by Harriet Anderson ’25
Gustavus Adolphus College senior Nora Hagestuen of Wayzata, Minnesota will serve as the senior speaker at the Class of 2022 baccalaureate services on May 21, 2022. Baccalaureate services are held at 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. More details, including ticket information, are available online. Hagestuen, a nursing major, was chosen by a committee of students, faculty, and staff from a pool of graduating seniors.
Throughout her four years at Gustavus, Hagestuen has been involved in many activities on campus. In addition to being on the Cross Country and Track and Field teams, she has been involved in music all four years, and is currently the co-president of the Choir of Christ Chapel. She has also been a teacher’s assistant for the nursing department and the anatomy and physiology instructors. Additionally, she helped to co-found Students for Reproductive Freedom on campus, and served as the secretary of the organization for two years.
Throughout her many involvements, Hagestuen has learned the importance of community and appreciates the people that have supported her at Gustavus. “I have found such beauty in the people that surround me, and in learning from their willingness to share their perspectives, personal experiences, and knowledge,” she said. “I have found a community ready to nurture my understanding, and as a result, I have grown into a woman ready to tackle the challenges of my calling, fight for my well being and that of those around me, and I am confident that I face the world as a woman ready to change it.”
At Gustavus, Hagestuen has appreciated the liberal arts curriculum, which has allowed her to explore alternative interests while still pursuing a career in nursing. “In this world, I can blend so many parts of my identity into my calling and into my job. I am so grateful for that perspective and experience, as not only does it enable me to be a competent nurse in my understanding of diverse perspectives and how I can best serve those who are different from me, but it also allowed me to make mistakes and understand which paths weren’t right for me. I enter my field confidently answering my call and grateful to the college that provided me with these opportunities.”
After graduation, Hagestuen will be moving to New Orleans, Louisiana to begin a year-long nurse residency program in critical care at the VA Medical Center.
In her speech, Hagestuen plans to focus on a concept that she learned from Nobel Conference 54, Living Soil: A Universe Underfoot, about the fungal networks that connect vast forests into a community. She plans to make the analogy to the Gustavus community, and how its roots were torn apart by COVID-19, but have come back together.
“There are so many ways that we connect as a community, and the wonderful people that surround me are the reason I have been so successful on the Hill,” she said. “This community has shaped me, supported me, and nourished me to become the woman that I am proud to be today.”