Special Edition Spring 2024: St. Kate’s students and their unique journeys to graduation
Cover image credit: St. Catherine University/Rebecca Zenefski Slater ‘10
By Leah Keith
With the end of the year right around the corner, graduating seniors, including myself, excitedly or anxiously await the moment they walk across the stage to receive their diploma.
Despite looking forward to graduation, seniors often feel bittersweet about this time of year and saying goodbye to the many peers and professors they had gotten to know during their time in college. For myself, I predict that leaving St. Kate’s will be especially bittersweet, as I began my journey here just three years ago. Although I am grateful to graduate a year early, I sometimes wonder if I will miss out on that final year.
Like myself, many college students have unique journeys to graduation, with some either graduating early or late compared to the typical four-year path. I wanted to share a few of those unique stories, starting with Caitlin Weiss ‘24 (History), who faced several challenges while securing her degree.
Credit: St. Catherine University/Rebecca Zenefski Slater ‘10
Weiss first attended college at an art school that no longer exists, but after realizing the art field did not align with her goals, she decided to leave that institution. After taking a break from school and working as a nanny, Weiss attended Minneapolis College, where none of the credits from the art school transferred over because she learned that the institution was unaccredited.
“When I switched and started going to Minneapolis College, I had to completely start over,” said Weiss. Weiss ended up earning her Associate of Liberal Arts degree.
Weiss then made her way to St. Kate’s, starting off as an ASL major but quickly learning that the program has a strict order students must take classes in, making it challenging for her to graduate in a timely manner.
“It’s structured so that you have to come in as a freshman with nothing and go through the four years exactly as it is set up,” Weiss said of the ASL major. “If you mess with that at all, it just throws the whole system into chaos. And lining up your classes correctly can be really hard, which is frustrating.”
Weiss already had an associate’s degree, meaning she theoretically only needed to complete two more years of college to secure her bachelor’s. However, that did not happen for her, as she ultimately had to drop ASL. She then chose to major in history.
Despite enjoying her major, Weiss felt the history department lacked variety, since there are few history professors and classes offered each semester. She acknowledged that the 15-student minimum cap, introduced in April 2022, might have impacted the number of classes offered.
“I definitely think the cap has a lot to do with it,” Weis said, “because, you know, most of the classes were really small before the cap got put on,” Overall, Weiss emphasized that the pressure to know exactly what she wanted to do with her life and career hindered her ability to graduate on time.
“It’s bonkers that we expect people at like 18, 19, 20 to know what they’re going to do,” she said.
Now, at 37 years old, Weiss is finally able to graduate with a B.A. in history from the College for Women, demonstrating that it is never too late to earn your degree.
Although Weiss graduated later than expected, some students graduate in less than the standard four years. Marcela Del Real ‘24 (English, Arts & Humanities/History minors) shared her story of learning she could graduate early, despite the lack of communication from administration.
Del Real came to St. Kate’s as an English major, later adding on a double minor in Arts & Humanities and History. Del Real only learned that she could graduate a semester early with these two minors going into her junior year. Before then, she had no idea that was a possibility.
“I would have been able to graduate an entire year early if there was just one person that may have mentioned that I could have, other than when reaching out to sign up for classes,” Del Real said. “Going into my junior year, it was all of a sudden sprung on me.”
Despite the lack of communication, Del Real remains grateful that she can graduate early.
Another unique path to graduation comes in the form of dual degree programs, offered for students in holistic health studies, occupational therapy, physical therapy and public health. In a dual degree program, students can graduate with their bachelor’s and master’s degree in five or six years at St. Kate’s, where their senior year counts toward both their bachelor’s and master’s.
However, students in the program can also graduate before the five- or six-year mark, as in the case of Sophia Chmel ‘25 (Psychology, Pre-OT), who will only be spending four years in the dual degree program. Chmel attributes graduating early and a cheaper overall cost of tuition to her Post-Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) classes.
“In my junior and senior years of high school, I was able to be a full-time PSEO student,” said Chmel. “PSEO was such a big help in lowering what I’m having to pay in tuition.”
Although graduating early eased the financial burden, Chmel noticed how it also impacted her experience.
“I feel like I just started and am just now getting settled in, but I’m already almost done,” mentioned Chmel. “I would say whatever I am missing out on is worth it though to save on tuition.”
For myself, I also learned I could graduate college early because of the PSEO classes I took in high school, and the cross-listed courses at St. Kate’s made it easier for me to double major and graduate early. Nevertheless, taking longer to graduate does not reflect a student’s worth, and it all depends on individual experiences.
Everyone’s journey to graduation differs, and whether your path takes two years or ten, I wish you all the best of luck on your journey to graduation.
