This spring, members of the Gustavus Cabinet will write guest posts for Monday Moments. This week, I’m pleased to share thoughts from Kirk Carlson ’95, our associate vice president for enrollment. – Becky
“People will forget what you said and did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” —Maya Angelou
Our students are in the process of registering for classes for Fall of 2022. It makes me nervous to even say it out loud, but this fall could be our first term in almost two years which is not overshadowed by a COVID cloud. Wouldn’t that be nice! I write today to applaud the efforts and thank this community for the grace that has been extended to our students, colleagues, and visitors to campus. This has been a stress-filled 26 months, but we are slowly coming out the other side.
One of the groups that has been meeting in anticipation of next year is the newly re-established Student Success Committee. We have been working on the formalization of a system where each student has a network around them to ensure support as hurdles inevitably arise during their four years. This isn’t new at Gustavus. While we’ve been supporting our students since our inception, we are especially excited about this intentional work, as Gusties have faced many new challenges in the past few years.
During these final four weeks of the academic year, the visual impact of COVID-19 has been reduced; there are fewer masks, less distancing, more conversations, and more smiles. It will be easy to forget that not only is this a time of enhanced stress from final papers and exams, but also fatigue from months of dealing with all of the frustrations generated by the pandemic. Let’s hope we can turn the page on this chapter of Life with Covid, look forward to next year, but also enjoy the events in the next few months. Right around the corner, we will be able to celebrate the Class of 2022 at Senior Week and commencement, welcome our alumni back for Reunion Weekend, connect with the incoming class at Gustie Gear Up!, and see the return of summer campers.
Life is beginning to be a bit closer to normal, but please don’t forget to reach out to one another these last couple weeks — to engage with the other wonderful students, faculty, and staff around you and remind each other about the power of community that holds us together. I believe that the enduring legacy of the College is as much about relationships and people as it is about classroom learning and graduate outcomes. This week, think about how you live, learn, and work at the intersection of excellence, community, justice, service, and faith, and how that impacts your experience at Gustavus.
And remember, it’s not ultimately about what you do or say, it’s about how you make other people feel.
Sincerely,
Kirk