Some of Zoe Dervin’s earliest and best memories on the University of Iowa campus involve the Iowa Edge Program. As part of the mentorship program, Dervin and her fellow participants were able to move into their residence halls early.

She says the group bonded while walking around campus in the heat, but it was a memorable bus ride that really sticks out.

“We were taking the bus back to the westside residence halls, and the only bus was going the wrong way around if you’re trying to go fast, but we did it anyway,” says Dervin, who grew up in Chicago. “We got to Mayflower and started getting a little bit nervous. But the bus driver was playing the radio and ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ ’ came on and we all started singing. It was an awesome little singalong, and we made it back to our residence halls eventually. That moment of panic and ‘Don’t Stop Believin’ ’ coming on to kind of break our nervousness was a very good moment that I remember fondly.”

As she prepares to graduate this month with a BA in speech and hearing science, Dervin says she’s leaving with a lot more belief in herself than when she started.  

“There’s a lot of things here that I’ve done and things that I’ve gotten to experience,” Dervin says. “I don’t think I would have been able to do those things if I hadn’t trusted that I could do them; that I could handle them; that I could handle them if things went wrong; that I could take on a challenge and figure out what I needed to be successful.”

Dervin says Iowa Edge gave her a wonderful head start to college, and among the many activities and organizations she has been involved with while on campus, returning to the program as a peer leader has been among her favorite experiences.

“The program was so helpful getting me acquainted to campus and its resources and getting to meet people who are in similar situations and had similar identities and some different identities,” Dervin says. “I just really wanted to give back to the program that had helped me so much and make sure that other people had that same opportunity.”

How did you decide to major in speech and hearing science?

I think part of it was I had always had an interest in languages and words. I ended up picking up something like seven language credits in high school. I was considering linguistics, but I decided I wanted something a bit more applied, so I was thinking about speech pathology because I really wanted to use that love for language and for words that I had. And I wanted to apply that to something that would help people; I have a big passion for helping people and making the world a better place.

What is something that has surprised you about the University of Iowa?

I wasn’t surprised about how many students were here—I knew how many there would be—but I was surprised at how quickly people who were strangers would become familiar. People who I met in orientation would be in some of the clubs I was joining, so it was cool to see that. You hear like 30,000 students, you get scared, but it shrunk down so quickly for me, and now it feels like everybody, even people I don’t know, probably know somebody that I do know. It kind of feels like a very large family.

What was your most memorable experience at Iowa?

I’m involved in the University of Iowa Fencing Club. We go to a lot of tournaments, and I managed to win my first fencing medal. It was a second-place medal, and I was so proud of it. Hearing my team behind me and cheering me on while I was fencing for that bout was so awesome.

Why did you join KRUI?

My dad did college radio when he was in college, so I was aware of it. I thought it sounded interesting, so I went to the informational meeting and got trained on everything. It’s almost like therapy, in a weird way. I’m playing my songs. I’m talking about them. I’m just kind of talking to the world even though I don’t know who’s listening. It’s a fun way to express yourself. It’s been a really fun experience, and I’ve met some cool friends and played some cool songs.

What’s next for you?

I’m not looking to go to grad school just yet. I’m looking to get some more experience in the field. The cool thing about speech and hearing science is that you don’t differentiate between speech pathology or audiology; you learn both sides of the coin because they’re so interconnected. So, I’m still trying to figure out which one I want to do. There are lots of merits to both. I have times when I’m like, “Yep, speech pathology is definitely the way to go,” and there are other times where I’m like, “No, audiology is definitely what I want to do.” I do research in my advisor’s lab, so maybe continuing with that or continuing with research in a different lab, just something to get some more experience and figure out exactly what my niche is in the surprisingly large world of communication sciences and disorders.

What has participating in research brought to your college experience?

It’s been a really good experience and not something that I thought I would be doing. The confidence that it’s inspired in me and the amount of expertise that I feel I have now is cool.

As a kid, I was like, “I’m going to be a doctor; I’m going to be a scientist.” It’s been cool to be a part of science in a way that I hadn’t totally given up on but hadn’t really thought was going to be something that I would be doing.

What does it mean to be a Hawkeye?

I think the coolest thing about what it means to be a Hawkeye is that it can mean anything you want it to. There are lots of different ways to do it, whether you’re in the writing program and you’re really holding up that area of Hawkeye pride, or you’re going to every football game, or you’re making a new club or something like that. There’s no one way to do it. There are so many different ways you can be a University of Iowa student, and be successful, and be a really excellent person, and still be a Hawkeye.