jade Luchak, and the photo is by Jon-Christian Ashby
