College Campus Capers

There are so many advantages to being a member of a monastery that shares a campus with the students attending the College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University. On the evening of January 22, Sisters Stefanie and Cecelia experienced that advantage in a new and rather unique way. They were part of a packed audience that had been enjoying a show by the talented and entertaining Jared Sherlock. When they left the Escher Auditorium they were quite dismayed to find that during the show a rainy ice had covered the sidewalks and parking lots. Three college women noting their apprehension offered to walk the Sisters to their residence in Evin Hall. The three students (Baylee Mehr, Maura Sullivan and Kalleah Morseth) linked arms with the two Sisters and five-strong they made their way across campus. However, when they reached the incline that is part of the entrance into the parking lot, all five went down in the blink of an eye. Together they all fell forward onto their stomachs right into the wet road.

The Sisters told me how at first all that the five of them could do was lie there giggling hysterically. They found that trying to get up on that icy surface was almost impossible. Finally they crawled to where there was a snowy surface and helped each other up. They told me that they were barely on their feet when two other students (Catherine Pollock and Rachel Welz) rushed up and told them they could help these Sisters home because they were hockey players. And at that point another student (hockey player, Brenna Gould) approached and offered to give the Sisters a ride in her car. The Sisters protested that they were really not far from their residence, but the hockey students insisted on getting them into the car and making sure that they got delivered right to the door. What a boon it is to be on a college campus where young, observant and adventurous students volunteer their aid so generously.

To read more about the relationship between the Sisters and the college, see the Winter 2010 issue of Benedictine Sisters and Friends magazine. Click here to access the online copy.