What were some of your favorite moments here at AU?
I really loved attending Almost Anything Goes every year. It was always such a great event to bond with my classmates and have fun. I loved the competition and, of course, the dance circle that would happen at the end. Infusion was also an amazing worship experience. I loved the music and it was very informative about different cultures that I did not know much about. I really could feel God moving in the HPAC during that service. I also just enjoyed random late-night chats with my friends on Friday nights.
Could you tell us a little bit about your experience going abroad to Argentina?
Overall it was a life-changing experience. I not only learned a lot of Spanish, but a lot about myself. It was a huge change for me because I had never left the US before.
Why did you decide to become an RA, and how has that experience been?
I thought it would be a good way to help change the campus environment. I had trouble adjusting to the dorm environment my freshman year and my RA’s really helped me feel comfortable at Lamson and taught me a lot. I wanted to be like that for my residents too. Due to COVID-19, being an RA this year is very different than normal. There are additional protocols and a greater responsibility to help keep our residents healthy and safe.
As an honors student, you are required to do research. Could you tell us a little bit about your project?
I sent a survey to all speech-pathology graduate students at Andrews and asked them questions about multicultural counseling (which is how cultural differences between the speech pathologist and patient affect treatment). I asked the students if they were comfortable treating people of different cultural backgrounds, if they felt education on how to interact with clients of different cultures was necessary, and if they felt the graduate program prepared them for working with clients of different cultures. Overall they felt that multicultural counseling was very important, but they had more ambivalent responses on whether or not they felt comfortable using it and if they felt well educated about it in the grad program.
What do you enjoy most about your major?
For speech pathology, I like that the major is very broad so there is always something new to learn and it is not overly repetitive. I also like that we get to go beyond the classroom and apply what we’ve learned in our clinical practicum. For Spanish, I love that we get to learn about Latin American culture in class through film and food. I also love the opportunity to study abroad and see the things we’ve learned about Latin American culture in action.
What advice would you give to any students interested in speech pathology?
Start thinking about grad school early on since you have to go to be a speech pathologist. But don’t overthink it or you’ll stress yourself out. Really think about why you want to study speech pathology because that will motivate you when it gets tough. Also, save your notes from A&P because all the classes build off of that.
What are your plans for after graduation?
I will be attending graduate school in Iowa for my masters in speech pathology.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.