Processing Grief Through Art Experiential Education alumni honor friend in new book “The Stars in the Sky” by Nicole Sisk
In 2016, the Experiential Education Master of Science program at Minnesota State University, Mankato received devastating news: 2015 graduate Rob Kinzel had been killed in a car accident. He was just 33 years old. Kinzel’s instructors and classmates were gutted by the loss of the loving, vibrant and charismatic young man.
“I found myself thinking about what you do when someone dies,” Blauert says. “There are no answers.”
“Rob was a creative and authentic person,” Jason Jaspersen, a 2019 Experiential Education (ExEd) graduate says. “You felt known when you talked with him. He burned calories just by listening.”
As Blauert continued to reflect, she began thinking of creative ways to memorialize Kinzel and share his impact with others. Eventually, the kindergarten teacher landed on an idea close to her heart: writing a children’s book.
CREATIVE REFLECTION Jaspersen soon realized that others mourning Kinzel had similar feelings. “Rob made an impact on people everywhere he went,” Jaspersen says. “He grew up in New Jersey, went to college in Kentucky and grad school in Minnesota. His community in each place shared the same sentiments about him. Everyone wanted more of him.” That included another classmate, Haylee Blauert, a 2016 ExEd graduate. As the one-year anniversary of Kinzel’s death approached, Blauert found herself doing some creative reflection—a hallmark of the experiential education learning process.
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“I love children’s literature,” she says. “So much happens in children’s stories.” Blauert knew she’d need a talented artist to partner with to bring the story to life. For that, she tapped Jaspersen, an artist and art professor. “It had to be Jason,” Blauert says. “He knew Rob and had already done a portrait that captured Rob’s character.” MAKING THE HURT HELPFUL The result of their collaboration, “The Stars in the Sky,” is a moving tribute to Kinzel’s spirit and a meditation on what we experience when someone we love disappears.