Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Eliza Swedenborg
UP Laura Groenjes
Featuring:
Eliza Swedenborg
Laura Groenjes
Luke Garrison
Danielle Harms
Greg Boone
Edition 1, Volume 1
What’s Inside?
1
Teacher in Training
Larua Groenjes, Page 3
“Welcome to the life of a kindergarten
teacher.”
What it’s all Laura was an English major during
her time at Gustavus. She was the
About: Editor in Chief of the Gustavian
Weekly. Read more about her life as a
I
imagine I was not the only one wondering, teacher for Teach for America on page
while standing in the sun outside the chapel, 3. She is documenting the ups, down,
lined up to walk into Hollingsworth Stadium, and pleasures of being a teacher
on that fateful day we all graduated how, I was going in training at http://lauragroenjes.
to survive beyond the confines and without the
blogspot.com
comforts of Gustavus Adolphus College. I imagine
Laura Groenjes
I was not the only one wondering to whom I was
going to talk, with whom I was going to eat lunch, argue politics, and
talk about books and big ideas. I imagine I was not the only one just a It’s all (News) To Me
little worried about what life Out There would be like. Something told Luke Garrison, page 4
me it would all work out, that it would be a survivable adventure, and
that I would make new friends with whom I would do all those things I “I walked across the stage to receive
was concerned about missing from my days as a Gustie. my diploma and before I knew it I was
When we left Hollingsworth that day, we all embarked on our own
adventures. Some of us went on to law schools like William Mitchell moved out and on my way back home.”
and medical schools like The University of Wisconsin Madison,
others went into the Lutheran Volunteer Corps. and other service Luke Garrison was a Communication Studies major at Gustavus.
organizations, started their careers, or relocated to other parts of the He also anchored and reported for GAC TV and was a Gustavus
globe. Student Senate co-president with Shawn Grygo. Luke is now
All Grown Up is a publication to keep us in the loop with each producing for KSTP-TV in St. Paul, MN. He writes on page 4
other. It is a collection of stories, poems, photographs, and articles about his new career and reflects on his four years at Gustavus.
written by our friends and classmates from our college days. Tales from KSTP-TV is online at http://kstp.com
the Real Life beat about the struggles and rewards of post-collegiate life.
In this issue we have five stories from farmers, teachers, and newsies
from the class of 2009, and several photographs. We hope to make this I’m Not Mad, Just Disappointed
publication as accessible as possible, and are planning on launching a Danielle Harms, page 5
website to make all of the articles available on the web. In the next issue,
we hope to also include a page of brief stories, shout-outs, and other
short snippets from readers who do not have the time, means, desire, or
“Thus far my time in the Republic of
energy to write a full article. Korea...has been fraught with revelations
If you would like to submit anything to All Grown Up in the future, and realizations.”
please do not hesitate to send an email to boone.greg@gmail.com,
or contact me some other way. If it can be printed we can accept it. Danielle Harms was an English and Political Science major at
Thanks, and enjoy the first issue of All Grown Up. Gustavus. She was the Features editor for The Gustavian Weekly in
Greg Boone 2009 and swam for the Gustavus Swim Team. She writes on page
Editor 5 about the process of adapting to a new country and a new job.
Danielle is a teacher at a private academy in South Korea. Danielle
How to Tell Time on the Farm is blogging with Greg Boone at http://kgsm.gac.edu/rok
Eliza Swedenborg, page 2
Eliza Swedenborg
This morningIFrank
woke up to colors Lisa
would drool over.
that there are many things that just have to be done when
they have to be done; planting a new succession of carrots,
Pinks and purples swam over the outstretched skyline of watering the green house and harvesting wild raspberries
my big-sky prairie country, my home until this October. when the wild raspberries are ripe, for example. There’s
The sun is rising noticeably later every day now, and I’m also things like addressing the presence of the rouge
starting to get that fall feeling, though this year I realize it chicken, house wren or the multi-bodily-disfunctional cat
has nothing to do with a return to school. that is inexplicably in my cabin, regardless
It has everything to do with that gut feeling
Sweet dreams and of what my plans were before I discovered
of time. I have left the 9 to 5 for a while and moonbeams... it. The chickens especially always keep me
am learning about how to live on farm time. Farm time, on my toes.
as I have begun to understand it, demands that you live in
the present, but it is also about acknowledging the cycles On top of this, I am learning about people time. I have
of time we live in. known for a while that the moon keeps the time in my
belly, and I am beginning to understand what that means.
