Student Profile: Mitchell Paige

Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself. 

I am a junior majoring in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences (SLHS) and I am a teaching assistant for Intro to Hearing Science class.

Outside of school, I am enlisted in the Army National Guard as a vehicle mechanic team leader and I work part-time as an EMT in the city of Springfield. In addition, I volunteer once a week through Horizons for Homeless Children, a non-profit organization aimed to improve the lives of young homeless children by providing high-quality early education, opportunities for play, and comprehensive family support services. 

Q: Tell us about your experience as a teaching assistant.

I am a teaching assistant for Intro to Hearing Science. As a teaching assistant, I lead discussion sections, help create exam questions, and take part in meetings aimed at improving the quality of the class. I find it rewarding to help students understand the course material in my discussions and see them succeed later in the course on exams and assignments. 

Q: Why did you choose to major in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences? 

I want to be an audiologist. I plan on pursuing a clinical Ph.D. in audiology. I’d love to work in pediatric audiology in a hospital setting. 

I used to be an engineering major. One summer I coached my younger brother’s fourth-grade soccer team and I had a lot of fun doing that. That made me realize I wanted to work with children. I then researched several different career paths that worked with kids and I landed on audiology. It was the most interesting to me.  

I think it’s also really impactful. Hearing encompasses a lot. It impacts your overall quality of life. Plus, hearing disorders are one of the biggest predispositions to dementia. You can help a lot of people.

Q: What are some of your favorite aspects of being a SLHS major?

Within the major, there are a lot of growth opportunities. There isn’t one set track, there are different specialties. Students can focus on speech therapy, clinical audiology, or go the research route. From there you can go on to work in many different capacities and conduct research for different industries. 

When I started in the major, I wasn’t tied down to one area of focus. SLHS allowed me to explore communication disorders and find out what I wanted to do.