A Gustie's Journey: Life Lessons in Service

The Best Is Yet To Come

Springtime at Gustavus is unbearably beautiful. There is nothing like constant sunshine to draw your focus away from the homework still to do and looming final exams. Luckily, I’ve had some time to sit outside and get a good sunburn amidst the final stretch, and I can’t help think that the hours spent worrying about […]

Education Outside The Library

Since I was a little kid, I have always been an Indiana Jones fan. Academic meets adventurer—not that they are mutually exclusive. In the latest installment of the Indiana Jones series, The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the best line comes when Dr. Jones is cruising through the library on a motorcycle with his side-kick […]

Getting Through A “Red Light”

I was on a plane flying somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean when I had a minor breakdown. I’ve never had flight anxiety, but at that moment I wanted off of that plane, and I wanted to go straight back home, to Bloomington, where life was predictable. I was traveling with a number of close friends […]

Learning How To “No”

The phrase “you can sleep when you’re dead!” gets thrown around here a lot. Gusties are busy people, and often for good reason. There are so many amazing things for students to be a part of. There are causes to support, clubs from swing dancing to disc golf, ways to live out your passions and […]

Stretching Our Comfort Zone

In the comfort of a local coffee shop a few weeks ago, I read a study by the National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs—a little light reading recommended by a mentor. It’s called: Developing Leadership Capacity in College Students by John Dugan and Susan Komives, and after working through it, I discovered some really interesting points, […]

Professors And Friends

I remember a few moments in high school when I walked into a restaurant and saw one of my teachers. I got a kick out of seeing my teachers out living in the real world. My teachers, however, were not always so enthused. It’s as if life in the classroom and life away from the […]

Is It Worth The Investment?

  It all began with a worthwhile question: What are you going to major in? Looking back on the beginning of my career at Gustavus, I feel like my answer was different every time I had the conversation. And I’m sure that I am not the only one. I’ve spent time wandering all over the […]

Many Voices, One Song

One of my absolute favorite things about my time at Gustavus has been participating in the Gustavus choir. I was reminded of that this past weekend when The Gustavus Choir, of which I am a part, the Gustavus Symphony Orchestra and the Gustavus Wind Orchestra performed a showcase at Ted Mann Recital Hall at the University […]

Freedom And The Unconditional “A”

I want to tell you about a time I was granted complete freedom. Thanks to Dr. Will Freiert, our Professor Emeritus of Classics on campus, I recently learned that the Liberal Arts are, at their roots, about freedom. The Latin root is liberalis, which means freedom, and Liberal Arts translates to freedom skills. I like to […]

Trained In Collaboration

On a walk the other day, my friend discovered a great insight. She said, “If there is one thing that Gustavus has trained me to do, it’s how to collaborate.” We had been talking about our futures, as seniors in their final semester often do. My friend is a dancer, and I understood her comment […]


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