Eischens: Speaking up for care

Like so many, the COVID-19 pandemic changed Gavin Eischens’ life in profound ways. While still in high school, he became a certified nursing assistant at the height of the pandemic, an experience he jokingly said means he’s “been a CNA for my whole life.”

More seriously, those early experiences inspired Eischens, now finishing his second year in South Dakota State University’s respiratory care program, to pursue a career in respiratory therapy.

“Being around patients and understanding how important it is for us as clinicians to be there and be present, especially rural healthcare settings, helped me understand that I wanted to make an impact specifically in the health care field,” he said. “I tried out respiratory therapy with some job shadowing and realized this was a profession I could be comfortable doing for the rest of my life.”

But his high school experiences didn’t just shape his career pathway.

“I knew what I wanted to do when I came here,” Eischens said. “But I was really excited to learn about the forensics team.”

Eischens had been part of forensics throughout his high school career, and having a forensics team at SDSU allowed him to immediately fit in. “I felt like I was already a part of this community,” he said.

That community supported his continued efforts. “I kept building those skills, and this year, everything came together, and that led my duo partner and I to the national championships.”

Eischens and Hannah Markley, who graduated this spring, took first place in Duo Interpretation at the American Forensic Association National Speech Tournament. Their win marked the first-ever AFA national championship for SDSU. Eischens also earned a sixth-place finish in the Program Oral Interpretation.

For the duo competition, Eischens said the pair’s speech focused on “how we as students can advocate for and uplift communities by simply speaking our passion and making a difference through our voices.”

That passion will continue, he said, as he thinks about his forensics pursuits next year. “I still plan on continuing forensics for the next year. I have a lot of ideas and pieces in mind, and I'm very excited to speak my passion again.”