Alexa Bobinski ’23 knew she wanted to study psychology. It’s a subject she loved in high school and one she has continued to explore. But during her sophomore year, she found herself searching for something more. What, exactly, she wasn’t sure.
Then she took Intro to Communication and things fell into place.
“I felt like I had finally found my fit,” Bobinski says. “A few weeks into the course, I added communication as my second major, and I never looked back.”
The Communication Department is where she found Renee Heath, whose teaching style Bobinski calls engaging and inviting. And Heath, an associate professor of communication, is how Bobinski found her way to the Civil Discourse Lab where she ended up working.
“It is amazing to work closely with my favorite professors and help teach people the importance of civil discourse,” Bobinski says. “I also love helping to put together events and see everyone come together to talk about various types of issues.”
In addition to working for the Lab, Bobinski has been involved with PrOVES, UNH’s volunteer service program for first-year students, since she was a first-year student herself.
“It shows incoming first-years the ways in which they are able to make a difference,” Bobinski says. “And the community service work we do during that week is always so appreciated.”
During her time at UNH, Bobinski has been involved in the service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega, acting as service co-chair during the fall semester. She is a member of Lambda Pi Eta, the Communication Honors Society, and has been on the highest honors dean’s list since the second semester of her freshmen year.
Of all the things she has experienced at UNH, Bobinski calls this the most important: don’t be afraid to ask for help. And that applies to faculty and friends.
“Once I started asking my professors questions, it really made a difference in how I felt about my schoolwork and school in general,” she says, adding, “I also learned that your friends are always there to help you, and you should never be afraid to talk to them when you need to.”
