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SUMMER 2022

inside this issue

Suzi Sobolik | PAGE 2

From the President

PT with a Business Degree

New Vice President for Student Development

Open Doors

A Beacon of Hospitality

Saying Yes

Balancing Athletics and Engineering

Alumni News

On the cover: Linda Knodel served in various roles at CHI St. Alexius for over 30 years. Story on page 8.

Reed Ruggles | PAGE 6

Editor Lauren Dunnigan

Graphic Designer Kate Kurtz, ’22

Photographer Grace Ballalatak, ’20

Update your Address 701-355-3726 Dr. Mary Dockter | PAGE 12

University of Mary

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University of Mary

FROM THE PRE SIDE NT

Monsignor James P. Shea President of the University of Mary

n our freshman women’s residence hall, an image hangs of a young mother, the sun washing over her face and the faces of her young children. Her famous quote hangs next to her, “Love and sacrifice are closely linked, like the sun and the light. One cannot love without suffering, and one cannot suffer without love.” These were her words in the years leading up to her decision to give her life for her baby, choosing to go through with a life-threatening pregnancy that did, ultimately, take her life. We know her now as Saint Gianna Beretta Molla. Halfway across the world, in a small Guatemalan village, a man of the same generation was also giving up his life: Blessed Stanley Rother, a priest from Oklahoma who was killed for his faith and unyielding ministry in 1981. He spent his years serving his people as their pastor but also as their craftsman, carpenter, and electrician. His words in the months leading up to his death, “My life is for my people. I am not scared.”

We’re preparing this summer for two long-awaited ribbon cuttings in the fall, within weeks of each other: one to officially rename the Saint Gianna School of Health Sciences, the other to officially open the Hamm School of Engineering.

everything we do with devotion and commitment, everything that causes us to set aside our limited interests and sacrifice and suffer, all of that causes a change within us, oftentimes when we’re looking the other way.

And as the doorstep to the School of Health Sciences bears Gianna’s name, as a teacher and witness to our health care students, just through the doors to the Hamm School of Engineering hangs a plaque, bearing the story of Blessed Stanley Rother — an inspiration to our engineering students preparing to take up much of the same work as Father Rother.

And that inner transformation is what makes the difference in a world sorely in need of people willing to give everything for the great and noble work entrusted to them.

Two beautifully different people, but not entirely so. Both had reasonable opportunity to avoid personal sacrifice, to fixate their minds on their own shortcomings or weaknesses, to choose a course of treatment or a ministry that would secure their lives. But both decided that what they’d given themselves to — a child or a whole village — was worth the gift of their lives, worth a measure of risk and dauntless sacrifice, and that such sacrifice was possible. Their faith was generous, and in their gift of self they began to shine, such that their names are now incandescent, written across the heavens. In such hearts we find what these ribboncuttings really mean for our students. In their classrooms and labs and clinicals now, we hope to teach them a truth that will change their whole perspective on their lives and careers to come: that when we really give ourselves to something, regardless of how poor or limited we feel inside, we’re changed deeply within. Every great and noble task,

And this is what fills our minds this summer, as we praise God for the chance this spring to send out our largest ever graduating class, with more than 1,000 degrees conferred, and the chance to welcome another class to these prairies in the months to come. We praise Him for the lives and witness of the alumni in these pages, too, who manifest the best of what we’re hoping to give them. And we praise God for you, our friends and supporters, who make possible all of the ribboncuttings, all of the dedications, all of the transformation happening in the generations of students following you. Saint Gianna also used to say, “The secret of happiness is to live moment by moment and to thank God for all that He, in His goodness, sends to us day after day.” In that wisdom, today and every day, for all you’ve done to bring us to where we are — thank you. You’re ever in our prayers!

