You are about to embark on an amazing journey! You should be
so excited. I am a part-time social justice student. I commute from Elmhurst
every week. For undergraduate, I got my degree in communications. When I
graduated from Elmhurst College, I interned at different nonprofits, I did some
advocacy work with the Federal Communications Commission, and the Dystonia
Medical Research Foundation for five years, then I came back to school.
In this department, I have had Dr. Mike Canaris and Dr. Peter
Jones as professors. They were tremendous. Everyone here wants you to succeed.
I feel like they know you will the work. As a student who takes twice the time
it takes you to do a paper, I can attest that the workload is reasonable. This
is graduate school. Feel welcome to communicate with professors but you cannot
afford to not put in the effort. As long as they know you’re trying, they will
help you. For example, in Mike’s class, I was doing well on the assignments,
but I wanted to throw the textbook out the window. I expressed my sentiment to
him, and he understood I did not have a theology background. We worked through
it. Every single professor wants you to succeed, they truly do.
OK, now I get to talk about the fun stuff! I am the Student Engagement
Committee student chair. Last year, I was sitting where you are. I decided to
go to the first meeting, it’s really fun. Now, I’m in a leadership position.
With my disability, I could have easily been the online student that no one
really knew. That identify did not sit with me very well. Getting involved
really and truly is rewarding. For one, I can walk into a classroom and have an
idea of who that professor is and vice versa.
Your experience is so much richer if you get involved. We also need
members to make the Student Engagement Committee work. Most of the Committee graduated
last spring, so I hope you at least come to the first meeting. The first
meeting is September 5th at 3 o’clock. We won’t have it the first
week because that would be crazy but the second week on September 5th
at 3 o’clock, please come. Getting involved only leads to good things.
To sum up, everyone in the room is now your cheerleader. We
need to be present. Get to know people. These professors have touched my life.
This is a very devoted group of faculty that will challenge you while
respecting your beliefs. As for me, I’m the woman using a wheelchair, who uses
a communication device to speak, usually in pink, I’m real easy to recognize. I
want to get to know you. I hope to see you around and chat.
Loyola University's Institute of Pastoral Studies is amazing and my home away from home. They did publish it in their blog which is so cool! Here is the link to their blog: http://blogs.luc.edu/ips/sec-chair-hannah-thompson/
Happy Fall,
Hannah!
