By: Derek Hottenstein
When you think of the St. Norbert College Honors program, the word “busy” most likely immediately comes to mind. And barely a month into the school year, the new Class of 2030 Honors students have already proven themselves to be no different. Coming here from far and wide, each and every one of them has something to offer, and they’re wasting no time in showing that. But don’t just take my word for it; the numbers don’t lie, and each of them paint a vibrant picture of what the newest Honors inductees are all about.
This year, Bergstrom has welcomed 60 new students who will be calling it home for the next several months. What an adventure that will be! Three floors of students, three floors of new friends, three floors of unforgettable memories. It’s been almost two years since I’ve been inside the old place, but I can still vividly picture it: every brick on the wall and every tile on the ceiling. I wish the new residents to find as much happiness there as I did.
But Bergstrom isn’t just a dorm; it’s a headquarters. Students branch out from there into a wide array of different majors, activities, and organizations. Let’s look, for example, at student athletics. Nearly half of the new students (23 out of 60) are engaging in SNC sports in some way, shape, or form. Track and Field takes the lead, with nine Honors first-years joining the team, but it’s by no means the only sport that Honors first-years are trying out. Other sports that you may find multiple Bergstrom students participating in include the likes of basketball, baseball, women’s hockey, volleyball, and everything in between. And that’s not even including the many new members of SNC Music; be on the lookout for some unfamiliar faces in the bands, orchestras, and choirs around campus.
Of course, we know what our new Honors students are doing now, but what about where they’re heading? What majors have the first-years claimed? And, as you might have guessed, they’re all across the board. A whopping 18 of the 60 Honors first-years are Biology/Biomedical Sciences majors, but that’s not the only major with increasing presence. 5 students are pursuing Business Administration, another 5 are pursuing Education, 4 are Psychology majors, and the list goes on, including Finance, Accounting, English, Political Science, and Data Analytics.
So we know what they’re doing, and we know where they’re going, but where have they been? What sorts of places do our new Honors students call home? As expected, most of them are from right here in Wisconsin (43 out of 60 are local). The rest are mostly from the Upper Midwest area, Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, and Illinois. But they’re not solely limited to our little section of the country, as a handful of the new Bergstrom residents come from places like Missouri, Arizona, and even a couple as far away as California and Florida.
And that’s a mostly complete picture of the new Honors students. Of course, there are some things that numbers can’t quite capture, and I’m very much looking forward to seeing what great things these scholars can accomplish over the next few years. You’ve seen data on who they are, where they’ve been, what they’re doing, but as for what they truly have in store for us next? We’re just going to have to wait and see.
