Greetings from
On the unique side, I found out that Rob Williams is allegedly a marketing technician at Wal-Mart
Stores, Inc. Rob wants everyone to know that he organizes and maintains the
cosmetic and toiletry sections for the two Wal-Mart stores in
Our classmates seem to be involved in really interesting endeavors in their jobs, schooling, travel, and their personal lives. At the end of this letter is a long listing of what many of our classmates are up to. If you are not listed and have updates on yourself, please feel free to e-mail me or contact the Alumni Office at Gustavus <alumni@gustavus.edu>. It is good to keep connections with Gustavus and each other.
One way to maintain these connections is to visit the campus - for a sports event, concert, or to say hello to friends and/or professors who are still there. One major upcoming campus event is Christmas in Christ Chapel (December 5-7).
Donations are yet another way to maintain your relationship with Gustavus. An important upcoming Gustavus event is Phonorama (October 12-16, 20-23). I have contacted several of you to help in calling alumni. If others are interested, please contact the Alumni Office ASAP. You are all probably aware of the 50% by 50 challenge for the Gustavus Alumni Fund. We are approaching the 50th year anniversary of the Gustavus Alumni Fund, and still have a ways to go to get 50% of the alumni participating in some capacity. In 2002, our class had 86 donors (20 more than the class of 2001 I might add). That is about 12.7% of our class. I challenge each of us to make a donation, amount not mattering, in order to get our class participation, as well as all alumni participation, up.
Please consider making a gift so that another student may experience Gustavus the way you did. What a great opportunity to share Gustavus. At our recent Class Agents' Day I had the opportunity to meet older alumni and hear several of their memories from their days at Gustavus. This reminded me of the great memories I made there over the four years that now seem to have passed so quickly. I trust that my donation to Gustavus will help future students have many of the same, and improved opportunities, that we each had. If you receive this letter in print form, please note the envelope for your convenience of sending in news about yourself or a donation. Please participate in this celebratory year!
I leave you with a few strange things that I have
experienced over the past year of teaching undergraduate courses in Public
Speaking at the
3. A student told me he was sick with pneumonia and could not come to class. An hour later, I saw him at the bus stop going downtown to a museum for another class. He didn't know how to get there, so I had to give him directions.
2. My officemate had a student come in after class to pick up an ax, his visual aid from the day's speech round.
1. I actually had a student say, "I have a test on Friday in another class, and I'm wondering if I could skip your class so I could either sleep or study."
Sometimes I just have to shake my head and chuckle. It is always an adventure!
I hope all is well with each of you.
Blessings,
Katherine Medbery Oleson
Below are several updates. Please feel free to contact the Alumni Office <alumni@gustavus.edu> if you have an update to share.
School, school, and more school! A great number of our classmates are continuing their education in an array of fields.
Jen Brandenburg is in a pharmacy program at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
Jess Behrends is at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in a clinical social work program.
Leslie Brandt is at the
Sharene Gossen is in a master's program for physician
assistant at Oregon Health and
Jenny Grabow is at the
Emily Johnson is in a master's in education leadership program at NDSU. She also works at NDSU as a hall director.
Rena Hartman is at
Jake Heilman is a law student at
Kristin Hoffman is in the A.B.S.-Nursing program at Loyola University-Chicago.
Ryan Schommer has been working in
Ellen Anderson is a medical student at Stanford University School of Medicine.
Sonja Strampe is attending paralegal school.
Anne Staples is a graduate student at
Alec Sonsteby is at the
Laura Owen is a graduate student in the materials
science department at
Denae Schuldt is at
Chris Wagener is at Wartburg Theological Seminary, in a master of divinity program.
Life abroad.
Jenny Kelly is spending time learning Swedish and
learning about Swedish culture in
Emily Weitz was in
Toby Stalter is working for Nova Company, teaching English to Japanese students.
Andrew Bussey left for the Peace Corps in
Scott Morris spent time this past spring and summer
in
Hard at work.
Emily Brekke is working at Hermanson Dental Lab.
Alison Jones is a Habitat for Humanity volunteer with AmeriCorps.
Maggie Berndt is an extension 720 producer at WGN
Radio in
Brittany Miller ran the High Adventure Boundary Waters program again this year.
Tracy Vicory was involved with Lutheran Volunteer
Corps. She was recently accepted as a community member at the Arc retreat
center in
Jacob Cassady ran for a Ward 2 seat candidacy.
Heather Pearson is a nursing assistant. She is in
medical school at the
Shelly Hochhalter is employed by Youth Works in
Misti Koop was a substitute teacher in
Brian Westland is a credit manager at Wells Fargo Bank.
Bob Logan is a customer service representative with Wells Fargo Retirement Plan Service.
Mike Gahlon is an assistant manager for GNC. He is
also going to law school at the
Brad Mazer is a catcher with the Fargo Red Hawks, a
minor league baseball team in
Chris Nelson is a financial associate for Thrivent
Financial for Lutherans in
Katie Katra is an assistant manager at
Owen Busse is employed by Midwest Mountaineering.