Monsignor James P. Shea President

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PT WITH A BUSINESS DEGREE

Suzi Sobolik 2

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hen people ask Suzi Sobolik, ’19, what her occupation is, she normally tells them she is a stay-athome mom because it is easier than explaining her career journey. She’s a physical therapist by trade, but she only does that part time these days, covering for maternity leave or when the hospital is short staffed. She spends a majority of her time volunteering in her hometown of Dickinson, ND, serving as a city commissioner, working with her family business, Steffes, and investing in her children. Suzi knew she was called to be a physical therapist when she was 17 and her grandfather had a stroke and was hospitalized in Bismarck. “I had just gotten my driver’s license, so it felt like freedom to go visit him,” she said. It just so happened that he was often in therapy when she was there. “It was such an uplifting, motivating place, and I already knew that community service was really where my passion was. For me, becoming a physical therapist was a way to serve people.” After spending some time away from Dickinson for college and a short stint in Minnesota, Suzi and her husband, Damian, decided to move to Dickinson when they were planning their wedding and “just never left.” Suzi started working full time as a physical therapist when they first moved to town but has slowly shifted to spending more time on her other passions as time’s gone on. Currently, one of her biggest roles is serving on the family owner team at the business her grandfather started, Steffes. “My grandpa was a jack of all trades; he could fix anything. He started building cabinets and got into the woodworking business and built church

pews,” Suzi said. “He also got involved in building machinery and working with metal. When my dad got his engineering degree, they decided to take it to the next level, and so they started a metal manufacturing shop.” The company now specializes in steel fabrication and electrical services for a variety of diverse industries, including oil and gas, Suzi, pictured here with her family, says being a mom is her contract manufacturing most important job. and electric thermal storage, and has facilities in five states. the pre-requisites to apply for master’s “I’m the liaison between the family owners and our board of directors, and so I do a lot of communicating with our board. We attend the board meetings and work with our board and our management team,” she shared. When Suzi decided she wanted to get more involved with the family business, she decided she wanted to get a master’s degree in business to learn more. “I had some business sense and some business skill, and I managed some of the PT departments that I worked in, but I didn’t have any formal business background,” she said. “I know that I’m just not an intuitive learner — I’m more of a book learner — and so a business degree was important for me to be able to tie the skills that I’ve learned together and to intellectually understand business principles.” Suzi started to look into what it would take to get an MBA and realized there could be one big roadblock. “I realized, well, shoot, I’m going to have to get another undergraduate degree to meet

programs,” she said. “But then I found out that the University of Mary has it set up that if you have experience in the business world, that can count for your pre-requisites, so that was such a great opportunity for me to get the degree I wanted without having to go back for another undergraduate degree first.” As an added bonus, Suzi’s sister went through the program at the same time, though Suzi was an online student and her sister attended class in person in Grand Forks, ND. “That was really fun,” Suzi said. “Definitely a great opportunity.” At the same time as she was going through her degree program and learning more about business, Suzi was also learning more about the Catholic faith that she was raised in and participating in Bible studies. “Attending University of Mary business classes at the same time I was diving deeper into my faith was impactful. I could see how the morals that we’re taught in our faith correlate to the principles

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As Suzi continued to get more involved in her community, volunteering at the local Catholic schools and serving on some local boards, she was approached about running for city commission. “At first I said no. I didn’t think that was up my alley,” she said. But as she continued to learn more about the city, she decided it was something she was open to trying. She decided to run in 2020 and was elected.

Suzi and her dad, Paul Steffes. Her father is the founder and innovation advisor at Steffes, their family business.

and morals that are needed in business. Going to a faith-based university and being able to share those things in conversation was really cool,” she said. “One of my big takeaways was that faith can tie in with the business world; they don’t have to be separate. I’m not sure I fully understood that before I went to Mary. I not only learned good business skills, but I also learned how to connect my work with my faith. That was a big ‘aha’ moment for me in my life,” she shared. Suzi is passionate about serving others and serving her community. One program she is particularly proud of is Leadership Dickinson, a program for high school seniors. She had been through the program herself years ago, but it had since ceased to exist. The program had a big impact on her life and the lives of her classmates,

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so she got it going again in 2010. The program runs eight days throughout the school year, and they take a group of 12 students and immerse them in the community. Each day has a topic, and the students learn leadership skills and visit different facilities based on the topic for the day, such as health and human service, economic development, government, tourism, and more. “We aim to broaden their perspective of what’s going on, so that they’re not just seeing the small little world that they live in, but really opening their eyes to all the opportunities that they could have right in Dickinson, or to share Dickinson’s story as they go somewhere else. My goal is always that all of them would stay or come back, but I tell them that in reality, that’s not going to happen. So I want them to be a good proponent of Dickinson, to be a salesperson for our community,” she said.

