Q&A: PetterStrand Kolaas Dives Into His Journey at St. Ambrose University

Growing up in Norway, it's not surprising that Petter had not heard of Davenport, IA before he was recruited by the SAU swim team in 2019. As a star athlete, history club enthusiast, peer tutor and international student ambassador, Petter dove head first into all that St. Ambrose University had to offer. Now, as he reflects on his experience as a Fighting Bee with graduation day nearing, 他意识到贯穿他在SAU所有胜利和成功的一条共同主线——人和关系.

Q: Why did you choose St. Ambrose University?

答:如果我没有与罗布·“斯基”·米兹尼科夫斯基教练建立起紧密的联系，我就不会在这里. 我特别兴奋的是，在建立SAU游泳项目的早期发挥作用, but I also knew I wanted to be at a small university with smaller class sizes. I had changed my career plans several times in high school, 所以我很有信心，SAU的文科方法会为我打开大门，帮助我的学术发展. I was originally only planning to pursue a degree in history. After being exposed to many other fields in my general education courses here, I ended up adding a double major in political science and a minor in philosophy. SAU helped me discover my true passions.
Most of all though, I think what makes Ambrose feel so unique is the small, 我们这里有一个封闭的galaxy银河娱乐场app，你可以和你的导师和教授有多亲密, how well you can get to know your peers, how accessible so many resources are for you. 你有机会接触到很多东西，你真的觉得自己被积极地照顾和照顾着. Many other campuses have great resources, 但在这里，你可以通过无数真心希望看到你在深海中取得成功的人接触到这种“galaxy银河娱乐场app精神”, personal level.

Q: You mention the "Ambrosian Spirit". How would you define what that means to you?

A: I think community is the word that comes to mind. 鼓励我们在多样性中团结起来，这才是安布罗修会的核心, like putting all of our unique backgrounds, knowledge, skills, experiences and perspectives into this bucket and mixing it together. It's about asking, "what can I bring to the table?" It sounds cliché, but it's true. 我们欢迎并鼓励每个人展现真实的自我，这样我们就可以共同学习，分享，共同成长，共创美好的未来.

问:说到庆祝多样性，作为一名在校的国际学生是什么感觉?

A: Well, my time on campus was cut short because of the global pandemic in 2020. 我很幸运能有一个学期的时间去体验COVID-19之前的样子, but I remember vividly when everything locked down. 我们刚从田纳西州的全国游泳比赛中回来，下周就是春假，所以校园里空荡荡的. It was pretty much staff and international students left on campus.
国内的边境已经开始关闭，我记得我们所有人都在权衡是留下还是离开的决定. 这一切发生得很快，就在我们得到最后的通知，这学期剩下的课程都将在网上上课的时候. Flights were getting canceled and rescheduled left and right. 我个人花了48个多小时才回到挪威，因为我必须乘坐多次航班，在欧洲转机多次. Just getting home was a huge challenge, but then we had to face the challenges of the next few months. For most international students, 我们不仅仅是在适应网络学校，我们还在适应不同时区的网络学校.
Norway is just seven hours ahead, so most of my classes were between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. 我还有一些朋友要去更远的地方，他们在半夜上课. Working remotely was hard for everyone because we weren't used to it. There was no system, everything was new, 但是，比你的同龄人提前半天学习如何做到这一点会让事情变得更加困难.

Q: There had to be a lot on your mind during that time. What made you decide to return to SAU?

答:我真的很担心我是否会被允许回到美国，或者我离开家是否安全. I was toying with the thought of dropping out, putting my education on hold, or transferring somewhere else. It was a huge crossroads in my life, 但我很高兴我做出了回归的决定，感谢我的教练们的有益建议和指导, staff and mentors at SAU. My professors especially are a central piece to my appreciation for SAU, 我们之间的关系塑造了我，给了我很多，我永远不会忘记.

Q. 我galaxy银河娱乐场app这只是你在过去四年中不得不考虑的许多重大决定之一. 知道了你现在所知道的，如果你能回到过去，你会给新生彼得什么建议?

A: I would just affirm that you should always be true to yourself. Hold on to your own values and your own culture while still being open, hungry and willing to be exposed to others. 一天晚上，我和母亲通电话，我完全忘记了挪威语中“护士”的意思。. Norwegian is my native language, but I wasn't practicing it, listening to it, speaking it, or reading it enough to remember common words.
I think that comes from being so excited to be here in America. I wanted to take everything in. 我太想学习关于“美国方式”的一切，以至于我开始忘记自己的方式. But, ever since that day, 我也非常有意识地尝试积极地参与到我自己的文化中. I watch Norwegian news. I listen to podcasts in Norwegian. I speak with my family regularly in my native tongue.
It's ok to be interested and curious and hungry to learn, 但我认为重要的是要记住你是谁，你的个人生活经历很重要，也应该被分享.

Q. You summed up one of SAU's core values beautifully. 成为安布罗修会的人就是要灵活和锚定——在我们的传统、价值观和自我中. How do you plan to carry these lessons into your future career after graduation?

A: You have to be open to change. If you're too focused on one plan, you close yourself off to other opportunities. What I've learned over the past four years is that my interests, dreams and life can change at any point. Instead of making specific long-term plans for my career, 我选择专注于现在让我兴奋的事情，而不是设定太多的期望. I know I would enjoy getting my master's in Political Science, 所以我下一步将继续追求这个选择，并期待着看到我如何利用这个学位做出改变. If that changes down the road, I may end up doing something totally different!

Q. When you look back on your time at SAU, what are you most proud of?

A: I am proud of my athletic career and academic accomplishments, 但我最引以为豪的是两件事:扩大历史俱乐部的规模，以及与学生成功中心一起试行同伴导师项目.
When I came here as a freshman, there was no active History Club. 我们开始是四五个学生聚在一起做作业，几乎没有参与, and now we're one of the fastest growing organizations on campus. I started out serving in a leadership role as Vice President, 我在大三那年开始担任校长一职，并在过去的三个学期里一直担任这个职位. 我们开始全年举办大型活动，我们为历史系学生建立了一个荣誉社团. 我很自豪我们能够利用俱乐部来支持我们的领域，并在历史系建立galaxy银河娱乐场app.
Lastly, 我真的很幸运有机会帮助试点项目帮助扩大我们的学生成功中心. I truly believe it's one of the best and most important resources on campus. This is my fifth semester as a tutor, 从写作实验室的英语101到心理学顶点项目，我都在帮助我的同龄人. 有机会与这么多不同背景的学生交流并向他们学习是一份巨大的礼物.