I have learned how beautiful time is in the shape of an egg Expelled from the exclusive world of the college student
in my hands, fresh out of the coop (who wants pancakes (early-twenty-something-year-olds only, please), I am now
for breakfast?). I have learned to replace the ticking of surrounded by men and women of all ages. I have friends
a clock with the light “plunk” of green beans dropped with babies. I have friends with grandkids. I have friends
into big black crates. I now know that just because I am who preparing for the birth of their first child. And I am
caked in mud doesn’t mean pappa black-bird will agree watching my own grandparents move into a home where
it’s a good time for me to wash off in the pond – I don’t they can get more help. It’s difficult for me to admit how
blame him for being protective of his babies, but I wish he old they are now; I can’t imagine how difficult it is for
wouldn’t swoop so close to my head. I have also learned them.
in
teachers, but I’m really excited to learn more about IB
and implement the strategies in my classroom. I definitely
think it’ll make me a better teacher overall.
Luke Garrison
I didn’t know how I would feel following the apartment. Just a couple
graduation. Gustavus was a place where I thrived of real-world events, but even
and felt very comfortable. I knew most everyone though they suck at the time—
there and I felt like I had a pretty good grasp you live to see another day.
on what I was doing. Well, May 31
came around and I really didn’t I have a blast being accountable And those days
have time to process all I was for writing newscasts that reach have been
going through. At 4 a.m. the thousands of Minnesotans each great overall.
next morning I would start a I have a blast
day.
new life at KSTP-TV in the Twin getting a beer with
Cities. friends after
work, or meeting up
I walked across the stage to receive my diploma for coffee and catching
and before I knew it I was moved out and on my up with whoever, and playing
way back home. Now I am a news producer for in an old man’s beer league
Channel 5, and I love it. I also moved into a new for softball. I have a blast
apartment on Grand Avenue in St. Paul with being accountable for writing
two fellow Gusties, and I love that too. The weird newscasts that reach thousands
thing is, I haven’t missed Gustavus as much as I of Minnesotans each day.
thought I would—although I am going back for the
first time this weekend to see a wedding, and that Gustavus gave us a sample of
might change my feelings. the real world, but I like that
my “bubble” is now popped.
The one thing I have noticed is that One thing I have Each day brings new
Gusties really do stick together. We have noticed is that challenges and
a great network that seems to always Gusties really do excitement, but we
appear (in Minnesota anyway). Even in are here and we are
stick together.
this new life that we all are embarking working hard to put
on right now, I really feel a our skills and talents
connecting point. into good use.
Even though now I do not feel like I have a I hope all of you are
great grasp on all that I’m doing, I feel comfort enjoying post-college
knowing that Gustavus prepared me for this life as much as I am,
point. I actually think it’s kind of exciting to be and please, let’s stay in
out on your own, paying your own bills, and being touch. This is a great
accountable for what you do. I have learned this way to do so.
the hard way.
M
arise in all countries and cultures, whether familiar or new, and
should more accurately be called joining-the-real-world shock, a
different illness altogether.
Settling into life in Korea has been smooth, surprisingly
smooth, moving at a business-as-usual pace, like a canoe quietly
A
pushing away from the shore. Even as part of me is proud of
a relatively easy transition from one stage to another, a more
resistant part of me wishes I were on a boat making a few more
ripples. I suppose I have been unconsciously awaiting the big
finale to my real-world arrival.
Where is Korea’s version of a momentous dinner with
D
Hank Toutain blowing a train whistle and announcing the
official commencement of a transformative journey? After a
guy named Eddie picked me up at Seoul’s airport and a day’s
training at headquarters, my job started and everyone returned
to their normal routines. I have now honed in on a voice inside
my head that was sounding a naive alarm, saying, “Who forgot
to push the pause button? Can’t you see that I am jumping into
Above: The ancient palace of Chandeokgung in Seoul. Below: Seoul’s skyline at the real world? Shouldn’t there be streamers and an orientation
dusk seen from Namsan Tower. week, for goodness sake?” But of course for nearly everyone around
Just Disappointed
me, this is life as usual, and the Real World certainly wouldn’t
operate very well if it paused whenever a new member joined the
ranks.
I suspect the presumption that every new start will inevitably
Danielle Harms be as ceremonious and communal as the one Gustavus created for
Nancy Harms
To submit an entry or a snippet or to let us know
someone who wants to subscribe to this magazine please
send an email to Greg Boone. We can take poetry, non-
fiction, fiction, photos, and anything else that can be
printed. Thank you for reading this first edition of All
Grown Up. See you next time. Joe Lencioni, ‘05 http://shiftingpixel.com
Thanks for Reading...
Danielle Harms