Advertisement Many kids, in my class anyway, thought up firefighter, ballerina and teacher. But how do students wind up becoming a biopsychology major or a electroneurodiagnostic technician?
La Crosse is home to many students studying such topics. A wide array of atypical majors are available at Viterbo University, Western Technical College and University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
Here are just a few.
Can you repeat that?
Western offers an associate degree program to become an electroneurodiagnostic technician. Once they learn to pronounce it, students go on to study such things as where to place electrodes on the head to measure brain activity or how to look at a series of squiggly lines on a page and tell the difference between various types of seizures. Technicians work closely with physicians trained in neurological diseases and disorders. They could end up doing anything from working with people with sleep disorders to telling surgeons when they are pressing on a nerve too hard during spinal surgery.
It turns out there is a shortage of electroneurodiagnostic technicians. Only 14 associate degree programs are offered across the nation, yet the need is growing rapidly, said Stacey Austin, program head for the degree program.
Ann Feath, second-year Western student in the program.
What made you interested in this area of study?
I was on the computer one day and I stumbled on it. I thought it looked interesting. ... It seems so many people have so many questions about the brain, but not many know what it is capable of accomplishing.
What is something important you’ve learned in classes so far?
The brain has many sections responsible for different things. For example, one area controls motor skills and another controls sensory skills.
What do you hope to do with this degree?
It is called polysomnography (a record of a person’s sleep pattern, breathing, heart activity and limb movements during sleep). It is a growing field, and there are lots of jobs and opportunities. And, I hope to make good money.
Two is better than one
Biopsychology is a lot like it sounds: biology and psychology combined. The major began three years ago at Viterbo because faculty and students were interested in a single major that focused on the interface between these traditionally separate disciplines. Students who attempted to double major found the course load almost too difficult, said Michael Alfieri, assistant professor of biology at Viterbo.
The program focuses on the interactions between biological and psychological functions in relationship to behavior. Biopsychology graduates could end up working in such diverse areas as government laboratories, pharmaceutical companies, health-related fields or continue in graduate programs.
Sheila Early, Viterbo senior majoring in biopsychology.
What made you interested in this area of study?
In elementary, high school and middle school, I loved biology. When I took Intro to Psychology here at Viterbo my freshman year, I felt torn because I had a history of loving biology and then this new love of psychology. I thought I had to pick. Then, my sophomore year they started this new major of biopsychology. I thought it was great because I got the best of both worlds.
What is something important you’ve learned in classes so far?
If you ever look at an issue associated with behavior solely from a biological standpoint or solely a psychological standpoint, you’ll never understand the whole issue. There are often many points of view to consider.
What do you hope to do with this degree?
I am still actively pursing a couple interests — that’s why I am happy I pursued this major because it is broad and flexible, yet it can be specific as well. Right now I am leaning toward clinical psychology or counseling.
Finding the words
A student who majors in English with a Rhetoric and Writing emphasis at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse learns to write but also to adapt to a changing environment amid the advent of electronic media. Students prepare for careers in professional writing, teaching, creative writing, journalism, linguistics and graduate studies, as well as other communication-related fields, said Richard Sullivan, chairman of the English Department at UW-L.
Jaime Nelson, UW-L senior majoring in English with an emphasis in Writing and Rhetoric.
What made you interested in this area of study?
Ever since I was a kid, my passion has been for story-telling and then eventually creative writing. I think it was with my beginning interest in the paranormal — reading stories by Ray Bradbury and Douglas Adams — that I decided that I, too, would like to create unrealities for other people to visit.
What is something important you’ve learned in classes so far?
For someone who wants to make a living in books, it’s both exciting and terrifying to learn how readers and technology are changing the definition of a book. Will all books be electronic some day?
What do you hope to do with this degree?
The English major is helping me become a better writer, which was the whole point of studying writing, but I hope that the writer’s toolbox I’ve acquired from the university will help me get a novel published some day. As for a career, I plan to get involved in the book publishing industry.
Becoming a servant leader
Being a leader doesn’t have to be for power or any self-interest, it can be about goodness and generosity that is committed to the good of others, said Tom Thibodeau, director of the Master of Arts in Servant Leadership program at Viterbo University.
Viterbo is the only university in the United States to offer the degree, Thibodeau said. Students in the program learn to recognize themselves and others as leaders that serve and go on to gather people together to work for a common purpose, Thibodeau said.
Jeff Dols, vice president of business architecture for the Wells Fargo Wealth Management Group in Minneapolis and second year in the servant leadership program.
What got you interested in this area of study?
I discovered the hidden jewel of Viterbo quite by accident, or more accurately, by God’s grace. For some time, I had been feeling there was something missing in my life. I had a great family, a nice home and a successful career, but I was struggling to find a deeper sense of meaning in it all. Intuitively, I sensed the missing piece might be related to a life of service, but I didn’t know where to go from there. Then one day in May 2006, I got an e-mail from my friend Jim Neppl regarding the Viterbo MASL program. As I read the program description, I knew this was exactly what I’d been looking for.
What’s something important that you’ve learned in the classes so far?
I’ve found lots of opportunities to apply the lessons of servant-leadership to my work in leading our business architecture program. It’s amazing how transferable the patterns of building community can be across vastly different areas of life — from home, to church groups, to the office. A lot of industries now have the concept of “Centers of Excellence.” I’ve found in establishing a center of excellence at work, I’ve relied upon many of the characteristics of a servant-leader n especially building community.
What do you hope to do with this degree?
At first, I wasn’t really sure. I just knew I needed to become a more service-oriented leader. Now that I’m almost finished in the program, I’ve been feeling increasingly called to remain a part of this wonderful Franciscan community. I’d love to give something back to Viterbo through teaching in an adjunct role. After I graduate in December, I hope to explore that further in 2009.
Career path of creativity
Students who work in the Visual Communications program at Western Technical College bring ideas to life. They create media used in video production, motion graphics, photography, digital media authoring, content for the Web and other formats. They could become anything from a video editor to a motion graphic artist to a producer of a TV news program.
Jason Robertson, second-year Western student in Visual Communications.
What made you interested in this area of study?
I been trying to get a career in voice-overs for a while because I used to be a DJ. ... I was trying to figure out what to do. My girlfriend was going to school for Visual Communications and she needed me to act in some of the projects she had for school. I came in and did voices. I ended up talking to one of the instructors and he said I needed to be in the program.
What’s something important that you’ve learned in the classes so far?
Before studying Visual Communications, I was planning on going somewhere and having someone record my voice, but to do it myself, all I need is a good microphone, editing software and a soundproof room. That opened my eyes to how easy it is to do some of this stuff. ... In the age of digital technology, it is really simplified.
What do you hope to do with this degree?
Ideally I would like to do voice-overs. My childhood dream was to do voice-overs for cartoons. ... After working with other programs, I wouldn’t mind getting a job as an editor, videography (or in) production work.