Although serving on city commission is only part time, there’s not an off switch with that kind of role. “It’s really all the time, in the sense that you always get to hear what the citizens are sharing. In my other roles as mom, volunteer, or as a physical therapist, I hear lots of what’s happening, so it really ties everything together in that way,” she said. “We get to hear people’s perceptions about what’s going on in our city, and then how can we make that better or keep it going if it’s something that’s good. Gaining people’s perspective has been one of my favorite parts of being on the city commission, that we can learn from what’s happening today to help make our city a better place.” On top of all of those roles, Suzi says her most important role is being a mother to her three children, Nicklaus, Gabriella, and Lincoln. They are all active in extracurriculars and sports, and Suzi and her husband, who is a teacher, love to attend their events. “I’ve been reading a lot about Mary, Jesus’ mother, lately, and the most remarkable thing about her was that most of the things she did were unremarkable. She was making sure Jesus was raised, and so it’s humbling to think that sometimes those little things are the biggest things. When you’re folding

laundry, be glad that you have kids, and that means you’ve got lots of laundry, because some people don’t have that opportunity,” she shared. “Sometimes blessings come in goofy ways.” Suzi stays busy, but she believes that we are all called to share the gifts God has given with those around us. “This spring, I visited with the Trinity High

School business class, and the opening line of my presentation was, ‘This is my journey, this is not yours, and that’s okay. We all have different gifts,’” she said. “What would this world be if we all had the same gifts? It would be pretty boring. We have to complement each other, and that’s what’s so cool about leadership — there’s all different kinds.

Just because somebody isn’t the one who’s getting up in front of the group presenting, that doesn’t mean they’re not a leader. We need different types of people to do a project, to run a department. And so you have to be a good steward of what God has given you; embrace the talent He’s given you, and let it show.”

Suzi serves the City of Dickinson as a city commissioner.

umary.edu

Reed Ruggles, ’04, ’16, joined the University of Mary this summer as Vice President for Student Development. Hear what makes him excited and passionate about this new role and how his time as a scholar-athlete at Mary shaped his life. Q: What was your journey prior to coming to Mary? A: I grew up in southwestern North Dakota on a farm, and football, basketball, baseball, and farming were the things to do. I began to realize that I might be able to play college athletics, and that’s what led me to the University of Mary. From the moment I stepped onto campus, something felt very welcoming, good, and safe, and I felt at home there. I ended up playing football and basketball to start, and then football took over. I changed my major a lot, but I ended up graduating with a degree in secondary education. After graduation, I taught religion at St. Mary’s Central High School in Bismarck for 12 years, and then spent six years as principal. Now that my oldest child is entering high school next year, I decided it was time to pursue new opportunities and let him have a high school experience without his dad looking over his shoulder.

Q: What is one of your best memories from your time as a student at the University of Mary? A: Sister Thomas Welder knew my name. The first day I arrived on campus, I was right along the Missouri River bluff on the sidewalk.

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She came up, introduced herself, and said, “You’re Reed Ruggles, from Scranton, North Dakota.” I said, “Yeah, I am, Sister Thomas. How do you know my name?” She said, “Oh, I know who you are.” I know who you are … and that’s how she did things, she knew us by name. I have so many great memories of the University of Mary, but that one really sticks out to me. You want to talk about feeling safe, feeling at home, feeling loved, feeling taken care of? That was one of those moments.

Q: What were the best parts of being a scholar-athlete and some of the most challenging? A: Hands down, the best parts were building life-long friendships with my teammates and coaches. It also gave me an opportunity to grow in perseverance and virtue. Being a scholar-athlete is a full-time job, on top of being a student. You really must keep your perspective that God’s the most important thing. I would say one of my major challenges was maintaining my identity as a child of God, knowing that it doesn’t define me whether I’m an All-American, all-conference, or a team captain. My identity never changes as a child of God.

Q: What are your hobbies? A: I love spending time with my family. I met my wife, Tamara, at the University of Mary through one of my best friends on the football team who was dating her sister. They also got married, so now I get to see one of my best friends at family gatherings. We have seven children — the oldest is 14 and the youngest is 10 months. I love sports and coaching my kids’ teams, and I enjoy hunting. Q: What do you look forward to most in this new role? A: There are places in your life that just feel like home, and the University of Mary is that way for me. I look forward to coming back home to the University of Mary and working with some pretty great people. I’m humbled and excited to be a part of what the University of Mary is doing and will continue to do. Q: What makes you proud to be a University of Mary alumnus? A: I am proud of a lot of things, but I would say I'm most proud of knowing that I am part of a legacy of people who know what it means to have faith and to never quit in your life, and it’s the Sisters of Annunciation Monastery who have given us that legacy. If it wasn’t for their bold faith in 1959, the University of Mary wouldn’t exist. Our Sisters have taught us perseverance and faith.

