Day 1
It has been an experience! To date, I have been going to school
for 3 years and 16 weeks, and as of this weekend I qualified to attend the
graduation ceremony at The College of St. Scholastica’s main campus to
celebrate earning my Bachelor of Arts Degree. As a non-traditional student,
doing a non-traditional accelerated degree program I would have to say that I
have no regrets, it has been a rewarding experience. The only thing that I
missed out on in my college experience is the sense of community that comes
from attending a big college campus. So I decided to experience as much of the
campus graduation activities as I could before calling myself an Alumnus.
We started out on Friday afternoon with a pre-planned campus tour
– after of course the long drive to Duluth. Both my Mom, and my friend and
classmate Deanna Bauer accompanied me on my mad mission to absorb as much of this
experience as possible. We found the campus! And made it on time! Our tour
guide was an on campus student who is currently in her senior year. She did a
great job of modifying the normal tour to what we were looking for; the art,
architecture, and history of the campus.
I should first of all point out that The College of St.
Scholastica is in the midst of celebrating their 100 year anniversary. The
college was started by Benedictine nuns and they built this college on a hill
from the ground up. In the early years, this was a fully self-sustaining
community that with hard work and perseverance created an all-women’s college
before women even had the right to vote. Of course many changes have happened
since then, the college became co-ed in the 60’s and although there are several
of the Sisters that are deeply involved in the operations of the college – the
college is run by a board of directors, and the Sisters are no longer the
primary educators. To this day there are over 80 Sisters that occupy the monastery
on campus.
The campus is beautiful, the majority of the original buildings
built of blue and gray granite are still used to this day, a lesson for all of
us in a day were we build schools that are useless after only 20-30 years. For instance the original chapel with tall
ceilings has been converted to a chapel with three stories of library overhead.
So back to my story! During our tour we asked about seeing the Monastery
and we were told that tours were not something done often, but of course we
were persistent – phone calls were made – begging occurred – sob story about
driving a long distance to connect with the campus was told. Finally, we were
met at the entrance to the Monastery by Sister Mary Catherine who agreed to
give us a tour. She started with the history of the Benedictine traditions, how
the Sisters came to be in Duluth, and then gave us an overview of how the
school was started. The current Monastery was built as a high school and served
as both classrooms for students and living quarters for the Sisters. Today the
first and second floors are mostly offices, and a couple beautiful lounges. I
love old architecture; the inside of this building was not overly ornate.
However, if you looked there were touches here and there that have survived a
100 years of remodeling and repurposing. The third floor was the most
surprising to me; it is a care facility for the elderly Sisters. We were taken
around and introduced to several of the Sisters receiving care and I have to
say that this was not like any nursing home I have ever seen. Each Sister is
treated with love and respect which was obvious when we were introduced. There
was one Sister in particular that was in a wheel chair that looked very frail,
she is over 100 years old, and when we greeted her she reached out her hand to
me. I gave her my hand and she guided it to her chin and then to her cheek. I
could feel the love and warmth that this woman has in her heart, even though
her body is weak.
Being part of a faith based education system does not mean
everyone that attends has to share the same systems of belief, what it does is
base all parts of the educational system on a set of values. I have heard a lot
about the college’s core values throughout this past year; community, respect,
hospitality, stewardship, and the love of learning. The campus tour and the
conversation we had with Sister Mary Catherine really brought home the
consistency in which the college lives its mission.
Day 2
I made everyone get out of bed early so we could cram as much of
the celebration in as we could; it may have actually been the hardest for me
when morning actually came. The hotel I chose was very old, and everything was
very uncomfortable – I will leave my complaining at that! Except for the
weather – sorry, more whining to follow.
For those who have never been to Duluth, MN, it is on a big hill
with roads crisscrossing at all imaginable angles. It has been compared to San
Francisco, only Duluth happens to be on the shore line of Lake Superior – think
very cold, and a lot of “lake effect” snowfall. We woke up to pouring down rain
and wind, luckily it was still 35 degrees so the truck made it from the bottom
of the hill to the top with no issue except the driver experiencing constant
confusion over street names and general directions. First Street and First
Avenue on the same block, seriously? I am convinced the town was laid out by
drunken sailors, but I have not yet found the historical proof. My experiences
driving in St. Paul have been similar, but that is another story.
Our first stop, the Baccalaureate Mass. Just to clarify for those
who might be confused at this point, I am not Catholic. However, I was raised
to respect all faiths even if it is not my own path. As I get older, I am
finding the experience of learning about others beliefs has both strengthened
and enhanced my own beliefs for the better. So, it was on the schedule of
events - so we went to Mass and it was a positive experience for me. The
message for us graduates was about lighting our own path – be the light in the
darkness. Whether you are spiritual or not, this was a powerful message. Also,
I have to add that the priest was having way too much fun with us. All morning
we were worried about getting our hair wet from the rain. Well, we got showered
with holy water being flung from some type of tree branch (this was more than a
little surprising to some of us not expecting it!).
After mass, we were able to navigate the underground tunnel system
to our next stop (without a map BTW). We attended the graduate brunch; it was
good food and good conversation. Then off we went to the graduation ceremony.
There was a lot of excitement in the lineup for graduation, and I
was surprised at the number of students that traveled from the Brainerd campus;
especially with the current weather conditions that were deteriorating rapidly.
Our mascot, a giant Saint Bernard danced alongside of us as we started to walk
into the ceremony. Bag pipes played, “When the Saints go marching in.” During
the ceremony we also listened to an American Indian Drum Group, and the St.
Scholastica string Orchestra; which were both powerful performances. Most
graduations that I have attended over the years have had long winded speakers
that babbled endlessly – our speakers were brief but eloquent in delivering
their message. The ceremony itself was well organized, exciting, and went by
quickly. I could tell that my Mom was just as excited throughout the event and
it was great having her there. I bought her a “St. Scholastica MOM” sweatshirt
that she is already proudly wearing. Even now I am still tearing up a bit that
my Dad was not here to celebrate with us, I know he would have been proud.
We left the campus in a rush after a few important pictures were
taken to beat the weather. The drive home was sloppy, until it turned into four
inches of freezing slime with no visibility for the last 45 miles. We made it
home in one piece exhausted from our weekend. Now I must prepare for my next
big adventure!
