Encouraged to Excel: How Calvin Shaped Alyssa Scholten into a Leader in Pediatric Care
Alyssa Scholten ’18 has always cared deeply about people. What Calvin added was the courage and competence to turn that care into action.
As a pediatric speech-language pathologist at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, Scholten works with some of the most vulnerable patients and families. In a hospital setting, she helps children find their voice, supports safe feeding and swallowing, and walks alongside families in some of their most emotional, high-stakes moments. Beyond the bedside, she contributes to research that advances patient care and mentors the next generation of clinicians, all while approaching her work as a form of ministry.
It’s demanding work, but it’s something Scholten thrives in. That didn’t happen by accident.
At Calvin, Scholten was encouraged to step outside her comfort zone by being challenged academically, invited into research, and mentored by faculty who saw her potential before she fully saw it herself.
Those experiences didn’t just prepare her for a career. They shaped how she leads, serves, and gives back.
A Decision That Changed Everything
Scholten didn’t plan to attend Calvin. In fact, she had verbally committed to another college to play volleyball. Then, almost by accident, she attended a Calvin volleyball camp. Just “extra swings,” she figured.
But something unexpected happened. “It wasn’t the facilities or the program,” Scholten says. “It was the people.”
Calvin players, one of them a Division III Player of the Year, treated her like a friend, not a recruit. She asked about her life. Her faith. The ways she had seen God at work.
“They saw me as more than an athlete. More than a potential roster spot,” she says. “They saw me as a person.”
In that moment, Scholten felt something rare: valued not for what she could do, but for who she was.
Community That Shapes You
That sense of being known didn’t stop after her first visit. At Calvin, Scholten found deep community in two places: athletics and the speech pathology department.
Volleyball gave her lifelong friendships. Friends who would later stand beside her at weddings, become godparents, and remain anchors in her faith. But just as influential were her professors, who blurred the line between instructor, mentor, and spiritual guide.
“These weren’t just professors teaching content,” Scholten says. “They prayed for me. They walked with me. And they stayed in my life long after graduation.”
Over time, those relationships helped Scholten begin to see how her love for people and her academic work could come together.
Vocation, Lived Out
Calvin talks often about vocation. Scholten admits it didn’t resonate at first. That changed when professors pushed her to think differently about work, not as a title or a paycheck, but as a form of service.
Now, in pediatric acute care at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, that idea is no longer theoretical. It’s daily practice.
“Feeding is sacred,” Scholten says. “It’s emotional. It’s relational. Scripture is full of food imagery, the Bread of Life, the wedding feast, living water. To walk alongside a mother feeding her baby for the first time? That’s holy work.”
Even when she can’t speak openly about faith, Scholten lives it through excellence, humility, and the way she dignifies patients and families in their most vulnerable moments.
And thanks to her mentors who insisted she stretch, ask questions, and pursue research she wasn’t sure she was ready for, Scholten’s care is not only compassionate but transformative.
Mentors Who Open Doors
In Calvin’s speech pathology program, faculty saw both Scholten’s drive and her heart for people and pushed her to develop the skills to serve them well. Professors Beth Oommen and Brian Kreisman encouraged Scholten to pursue a graduate thesis, an intimidating challenge that required navigating research design, institutional review boards, and data collection.
“At first, I thought, ‘sure, why not,’” Scholten recalls. “But once I was actually in it, I realized how much confidence it gave me.”
That confidence stayed with her, and it was reinforced through Calvin’s hands-on clinical preparation. Alongside rigorous coursework and research, Scholten began working with patients early through Calvin’s on-campus clinic and completed full-time externships in hospitals, rehabilitation settings, and public schools.
Through those combined experiences, she learned how to ask better questions, evaluate evidence, and translate learning into better care, skills she uses daily in her work at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital.
At the hospital, she leads and contributes to research projects that directly improve feeding outcomes for medically complex children, including patients requiring full ventilator support.
“What felt overwhelming at the time became foundational,” she says. “Calvin made research feel accessible, and paired with clinical experience, it prepared me to step into my job with confidence.”
What Made Calvin Different
For Scholten, Calvin’s difference wasn’t one program or one professor; it was an ecosystem.
A place where:
• Faculty formed relationships, not just résumés
• Faith was practiced, not just discussed
• Excellence and service were inseparable
• Students were prepared for real work with real impact
“I wouldn’t be a speech pathologist without Calvin,” she says. “I wouldn’t have this job. And I wouldn’t be living this calling.
A Call to Future Students
Scholten’s advice to students considering speech pathology or Calvin?
“Don’t settle,” she says. “Your first job doesn’t have to be your last. But don’t stop until you find work that sets your soul on fire.”
She pauses, then adds:
“There are jobs where you can love what you do years in. And there are places that help you become who God created you to be.”
For Alyssa Scholten, that place was Calvin. And the work she does now is proof.