Gustavus Blogs

Author: elliotsteeves

  • So THAT’s What “Make Your Life Count” Means

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    elliotsteeves

    In a previous article, I mentioned that when I first came to Gustavus during the pandemic-infused autumn of 2020, I spent most of my time outside class guzzling down Doritos and making myself comfortable in front of YouTube. That version of me, like all of us, faced an unprecedented challenge right as we were making…

  • How NLE Choppa Ended Up Playing Gustavus

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    elliotsteeves

    On Friday, April 19, at 8 p.m. Gustavus students, residents of Mankato, and folks from the University of Minnesota, will flock by the hundreds to the Lund Center to see “Shotta Flow” rapper NLE Choppa, the headliner of the College’s most hyped concert of the decade. When the announcement of the concert landed in February,…

  • Christenson Lecture to Focus on Land Back Questions

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    elliotsteeves

    The question of Native American land reparations is a tricky one that is becoming more politically prominent in today’s world. And it is the issue at the heart of a forthcoming lecture by Dr. Kevin Washburn, who serves as the N. William Hines Dean of Iowa University, where he is also a professor of law.…

  • Campus Safety Looks Out for Everyone

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    elliotsteeves

    Scott Reiten flashed a wide smile as he sat down to talk about his job. Despite its somewhat intimidating name, Gustavus’s Campus Safety office has a jovial presence at its head. Reiten talks in upbeat bursts that signify an eagerness to dive into his job. He arrived at Gustavus in 2019 after stints in emergency…

  • Reflecting On Pandemic-Era Gustavus

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    elliotsteeves

    Four years ago this week, Gustavus (and the world) started shutting down. A current senior recalls the surreal circumstances of starting college amid the crisis. When I and the class of 2024 first arrived at Gustavus in August, 2020, we went through something more complicated than the classically intimidating transition from high school. Being a…

  • Gustavus Counseling Center Has Your Back

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    elliotsteeves

    I was diagnosed with autism at the age of three. For most of my life, my parents accommodated the condition. While I have talked about my autism with others in the past, I don’t often take time to take a look at other neurodivergent experiences, or other lived norms that affect someone’s day-to-day life. This…

  • The Gustavus Public Health Minor Matures

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    elliotsteeves

    Before he started the Public Health minor program at Gustavus, professor Karl Larson was working in Student Affairs in 1991. “I didn’t go into teaching right away,” Larson said. “I got my doctorate in 2001, after about six years [of graduate school], and got my first full-time health teaching position at the University of Southern…

  • One More for the Road

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    elliotsteeves

    Gusties, it’s winter again. Which means it’s time to perpetually feel cold. And…It’s Christmas in Christ Chapel season! It’s time to decorate the big (like, huge) church on the Hill with lasers, lights, and artwork galore, and fill the seats to the Chapel’s brim. It’s time to sing, play, and speak vast and holy anthems…

  • Gusties Showcase Their Artistic Creativity

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    elliotsteeves

    I walk by the Schaefer Art Gallery every day. Normally, I don’t enter this building, as I’m usually on my way to cello practice or orchestra rehearsal in Bjorling Hall, just across the sidewalk. This, Gusties, is a mistake. This gallery is home to some of the most amazing art in Saint Peter. And the…

  • Enriching the Liberal Arts Through Music

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    elliotsteeves

    More than a decade before I arrived at Gustavus, when I was in third grade, they forced me to play cello. I was a student at a Waldorf school, an alternative educational philosophy that believes in tying a young person’s education to the way they play and interact with the world. Ideally, it improves executive…