Campus Celeb: Hallie Miller, PWild Counselor

Name: Hallie Miller

Year: Sophomore

Hometown: St. Louis, MO

Birthday: August 14, 1993

Major: MMSS and Economics

Why did you decide to do PWild your freshman year?

I didn’t; my mom made me do a pre-orientation program and I had hiked before so I thought it wouldn’t be that horrible. I almost didn’t go, because I got my wisdom teeth taken out like a week and a half before and they weren’t healing well, so I didn’t eat solid food up until the day before I left for the trip. It was kind of nerve-racking, but, of course, awesome.

What makes PWild such a great experience for incoming freshman?

I just think it really does great things for discovering ways to be more independent, even if you already are an independent person. For most people, transitioning to college is really difficult because you always have had a safety net of your parents and teachers and people who know you really well whenever you need help to kind of assist you. PWild really teaches you self-reliance and to support each other and where to look for help when you need it, but exhausting all the options by yourself first.

What made you want to be a PWild counselor?

I just looked up to my counselors so much; I thought they were the coolest people ever. It just made me realize that there’s so much in college to do and you have this amazing opportunity to really do whatever you want. You don’t have to be confined by the things you’ve done in the past and what sports you’ve played or anything like that. PWild’s great because it takes you out of your routine and really makes you think about what you value and where you want to go in life and who you want to be doing things with.

What were some of your best memories as a counselor?

The second day of the trip, after it had been pouring, we had had to hike like 11 miles that day while our packs were still really heavy, and I was really exhausted and my co-pair Nikita [Shulzhenko] for some reason drank four liters of Kool-Aid right before we were going to bed. He would not let me go to sleep even though I was so tired and crabby. I was so exhausted, we had gotten up really early, and everything was wet, and he was just like “Hallie, play with me, play with me! Let’s hang out!” And I was just like “Nikita, you have got to be kidding me.” But we had such a great time together and he’s awesome.

Do you think you’ll be a counselor again next year?

Definitely. The system works so that as long you’re not abroad and you’re going to be on campus next year, you get to be a counselor as long as you complete the course in the winter and go on the training trips.

What else are you involved in on campus?

I’m a member of Pi Beta Phi, so I do a few things for that. And I’m also involved in Dance Marathon. I’m the Pi Phi Dance Marathon Co-Chair, and I was on a committee last year and plan on being on a committee hopefully again this year as well.

What do you hope to do in the future?

I’m really very passionate about health care and health care reform. I worked this past summer for the Senate Majority Health Policy Office in Washington, D.C., which was a wonderful experience. From there, I decided that I’m not sure if I want to go into government specifically but I’d love to work for a think tank or do health care consulting because I think that we have huge issues facing our country, especially as such a huge proportion of our population is aging, and there are a lot of very interesting issues that have yet to be resolved and very exciting ways to move forward with the industry.