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As a student at UW-Superior, I had countless academic and leadership opportunities available to me. I was actively involved in University Student Senate, Acapella Choir, University Theatre, and Student Ambassadors. I also worked in the Admissions and University Advancement offices. In addition, I worked off campus at various part-time jobs. Despite the multitude of benefits that students receive from being involved on campus, for some it's a choice between thousands of dollars in student loan debt or working to pay for school. I chose a route that landed somewhere in between. I received UW-Superior Foundation scholarships all four years at UW-Superior, allowing me to work less and take out fewer loans. Although I still graduated with $16,000 in student loan debt, that number is much less than it could of been had I not been awarded the generous scholarships over the years. With a tuition increase of $500 for 2004, financial aid in the form of grants and scholarships has never been more important to students. The scholarship that had the deepest impact on my career at UW-Superior was one that I received for my internship. To fulfill the Mass Communication major requirements, I needed to complete an internship. I wanted to have the experience of studying abroad, but needed to incorporate communication into that. I found out about Radio For Peace International, a short-wave radio broadcast station in Costa Rica. The station's mission is to eliminate hate speech from short-wave radio. This was the perfect opportunity to integrate my communication skills and my passion for social justice. However, it was an expensive opportunity, and my parents were not able to pay for me to go. But a scholarship from the Communicating Arts Department made the internship a financial reality by covering a significant portion of the program. I spent August 2001 in Costa Rica, monitoring short-wave radio broadcasts for hate speech and transcribing the recordings so that they could be used for an article the station's founder was writing. In addition, I was able to write, edit, and produce my own half-hour program for broadcast. I stayed with a host family while working at the radio station, which changed my life forever. The immersion into the Costa Rican culture not only helped me gain perspective on their culture, but it helped me take a hard look at my culture from outside of the U.S. borders. The talented UW-Superior faculty helped connect me with the Radio For Peace opportunity. Their connections in the community helped me get a part-time job at KBJR-TV News 6 in Duluth as a production assistant, which allowed me to gain additional knowledge about television news, and ultimately led to an internship as a reporter there. The combination
of my student government experience and my communication skills are directly
responsible for where I am today. I work in Madison for United Council of UW
Students, the state student association in Wisconsin, representing students in
the UW System. As the Academic Affairs Director, I lobby the Board of Regents
and UW System Administration to ensure that the UW System remains affordable and
accessible for all students. United Council is one of the oldest, largest, and
most effective state student associations in the country, and I'm proud that
UW-Superior was the university that helped get me where I am
today. Moreover, the excellent liberal arts education that I received will serve
as a solid foundation for whatever careers my life leads me to. |
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