Reed Ruggles Vice President for Student Development

umary.edu

Open Doors L

inda Knodel, ’03, always wanted to be a nurse. “I remember seeing nurses at church wearing their white uniforms and nursing caps. When I was in fourth grade, I did candy striping and cared for a woman who was 103 years old. I would feed her, and the nurses would tell me that she wouldn’t eat for anyone but me; she would wait all day until I got there,” she

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said. “So, I thought I would give nursing a shot, and I’m glad I did, because it has given me so many opportunities.” Knodel has been a nurse now for about 49 years. She began her career at St. Alexius in Bismarck and progressively took on more and more leadership roles — running the medical staff office, starting

the home care division, running the medical records office, and more. “I remember coming home one day and telling my husband, ‘I gotta go back to school because I know nothing about this stuff I’m being asked to do,’” she said. So, she began to search for a program where she could go to school and work at the same time, as well as be home with her three little kids. She found a college in Maine where she could take classes online

and fly out for one week each year for five years. As soon as she graduated with her undergraduate degree in health care administration, one of her mentors called her and asked why her name wasn’t on the list for the master’s program at the University of Minnesota. “I told her, ‘I don’t graduate until June 28,’ and she told me, ‘The classes don’t start until July 12,’” Knodel said, laughing. That conversation is what inspired her to pursue her master’s in health care administration. While she was serving as the chief nursing officer at St. Alexius, they decided to pursue Magnet certification for the hospital. Magnet certification designates organizations worldwide where nursing leaders successfully align their nursing strategic goals to improve the organization’s patient outcomes, and less than 1% of hospitals have this certification. Knodel began looking at the standards and saw that one of the criteria was that the chief nurse has a bachelor’s or master’s degree in nursing, which she did not have. “I said, ‘I’m holding this organization back,’” Knodel said. “I only had a diploma in nursing. But lo and behold, Sister Mariah was sitting right there and said, ‘Linda, we will start a program right now, because we are going to get Magnet status.’ Within 10 days, that wonderful woman had it all figured out, and our first class took place.”

Fifteen months later, Knodel and a group of her colleagues graduated with their master’s degrees in nursing, and a year later, St. Alexius achieved Magnet status. “We were the first hospital in North Dakota to do that,” Knodel said proudly. She spent over 30 years at St. Alexius and loved every second of it. “The people I worked with in my first job as a night shift nurse are still some of my best friends. They were so welcoming to me as a new grad,” she said. Eventually, a recruiter called her about an opening in St. Louis with the Sisters of Mercy. She took the opportunity and began the Magnet certification process there. Three years later, she was offered a position in their corporate office.

“Throughout my career, doors were opened for me, and I took the risk to go through those doors,” she continued. “I had the opportunity to be exposed to some of the best of the best and learn from them. “We’re all connected,” she said. “You never know whose life you are touching, and at St. Alexius it felt like we were a part of something bigger. And that’s because of the Benedictine values and the legacy of the Sisters — they came into this community and served.”

“I thought, ‘Why not?’ When a door opens, it’s an opportunity to influence what’s going on even more,” she said. In that role, she spent five years as chief corporate nurse for 44 Some of Linda's earliest memories are seeing nurses in their hospitals. “Everything was going great, and I was thinking uniforms and white caps at church. I would retire in that role, but Although Knodel technically retired then I got an offer to move to California from Kaiser Permanente, she does and be the chief nursing executive over not view herself as retired. “There are 64,000 nurses with Kaiser Permanente.” more doors that are opening right She initially turned the offer down since now, and I’m deciding where I want she was close to retirement, but the to give my energy and where I want recruiter convinced her to meet some to serve,” she said. However, now that of the people. She ended up accepting she isn’t in a full-time role anymore, the opportunity and spent the next she is looking forward to spending four years in California as senior vice more time with family, especially president, chief nursing executive, her husband and grandchildren. overseeing nurses from coast to coast Knodel says that she encourages aspiring and all the way down to Hawaii. leaders to get in contact with a mentor. “Every role I’ve had, I’ve loved every She currently mentors three health single one of them,” Knodel said. “A care professionals and has seen the lot of what I do as an administrator impact of mentors on her own career. makes things better for the nurses at “You also have to surround yourself the bedside. I’ve always felt that the with the right people,” she said. “And role that I played was to connect the you have to love it, whatever you do. administration and the nurses. If you don’t love it, don’t do it.” umary.edu

