Jack Brink of Whiting isn’t quite ready to retire yet, but he’s beginning to make plans for the near future. That planning brought him to the recent Open House for prospective students at Purdue University Northwest.
“I’d like to obtain my masters degree in electrical engineering — not for any particular job, just for myself,” he said. “This is something I’ve wanted to do for years, so I’m here to check out what’s involved.”
Hundreds of potential PNW students joined him on the Hammond campus for discussions presented by the colleges of Business, Engineering & Science, Humanities, Education and Social Sciences, Nursing and Technology.
Biology advisor Heather Drake discussed the many career areas that this discipline included, such as health care, dietitian and clinical lab services, among others.
The top priority for some at the event was the topic of paying for college costs.
Financial aid director Taneka House discussed the process and options for financial aid at length.
“We all know how expensive it is to pay for college, but there is help available by way of loans, grants and scholarships,” she said. “There is scholarship money out there not being used, but you have to do your research.”
House related a story of how her son found some college money in an unusual way.
“We started to research scholarships and came upon some that we had never seen before. One was for left-handed people,” she said, with a laugh. “My son is not left-handed, but we figured there had to be more unusual help out there, so we continued to look.”
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What they found was a scholarship for students with asthma — which her son has — and he received a $1,000 scholarship each of his four years of college.
Kathleen Galovic of the PNW Nursing Department discussed the various nursing degrees available.
“When students first start our program, many have a definite idea of where they want to specialize,” she said as she took a group on a tour of the up-to-date Nursing Lab, complete with mock patients in hospital beds who talk to the students. “But they change their mind after they have served time in our different clinical areas of Obstetrics/Gynecology; Mental Health, Medical-Surgery; Pediatrics, Adult Care and Critical Care.”
Other learning tools, such as video instruction/feedback also were discussed.
“I want to come back to college to finish my nursing education, which I started 5 years ago, before my children came along,” said Lynda Perrington of Merrillville. “I know things have changed drastically in these past years with all the new technology, but it’s a very exciting time to be in this career field. I still want to follow my dream of becoming a nurse, for both myself and people I can help.”
Sue Ellen Ross is a freelance Reporter for the Post-Tribune.