Entries tagged with ‘Alumni’Page 2
Regina Olono Vidales ’22
“From zero public speaking experience to the commencement podium, serving on Student Senate changed the trajectory of Vidales’ life: I Found a Voice.” “If you don’t speak up for what you want, it’s not going to happen. So you have to speak up for the things that you care about.” When Vidales started at Gustavus, […]
Matt Rasmussen ’98
“Studying And Writing Literature Felt Superfluous Like a Hobby. At Gustavus, I Learned It Was My Passion.” I was a hockey player jock in high school, and I wanted to play in college. When I applied to Gustavus, I included a poem in my application. I don’t know why. Maybe I thought I wasn’t smart […]
Audrey Ochtrup-Dekeyrel ’22
“From farmhand to food researcher, Gustavus planted the seed for a new career path—that of professor.” A “terrible, bratty child” when it came to helping on her family’s farm in southeastern Minnesota, a younger Ochtrup-DeKeyrel couldn’t have imagined making a career out of agriculture. Now, shaped by her upbringing and her experiences as an environmental […]
Emily Ford ’15
“Emily Ford thought she knew winter. Then she thru-hiked the Ice Age Trail. In February. With only a sled dog, Diggins.” Post-holing. It’s when you hike through deep snow without skis or snowshoes. Imagine stomping your leg into crusted snow up to your knee, then doing the same with your other leg, then pulling the […]
Professor Erik Gulbranson
“In one of the coldest places on Earth—and 250 million years in the past—he predicts the future of our planet.” Oppressive cold. Deafening silence. Never ending day (or night). Low atmospheric pressure that warps the human body. Nevertheless, Professor Gulbranson and his international colleagues have ventured to Antarctica five times over the past decade to […]
Professor Roland Thorstensson
“The Professor Emeritus and former Director Of Scandinavian Studies on one of his legacies: The Sweden Today Program.” Fifteen or so years ago, College president James Peterson asked Thorstensson to design a custom program to Sweden for Gustavus students. Thorstensson hesitated—among other reasons, he was close to retirement. Then he thought, “Why not try to […]
Martin Lang ’95
“I Didn’t Leave Gustavus a Flag-Waving Gustie. My Perspective On Gustavus Really Changed After I Started Grad School.” I am a first-generation college student, so when I was applying to schools, I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting into. I wanted to play soccer at a big state school, but I soon found out […]
Cheryl Downey ’66
“Be resilient. Have faith in yourself.” “I was very aware of being a pioneer,” Downey says. One of the first women in the Directors Guild of America two-year apprenticeship program, she started as the second assistant director for the 1976 Western The Missouri Breaks, starring Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson. She was the first woman […]
James McPherson ’58
“Some stories entertain us. Others define us. They shape our identity, our sense of character and community, our understanding of right and wrong. Stories from the past have this power, which is why history is often so contested. Historians conduct their work under a weight of this charge.” As one of the most respected historians […]
Professor Jeff Dahlseid ’90
“One of the things that attracted me as a professor was the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology program.” I grew up in Fergus Falls. My parents met at Gustavus. They were both first- generation college students who became public educators and really strong proponents of the liberal arts. I was interested in the biomolecular fields and […]