Alumna Ushna Zamir shares how Harper’s Speech and Debate team changed her career path on Harper Talks

Ushna Zamir says that enrolling at Harper College in 2017 was the best decision she ever made. And that’s not only because she met her fiancé here. On the Harper Talks podcast – in which Harper College alumni share their education, career and life journeys – Zamir talks about her time on Harper’s Speech and Debate team, how the experience refocused her career path on communications and the importance of one professor’s encouragement.

“I still remember during one of our first few practices when I had a one-on-one with Jeff Przybylo, one of the Speech and Debate coaches. He was like, ‘I’m going to put all my trust in you,’” she said. “Hearing that when you haven’t heard that from anyone else, that ‘I believe in you, I trust that you can be better, that you can be great,’ it really, really motivated me immensely.”

Listen to the full episode of Harper Talks and hear Zamir discuss how Harper helped her become a better student, prepared her to transfer to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and, ultimately, led her to a role in HR with a global corporation.

Harper Talks, a co-production between Harper College Radio and Harper Alumni Relations, features Associate Professor of Mass Communication Brian Shelton in conversation with Harper alumni about the role that Harper played in their lives. You can listen to past episodes of Harper Talks on Harper’s website, WHCM, and on all podcast streaming services, including Spotify and Apple.