Gustavus?

I graduated from St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN. Nice Lutheran liberal arts college. Pretty common to attend there, especially if you are a Lutheran from Minneapolis area. I am from the suburbs of Chicago. I was raised Presbyterian. I thought Carleton College would be a good place to go. This is another small liberal arts college that is in the same town as St. Olaf.

So Carleton was looking good for me. Except 1) the parents that I came across during the tour were pretentious - turn-off; and 2) the softball uniforms were baby blue - big big turn-off. Were these good reasons to choose a college? Nahh.

While I was visiting Carleton, I checked out St. Olaf too. And I chose St. Olaf. It turned out to be a good choice for me. I liked it there, had a great educational experience, majored in German/Psychology, even studied a semester at University of Constance in Germany, made great friends, and so forth.

Going to St. Olaf (in Northfield MN about 40 minutes south of Minneapolis) gave me the idea that living in Minneapolis might be nice. So kind of (there were many other factors) -- going to that college resulted in meeting the love of my life, getting married and settling here in the Twin Cities. So the college is also special to me for those connective reasons.

We belong to the Largest Lutheran Church in America. 9 pastors. Yup. The Largest Lutheran Church in America is somehow hooked up with Gustavus Adolphus College, oh an arch rival of St. Olaf. OK-probably because the Senior Pastor-President-Grand PooBah of the Largest Lutheran Church in America went to Gustavus. I think. So at the appropriate time, the 7-8th graders go spend an overnight at *gulp* Gustavus. And they buy *gulp* Gustavus STUFF, t-shirts and sweats and mittens. Um. I'm OK with this. Sort of.




Oh-I've got my St. Olaf sweatshirt and St. Olaf t-shirts. And I don't really mind that 2/3 of my girls have been to Gustavus, hung out, ate the food, slept on campus, and had fun there, and they think it is a really cool place. The 3rd girl will no doubt go there, when she is in 7th grade.

Really, I don't mind. That much.