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Sarah Winkle Speech Pathology, Class of 2006 Grand Rapids, Michigan More Student Profiles

Real life experience

Senior Sarah Winkle is a talented athlete, a starter for the women's basketball team and co-captain this season with her younger sister, Lisa, as well as an excellent student. But 18 months ago, Sarah received a call that put sports and studies into a new perspective - her dad, Terry Winkle, had suffered a stroke.

"The day I got the call was horrible," Winkle says. "My mom was really scared on the phone. I think she was scared because she didn't know what it meant. On the other hand, I was scared because I did know what it meant and I knew about strokes."

Winkle knew about strokes because of her recently declared major at Calvin - speech pathology. She'd come to Calvin undecided about what to study but was impressed with Calvin's state-of-the-art DeVos Communications Center and the top-notch faculty in the department. She decided speech pathology was where God was guiding her, yet she never planned on using what she'd learned with a family member.

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"As the days went on and he stayed in the hospital, I was really thankful that I had knowledge about strokes and saw that it was an experience I could learn a lot from and also I could be there to support my family."

Calvin speech pathology professor Jill Bates says Winkles' real-world experience with her dad was a formative experience.

"I love it when my students have an opportunity to put the knowledge they're learning in class into practice. That makes it real. And that fires them up to be speech pathologists."

Sarah's sister Lisa says what her sister did with their father has been both comforting and inspiring.

"When my dad had his stroke it was a very tough time for our whole family, but it was nice watching Sarah work with him and hearing stories about his progress from her own first-hand experience. I mean, it gives you a lot more confidence and reassurance that the right steps are being taken."

Today Terry Winkle is back to full health and back to work as a teacher. He's also back with his wife Luann at Calvin basketball games, cheering on his two daughters.

For her part, Sarah says the experience was one that taught her a lot, and put a lot of things in her life into perspective, including the importance of faith and the power of prayer.

"I don't think that I could have made it through the past year and a half without the support of the Calvin community and just knowing that God was our strength to make it through this time. It's just been amazing to be a part of that."