I remember senior year of high school being such an exciting time with graduation, enjoying all the “lasts” with friends, and senior trips! However, it was a stressful time too with making a decision on which college to attend after graduation. I had my college choices narrowed down to two completely different choices: a smaller school (Brescia University) and a Big 10 School (Purdue University). I chose Brescia University for many reasons but there were two main reasons that went into making my decision, the student to teacher ratio and being able to play on the women’s golf team during my four years there.
Starting my first day of my freshman year at Brescia was very nerve-wracking. However, I had already met some of the girls on the golf team, so I had a couple of people that I already knew. One of those girls is still one of my best friends after meeting her for the first time 10 years ago. I participated in the New Student Orientation that took place a few days before classes began and it was really helpful as well! I definitely felt more comfortable going into the first day of classes.
I was actually a student that ended up changing my major during my sophomore year. I started out as an Elementary Education major and switched to Speech-Language Pathology. My advisor was so helpful during that process, and I felt very supported during that transition. Once I started taking the classes that were specific to my Speech-Language Pathology major, I enjoyed the student to teacher ratio even more. I could tell that they genuinely cared about me as a student and a person and wanted me to be successful in all parts of my college career. They were all very understanding with the student athlete aspect as well! I also gained some really great mentors that are Speech Language Pathologists within the Owensboro community through the observation hours that we had to obtain before graduation. I was even able to ask them to write reference letters for me when I was applying to master’s programs during my senior year.
I made some lifelong friendships at Brescia and was able to apply my education into my two years working as a Speech Language Pathology Assistant in Southwest Missouri after I graduated from Brescia. After those two years, I then began pursuing my Master’s Degree at Southern Illinois University – Carbondale. I am now in my second year as a Speech Language Pathologist working in an elementary school in East Michigan. I look back on my time at Brescia and I am so happy with my decision to attend and am grateful for the opportunities and experiences I gained while I was there!