From time to time, we like to showcase a new SNC grad who’s entered the workplace or grad school. Success stories like these are pretty common. In fact, 95 percent of SNC's Class of 2022 alumni who responded to a survey said they were employed, in grad school or doing service work within nine months of graduating.

Hometown: Greenfield, Wis.
Graduation year: 2020
Degree: Bachelor of Science in Natural Sciences
Plans after graduation: Team Leader for AmeriCorps NCCC in Aurora, Colo.

What led you to St. Norbert?

I toured St. Norbert College and I loved the campus, I had a great tour guide and I had an amazing experience. And I was like, “Wow, this is at the top of my list.” For me, it was between the Twin Cities and St. Norbert College, which are on two really different ends of the spectrum: One is just a ginormous campus and this one’s got 2,000. It just came down to, when I was looking and talking to people at St. Norbert, I got treated like a person, which was really nice.

Why did you decide to join AmeriCorps?

I’ve been all over the place in what I’ve wanted to do. In the middle of my junior year, when I decided to graduate a year early, my resident-assistant boss started talking to me about AmeriCorps. This program looked the most interesting and I really liked the service opportunity and the freedom it offered. So I applied for a team leader role. There are four regions in the United States, and three of them asked to interview me. I think it was really my experience as a resident assistant, as well as falling back on some of St. Norbert’s values of communio and radical hospitality, that helped me come out on top.

You were involved in a lot of activities at St. Norbert. Which had the greatest impact?

I worked as an RA for three years, and I do Knight Theatre and a couple intramurals: volleyball, which I’m terrible at, and dodgeball. I also was in the Student Government Association and was part of the ALIVE team. They all impacted me in different ways. The ALIVE team helped me get out of my shell and talk and organize, which paved the way for me to be an RA, which helped me get into AmeriCorps. They all led into each other. Being in the Student Government Association helped me be a lot more aware of problems that are going on and how I could have a more impactful effect on and relationship with people and this campus.

What do you think sets St. Norbert apart from other colleges?

There really is this sense of community. I’ve made connections with people in a workplace setting, in an academic setting, in just a social setting, that shaped and changed the direction of my life. I was planning to do something completely different before this year, but the people I met helped me find something I’m really passionate about, something I’m really interested in doing. The campus is beautiful, the teachers are really helpful; but I think it’s that community piece that doesn’t exist somewhere else.