Savannah Gonzales is a speech, language, and hearing science major from Muskego, Wisconsin. She plans to attend graduate school in hopes of becoming a pediatric speech-language pathologist.
Savannah’s advice for new students is to embrace new opportunities.
“Take every opportunity you can because you never know where it’ll lead you,” she says. “Don’t stretch yourself too thin, of course, but even the littlest opportunities can lead you to amazing places. It only takes a brief moment on a spontaneous trip to meet someone new!”
In addition to serving on the School of Health Professions Student Ambassador Leadership Team, Savannah works as an undergraduate research assistant in the SLHS Early Childhood Language and Literacy Lab and as a School of Health Professions Peer Advisor in the academic advising office. She also is a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and the National Student Speech Language Hearing Science Association, and she volunteers at Mizzou’s Tiger Pantry and Truman’s Closet.
What made you choose Mizzou?
During my senior year of high school, I did not know at all where I wanted to go to college, but I was open to exploring lots of different universities. I am a very hands-on learner and I love gaining new experiences, so the Missouri-Method approach that Mizzou takes to give their students real-life experiences and opportunities sold me on the school!
How did you choose your major?
In high school, I toured a hospital and talked to health care workers in every department, and it really opened my eyes to the rehabilitation sciences. As I looked into speech-language pathology, I realized I could combine my love of talking and working with kids to help people be able to share their voices and communicate with others!
What has been your favorite Mizzou memory?
During the Summer of 2021, I got to work during Summer Welcome as a Peer Advisor for the School of Health Professions! I absolutely loved getting to meet and talk to all the incoming health professions freshman and transfer students. It was an amazing experience to be able to work alongside the academic advisors and with the other peer advisors, and I have been so lucky to be able to continue this job throughout this school year as well!
If you could give one piece of advice to incoming freshmen, what would it be?
I would advise incoming freshmen to take any opportunity they can, no matter how random it seems. If you think about how you’ve met some of the people in your life, you’ll realize that the tiniest of moments have led to life-long relationships and you wouldn’t be where you are today without the culmination of all those little moments.
If you could have dinner with one famous Mizzou graduate, who would it be and why?
I would like to have dinner with Sheryl Crow because I’d love to talk to her about her experience here at Mizzou and as an alumna of my sorority Kappa Alpha Theta!