Meet Hope Pintar, a speech, language and hearing sciences student from Ontonagon, Michigan. We asked Hope a few questions about her Wildcat experience so far:
Why did you decide to come to NMU?
Hope: Northern was always my top pick of a school. It was far enough away from home but also close enough. Marquette has the same characteristics of home and so much more. I am still on the water like at home and there are trees everywhere. In addition, some of my family went to Northern so I felt it was already in my blood.
What do you like about your major at NMU?
Hope: What isn’t there to like about it! My major can work in almost any setting with any age group, which is what I like most about it. I can work in a school or hospital with children or adults. The possibilities are endless and the ability to choose relieves a lot of stress when trying to decide a career path. NMU’s speech department also has a speech clinic, which many undergraduate programs do not have. With this, I feel like I am already ahead when entering graduate school.
What's an example of a cool, interesting or helpful thing that you have done as a part of your major?
Hope: There are a few things, the first being the service-learning activities we did in class. We went into a local preschool and did activities with them to help build phonological awareness. This year we will be conducting screenings at a local school, which not only helps educate us but also helps the speech pathologist at the school that would have otherwise conducted the screenings alone.
Lastly, as part of the club associated with our major (NSSLHA), we partnered with PrimeTime Productions and brought comedian Drew Lynch to NMU. Drew Lynch, if you did not know, has a stutter which is something our major deals with often. So with this partnership, we could bring awareness to the disorder but also laugh along the way.
What are you involved with on campus?
Hope: I am currently involved in many things on campus. The biggest is my work with NSSLHA. This entails being the President of the Northern Chapter of the National Students of Speech Language and Hearing Association. The second, is being the National NSSLHA Student State Officer of Michigan. This is a position I applied for which entails me guiding all the NSSLHA chapters in Michigan with anything they need and keeping in contact with all the officers in my region and the nation!
I am also in the Student Leader Fellowship Program (SLFP). This will be the start of my second year, where I will be working on my CSI as a Girl Scout Troop Leader. I am also a member of Mortar Board Telion Chapter. Lastly, I have recently begun working in the Center for Student Enrichment (CSE) in the Superior Edge/ Volunteer Center as a Volunteer Coordinator.
Of your activities on- or off-campus, what has been the most rewarding and why?
Hope: The most rewarding has to be attending the 2019 MSHA Conference in East Lansing, MI. This helped me discover what exactly I wanted to focus on in my field. This opportunity was available because of the hard work of our department and students. We work hard to get funding and give everyone the opportunity to attend. I learned so much about my future field and all the new research being conducted. I hope to be able to attend again this year as well.
What's your favorite memory during your time as a student?
Hope: My favorite memory as a student will have to my sophomore year when Al Roker came to campus to break the world record of the largest game of freeze tag. I think back to waking up at 5am, so excited to get in line. I then remember sitting on the field waiting in anticipation for the game to begin. I remember trying to get on TV any way possible and trying to get as close to Al as I could. When finally we got to playing the game, I ended up rolling my ankle. I ended up wanting to be frozen because I could not run. Either way, I will leave NMU with a degree in one hand and the camo bandana that represented my freeze tag team in the other.
Further comments about your NMU experience?
Hope: Northern helped me discover who I am and what I want to be. Without NMU’s help, I am not sure where my path would have lead. I am sad to think about my time being a Wildcat ending in May, but because of NMU, my future is so bright. With that being said, all I can say is thank you!
