Hitasha Mitera

Hometown: Toronto, Canada

Major: Master's degree in Speech Language Pathology. Class of 2007

Background: Mitera completed her bachelor of health sciences degree at the University of Western Ontario in Canada, where she did extensive volunteer work at various hospitals and at the world-renowned Aphasia Institute in Toronto. The experiences and understanding that she gained during her volunteer work led her to choose speech language pathology as her career. "I chose to do my master's degree at California State University, Sacramento because it has one of the best speech language pathology programs in the state of California."

Influences: "My family, friends and professors have all had a significant impact at various points along the way in my academic journey. Their love, support and guidance have meant more to me than words can describe."

Highlight: "The clinical experience I had in working with a variety of patients at the Maryjane Rees Language, Speech and Hearing Center here at Sac State was definitely one of the highlights of my post-graduate studies. Getting that smile from the child, a thank you note from a parent, or a nod of approval from an elderly patient who could only communicate via body language made it all worthwhile."

Proudest Accomplishment: "When the dean asked me to stand up during the commencement ceremonies in front of all the graduating students and parents while she recognized my accomplishments in relation to my academic, clinical and leadership skills."

Destination: Accepted a full-time position as a speech language pathologist at a hospital in Los Angeles. She plans to continue exploring research in the field and pursue a doctoral program in the near future. "My goal is to not only make every effort to increase awareness about the field of speech language pathology, but also to make a difference in people's lives, by helping as many people as I can overcome their communication deficits."