All On One Paper

I have one and a half years left at my school.  I met with my advisor in the Education department a couple of months ago so that I'd know what classes I needed to sign up for next semester.  She took the time to lay out what I'd need to do for the rest of my college career... it fit all on one paper.  I had to sit back in my seat.

I really love my school.  In the spring of 2012 I had an acceptance letter from the University of Minnesota-Duluth and an acceptance letter from St. Kate's.  For the longest time I told everyone that I was going to UMD and that was a pretty well-accepted fact... and then I chose St. Kate's.  To this day, I don't really know what swayed my decision.  It wasn't financial aid, because after scholarships, my tuition that I would owe would be roughly the same.  Both schools were in cities I loved and both had the programs I wanted to study.  But I still chose St. Kate's, and I don't regret that.

St. Kate's undergraduate program is for women (it opens up more if you're in a Master's program or are in weekend school or in a professional program).  I thought that being surrounded by women all the time would be an adjustment, but it really hasn't been.  I think that it's helped me learn about myself and what it means to be a woman in the context of the world.  More importantly, St. Kate's helps us think about the world and social justice no matter what we choose to study.  Again, something I thought would be annoying going into it, but has really taken the forefront of my mind in whatever I set out to do in or outside of school.

I think that if you're where you're supposed to be in life, you truly feel it.  Maybe I could have done my growing up at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, but maybe not.  St. Kate's has been my safe-space where I've felt good about growing up a little bit surrounded by wonderful and talented women who I hope to call my friends for the rest of my life.  I feel that I've grown a lot as a person.  I'm happy that I have a year and a half left.  I can really do a lot in that time.  I can really make this next full year count.  When I start student teaching in Fall 2016, right before I graduate, I will make that really count too.

I'm excited for the rest of my life, post-college to start, but I'm happy for the time I have left here.

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude