Payton O'Connor

Nadya Keenan

Graduate School Student Message

Nadya Keenan was born and raised in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. However, between the ages of birth to 5, not much of her life was spent at home. About two weeks after she was born, she started having a variety of health complications that eventually led to a diagnosis of a segmental hemangioma. A segmental hemangioma is a benign birthmark that covered the left side of her face and went into her airway all the way down to her sternum. In the first five years of her life, she travelled from her home in Saskatchewan to a variety of children's hospitals in Alberta, Arkansas, and New York City. The medical treatment led to a tracheostomy for breathing, a feeding tube, and over 20 laser and reconstructive surgeries that extended into her high school years.

Following her primary years in the hospital, Nadya became heavily involved in fundraising for a children's hospital in her home province to reduce the amount of travel required for other kids in her same position to receive proper care. This engagement within the health care community demonstrated the importance of access to proper services and speech-language pathologists. Because she used a feeding tube, she received feeding therapy to transition to oral feeding, and since she had many medical challenges, she was a late talker who used sign language to communicate. From both of these experiences and her parents mentioning quite often how valuable speech-language pathologists were in her own life, Nadya found the calling to a career quite early in her life.

After her high school graduation in 2017, Nadya moved six and a half hours to Minot from Saskatoon and did not look back. She completed her undergraduate degree in communication sciences and disorders while participating in a variety of organizations. She played on the Minot State women's hockey team for two years, going to nationals twice. Nadya also coached Special Olympics basketball and flag football and was vice president her senior year. She also participated in a variety of National Student Speech-Language-Hearing Association activities, including organizing the Miles for Smiles walk for a few years.

When the time came for graduate school, Nadya decided to remain in Minot to complete the next two years of her master's degree. During her time in the master's program, she worked with pediatric and adult clients at the Minot State Clinic and with a private practice in the city. She completed her final practicum in the Saskatoon Public Schools. Nadya plans to continue her speech pathology career in Alberta, Canada, with hopes to find her way into early intervention or neurological rehabilitation services.

Paolo Panales

Undergraduate Student Message

Paolo Panales is the son of Peter and Sharon Panales. At the age of 13, he and his family immigrated to Minot from the Philippines and are now proud U.S. citizens.

Paolo graduated from Minot High School in 2019 and began his college education at the University of North Dakota. Looking for the best preparation for medical school, he decided to return to Minot to continue his education at MSU. In the spring of his sophomore year, he joined the research team of chemistry professor Dr. Bryan Schmidt and worked alongside six students. For two years, Paolo contributed to investigating the effects of methamphetamine on adrenal cells, to understand an aspect of meth addiction.

Inspired to take action in improving public health during the pandemic, he served as a Health Equity Ambassador supported by the North Dakota Department of Health. With the guidance of nursing professor Danielle Reinisch and biology professor Dr. Heidi Super, Paolo collaborated with a team of four students to address public health issues at MSU. He spearheaded several projects, including arranging a blood drive, raising awareness for the lack of access to feminine hygiene products, and organizing a How to Save a Life event.

Throughout his time in college, he has worked with patients, as well as volunteered in several organizations in Minot. He enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling to Six Flags locations across the country, and being a cat dad to his two cats, Lily and Pepper. Today Paolo is graduating Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in biology, and a minor in chemistry.

This summer, he will be attending medical school at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences and hopes to one day become a radiologist.

Randy Hedberg

Alumni Speaker

Randy Hedberg, originally from Parshall, North Dakota, graduated from Minot State in 1977 with a bachelor's degree in physical education and a minor in mathematics. He earned a Master of Education in Health, Physical Education and Recreation from the University of North Dakota in 1987.

An accomplished student-athlete at Minot State, Randy was quarterback for the Beaver football team and passed for a school-record 5,737 yards and 49 touchdowns during his career. Additionally, he also played basketball, baseball, and threw javelin for the Beavers.

Randy was an eighth-round draft pick of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1977, and he started four regular-season games as quarterback during his rookie season. He also spent time with the Oakland Raiders in 1979 and the Green Bay Packers in 1980.

From 1982-1989, Randy was the head football coach at Minot State where he compiled a 92-75-2 overall record. Following MSU, he had assistant coaching positions at the University of Central Missouri and the University of North Dakota, and from 1999-2007, he served as the head football coach at St. Cloud State University. Following SCSU, he served as co-offensive coordinator at the University of Southern Illinois.

Since 2014, Hedberg has been the quarterbacks coach at North Dakota State University, and also currently serves as associate head coach and passing game coordinator. NDSU has won six NCAA Division I FCS national championships during this time, and in 2020-21, he was named the FCS National Assistant Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association. The last three starting quarterbacks Randy has coached, Carson Wentz, Easton Stick, and Trey Lance, have all been drafted and are playing in the National Football League.

In 1985, Randy was inducted into the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame, and in 1999, Sports Illustrated named him as one of North Dakota's 50 greatest sports figures of the 20th century. The football field at Parshall High School was named in his honor at a dedication ceremony in 2020. Randy lives in Fargo with his wife, Chery Hysjulien, and he has four grown children, Jennifer, Kate, Christopher, and Maddie.

Tim Mihalick

SBHE Representative,
First Western Bank & Trust

Tim Mihalick was appointed to the State Board of Higher Education to a four-year term beginning July 2019.

Tim is employed at First Western Bank & Trust as a senior vice president responsible for business development and facilities. Prior to that, he was part of IRET and its affiliated companies for over 36 years before his retirement, serving as the president and CEO during his last eight years at IRET. Throughout the years, he has been involved in numerous civic organizations dedicated to Minot's betterment. He currently serves on the board of the Minot Family YMCA, is a current member and past chair of the MSU Board of Regents, and is a past board member of Trinity Health.

An Ohio native, Tim attended Minot State University and obtained a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Business Administration in 1981. During his college career, he played football for four years and participated in track for two. He was inducted into the MSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995 and received the MSU Alumni Golden Award in 2014.

Tim and his wife, Laura, have been married for over 30 years and are both committed to civic engagement. Laura, who also attended MSU, is a past member of the Minot Public School Board. The Mihalicks have two adult children living in Minot.