A Beacon of

Hospitality

ou feel butterflies in your stomach as you get closer. “University of Mary, 6 Miles,” the sign reads. You can see the campus in the distance. “University of Mary, 2 Miles.” You start to drive up the hill. You’re a senior in high school, and the University of Mary is your first choice for college. As you reach the top of the hill, you read your emailed instructions for how to get to the admissions office for your official tour. There isn’t much signage, so you miss the first two turns. The third one it is. As you pull onto campus, you see some signs. Admissions points to the left, so you take that road, which

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| Vision 2030

seems to be what your instructions tell you. You see a building — is that where you are supposed to go? You pull up and walk in, to find out you are at Annunciation Monastery. The Sisters point you to a larger building just down the road. You’re not sure where to park, so you pick a spot and walk into the building. Now what? You find a TV that has a map that points you around the corner, down the stairs, and into the lower level, where the smiling faces of the admissions team greet you, and you are relieved that you are finally there. This difficult navigation is one that many of our potential students and their families have the first time

they visit the University of Mary, but not for much longer. One of the pillars of Phase II of Vision 2030 is a welcome center, a “One Stop Shop for Student Services.” As one of the first buildings you encounter upon arriving on campus, the welcome center will serve as an introduction to the Mary community for prospective students and parents touring campus for the first time. First and foremost, the center will shower prospective students with Benedictine hospitality by providing access to all the necessary offices to have a strong first impression of the University of Mary. The welcome center will be the starting point

Monastery Parking Lot

N Baseball Field

S age

way

Path

hletic Practice Field

Hegeholz Field

for all campus tours and home to Admissions, the Alumni Office, Military Services, Residence Life, and Financial Aid and Student Accounts. “We know that finding our admissions office and the services our students and families need Football can be difficult with the current Practice Field location,” said Brenda Nagel, vice president for public affairs. “Putting all of these services and offices in a central location on campus will exude hospitality the moment one drives onto campus.” The proposed welcome center addition on the east side of the Benedictine Center for Servant Leadership will be the beginning point of prospective students’ time on campus and will help the guest experience a sense of place. The south entrance of campus will be designated as the main entrance, and with a “re-ordering”

of roadways, the new arrival will be naturally directed to the front door of the welcome center. Even as the University of Mary has seen great growth over the years, today’s environment of higher education has never been more competitive. We are not only competing regionally, but nationally to attract and retain students. Currently, it can be a challenge for a prospective student to find our admissions department. Since the Benedictine Center for Servant Leadership was originally the first monastery for our founding Sisters, the front entrance faced away from the city, an intentional design to make a very Christian statement — the Sisters knew they were in the world but not of the world.

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As we continue to bring BenedictineField hospitality into all that we do, the completion of the new welcome

center will achieve a warmth of welcome that will allow us to continue to grow and show true Benedictine hospitality to all our students and guests. “Building on the Benedictine value of hospitality, this new welcome Tennis center allows the Courts University of Mary to display a true warmth of welcome to our students, alumni, friends, and donors,” Nagel said. “The Sisters are and were known Sand for their ability Volleyball to create a spirit of place and make guests feel welcome. This main location allows us to build on their legacy to ‘receive all as Christ’.” We are ready to break ground on the welcome center as soon as fundraising is complete. If you are interested in learning more about the welcome center or Vision 2030, visit umary.edu/Vision2030.