Andie Coates is a tutor at an elementary school as a
part of Americorps in
Annie Holland works for Owatonna Community Education.
Cory Starkweather is an auditor for Deloitte &
Touche, LLP in
Mary Dahmen is a teacher at
Jamie Henderson is a teller at the Teacher Federal Credit Union.
Heather Morgan is working at Berkley Risk Association
in
Emily Carney is an assistant manager at Intelligent
Nutrients in
Joe Carlile works for Congresswoman Betty McCollum as
a healthcare policy liaison in
Vidya Sivan is a high school history teacher at The
Academy of the
Brita Hansen is an RN at
Mary Moua is a fourth grade teacher at Highland Park
Elementary in
Burnadette Dybvik works as an international marketing
analyst at Power Products Marketing in
Laura Beres is an account operations specialist at General Mills.
Ryan Kath is a reporter for the South Washington County Bulletin.
Christine Weber is an account operations specialist at General Mills.
Jessica Krenik is an admissions counselor at
Maggie Dalen is an account operations specialist at General Mills.
Brandon Cass is an account manager at Rimage
Corporation in
Kevin Bergeson is the director of youth and family
ministries at
Heidi Miller is an account executive at Semmer Group,
located in
Ali Fugleberg works as a financial associate for Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.
Niki Schultz is a registered nurse at
Leah Hansen is a reporter/weather anchor at KEYC TV
in
Meghan Harney is working as an operations tech at
Nicol Wind worked for the
It is certainly the wedding season. Congratulations to the following couples. May your marriage be full of blessings!
Cullen Nelson and Brie Stevenson were married
on
Britta Olson and Ben Lindberg '01 were married on
Alison Vollmer and Tyler Krebs were married on
Leah Langehaug and Richard Wong '00 were married on
Angela Fay and Jacob Kirchner were married on
Keely Johnson and Mickey Pearson '01 were married on
July 19 in
Kjirsten Holmquist and Douglas Everling '01 are planning an October 11 wedding.
Kellie Kachelmeier and Adam Lockrem were married on May 23.
Shannon Swanson and Craig Severud were married on July
11 in
Jennifer Messner and Michael Bland were
married on June 21 in
Ann Plaetz and Derrick Jennings were married on June
28 at St. Anne's Catholic Church in Wabasso. Ann is employed in Vendor Services
of U.S. Bancorp in
Anna Coulsey and Grant Wildgrube were married on August 23. It was a beautiful wedding (I had the honor of being there) and there were tons of fun English relatives.
Dave Paulsen and Heidi Woller were married on June 8. Dave is a graduate student in electrical engineering.
Jessica Reed and Chris Deegan were married July 26.
Anna Garbisch and Jacob Sorenson were married on May 24. Anna is at Princeton Theological Seminary.
Joe Pike and Melanie Wilbur were married on
May 23. Melanie is an intake coordinator
at Fraser Child and
Nikki Norton and Greg Ehrich were married on August
2. Nikki is teaching in
Anna Larson and Ryan Weispfenning were married on June 21.
Karle Trethewy and Daniel Lewer were married on February 15.
Brian Emerick and Jennifer Kinneberg were
married
Brian Bergstrom and Kate Reiman were married
on May 23 in
Jaime Quam and Aaron Winchell were married on May 9. Jaime is a kindergarten teacher at Goodhue Schools.
Lance Staples and Stephanie Larsen '03 were married on June 21. Lance is currently employed at Imagetrend, Inc., as a programmer.
Finally….congratulations on a new baby named Logan Scott (well, almost a year old now!) born to Sarah (Garrison) and Scott '95 Moe last November 27.
Campus News
College opens 142nd Academic Year -- More than 700 new students, including transfer students and international students, joined the Gustavus community this fall, keeping the total student population around 2,515. The retention rate of students from the first to second year remains at 90 percent. These students will be taught by 198 full-time and 55 part-time faculty. Gustavus was again ranked in the top third of the 214 national liberal arts colleges by the U.S. News and World Report.
Sculptor Paul Granlund '52 dies -- Paul Granlund died
on
Gustavus Finishes sixth in Director's Cup -- Gustavus finished sixth out of 395 Division III institutions for the 2002-03 Director's Cup announced recently by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. The only all-sports competition in intercollegiate athletics, the award honors four-year institutions with the best overall athletic programs. Last year Gustavus placed 10th.
Phonorama
-- October 12-16 and 19-23,
Our Story Conference, The Growing Gender Gap in the African American Community -- October 24-25, Campus
Reformation
Festival featuring the Gustavus Choir,
JFK
Assassination 40 Years Later, presented by David Jones '83 and Political
Science Professor Chris Gilbert at Minnesota Valley Country Club in
A Royal Affair, benefit sponsored by Gustavus Library
Associates in the Twin Cities -- November 15