Graduate and Professional School Student Appreciation Week profile: Anna Verhoye
The National Association of Graduate-Professional Students sponsors this week's celebration of graduate and professional student contributions to our campuses, government and communities. Throughout the week, Bulletin Today will publish short profiles of St. Thomas graduate students, courtesy of Brian Dusbiber, director of the Student Affairs Life/Work Center on UST's Minneapolis campus. Here's the first profile.
By Brian Dusbiber, director, Student Affairs Life/Work Center
A student in the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity, Anna Verhoye was attracted to the University of St. Thomas by the diverse and established professional background of the faculty and the wide variety of courses. Pursuing a Master of Arts degree in theology, she has not identified a specific outcome for her graduate education, but she trusts that through prayer that it will be revealed to her. Her three teenage children have been very involved in her education and some of the struggles that come with wrestling with complex ideas. She has found that sharing her educational experience with her family has had a wider benefit for all of them.
The largest obstacle for Verhoye has been finding sufficient time for all of her responsibilities as a parent, spouse, student, college instructor and church volunteer. She has been instrumental in leading the International Service Through Learning program. She has worked directly with Guatemalans to share their expertise on successful reforestation, thereby bring dignity to their contributions. She believes that poverty is best understood through partnering with those who are served.
Faculty members Dr. Catherine Cory and Dr. Thomas Fisch have been most influential in her development as a graduate student. She says they go “above and beyond” and spur her excitement in learning. She believes that her graduate education has added richness to her life and has opened doors for her learning and faith journeys. She plans to participate in a sabbatical from her college teaching post next year and is looking forward what is next in her life.
