By: Derek Hottenstein
One cannot fully appreciate the size and scope of any group, let alone St. Norbert’s Honors Program, without first breaking it down into numerical values. The class of 2028 stands 67 students strong. With three commuting students, 64 of us are contained within Bergstrom’s walls. The building houses an interpersonal environment quite unlike anything you’ve ever encountered, whether on a college campus or not. Three floors full of students with varying majors and goals, three lounges, and one kitchen make for some unforgettable and fun nights.
But a dorm is nothing without those who call it home. We boast an incredibly large assortment of student athletes: 19, almost one third of the incoming class of Honors students. They cover sports from soccer to swimming to golf. Clearly, they’re not ones to shy away from taking SNC up on whatever athletic opportunities they have to offer.
And then there’s the other side of the coin, the reason we’re all here: to extend the experience of the mind and chart the course our life will take. We’re exploring our interests and pursuing our goals together, even though they may differ quite greatly. In terms of majors, we have some impressive ones in our arsenal. Business, Pre-Med, Biology, Political Science, Education, Environmental Science, English, and Psychology, just to name a few. The top two majors are Business, with 7 students, and Biology, with a whopping 15! And that’s only scratching the surface. It’s like seeing our future unfolding right before our very eyes! Future doctors, teachers, scientists, writers, and so much more!
Unsurprisingly, the majority of this incoming class is from the Midwest. Most of us come from Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota. We’re like a little chunk of the best and brightest the Upper Midwest has to offer.
I already have a pretty decent grasp of all we’ve done so far. After all, I was right there in the thick of it. It seems like forever ago, when we all first arrived. The pizza party we had that first day was when I fully began to understand the new world I found myself in. I looked around the room at the almost 70 students I would be sharing the next four years with and immediately felt a sensation of belonging. Here we all were, a group of people of varying backgrounds and stories, all convening at this one spot for some snacks and shenanigans. I remember thinking to myself that it would be the start of something wonderful.
So far, I haven’t been disappointed. We’ve done so many cool things so far. Movies on the lawn and ice cream parties to name a few. But the best times I’ve had were during moments when we just connected. I can’t help but feel that this has just been the beginning. So, I guess there are some things that numbers can’t quite capture. That’s the potential of other human beings, to turn a great college and great dorm into an unforgettable experience.