Vision 2030 | umary.edu 11

Saying

Dr. Mary Dockter

r. Mary Dockter, ’00, ’04, believes in saying “yes” to new opportunities. Although she is only in her third year as dean of the Saint Gianna School of Health Sciences, she is no stranger to the University of Mary. She’s been making the drive up the hill to work each day since 1998 when she started as a faculty member in the physical therapy department. “I always say that if you get bored here, it’s your fault — there are so many opportunities to do things that are unique and innovative, like international service trips, pro bono clinic volunteering, and research,” she said. A native of Jamestown, ND, Dockter got her undergraduate degree in physical therapy after being influenced by her brother, who was a PT, and a local athletic trainer. After graduating, she briefly moved home to Jamestown and then relocated to Bismarck with her, at the time, soon-to-be husband, Claude. 12

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She got a job at St. Alexius doing a variety of work — acute care, home health, human performance, sports medicine, and women’s health. “I loved all of it,” she said. “I have since discovered that I’m very much a ‘say yes to new opportunities’ kind of person. “I remember I was sitting in the back office at the hospital, and there was a flyer coming around about a new PT program that was starting at the University of Mary, and I had just gotten into women’s health, which was, at that point, a very new area of practice,” she continued. “They were looking for someone

to teach a class on women’s health, so I jumped on that. I started as faculty in the fall of 1998, and it was a new program. I’ve probably never been as challenged, but it invigorated me. The amount of learning was just ridiculous.” That same fall, Dockter decided to get her master’s in education at Mary. After that, she started her PhD in education and completed that in 2004. All the while she was teaching in the physical therapy program and even started a service trip to Guatemala in 2002. “That was another thing that I just said yes to. To be totally honest, I didn’t even know exactly where Guatemala was, but I just said, ‘Yeah, that sounds like a great opportunity,’” she said. “Every student says that trip is life-changing, and I would agree. I led 13 groups on that trip and have also gone to Peru a couple of times. Service learning is something I’m very passionate about.” The next opportunity Dockter said yes to was becoming the physical therapy program director in 2010, which she says was another great learning experience. “I think certainly the most rewarding part has been the longterm relationships with students,” Dockter shared.

health care today?” In line with the university’s and the school’s mission to form health care professionals with moral courage, the university announced plans to name the school the Saint Gianna School of Health Sciences in the fall of 2019. The official ribbon-cutting and naming ceremony will take place on October 4, 2022, Saint Gianna’s 100th birthday. “When that announcement was made, it was very unconventional, but it really made our In her free time, Dr. Mary Dockter loves to golf and recently got her first school recognize the hole in one at a golf scramble with some PT students! responsibility that we have to graduate students who are different,” she said. two children, McKenzie and Grant. They “Right now, it is really hard to have also have two dogs, Sadie and Lucy. Dockter moral courage and conviction in a and her daughter have matching “gratitude” challenging environment. tattoos that they got after the Saint Gianna The name is a daily School of Health Sciences’ Lourdes trip, reminder of what we are where she first heard Monsignor Shea say, called to do.” “… You have a choice to make each day: to live from gratitude or resentment. That Along with the ribbon daily decision makes the difference between cutting, the school will be a mediocre life and an epic one. Choose hosting its first Catholic gratitude!” She looks at that visual reminder Health Care Professionals several times a day. Conference, open to the

“The most rewarding part has been the long-term relationships with students.”

In the summer of 2020, the opportunity to be dean of the school presented itself, and Dockter said yes again. “I am really, really blessed to have fantastic program directors, so that makes the job pretty easy. But health care is in an interesting place. It is drastically needed in certain areas, so how do we continue to meet the needs?" she said. “And then there is an extra added layer of Catholic social teaching, and how do we infuse that and make sure that our graduates have an ethical foundation and moral courage, which is really needed in

public, students, faculty, and alumni, on October 4, 2022. More information is to come on umary.edu.

As the school continues to expand in size and mission, Dockter remains grateful to be a part of the innovation and growth at the University of Mary. On top of all her duties at work, she also enjoys golfing, staying active, reading, hiking, and traveling. She and her husband have

At the end of the day, Dockter is grateful for the opportunity to serve others in various ways throughout her career. “Sometimes we have a student who comes in, and we ask, ‘Why do you want to get this degree?’ And they feel embarrassed to say, ‘Well, I want to help people.’ That’s beautiful! If you keep that at the core of what you do, whether you are a nurse at the bedside, teaching faculty, or an administrator, you will live a good life.”

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BALANCING

athletics & engineering

hillip Springsteen, ’20, always knew he wanted to be an engineer. “As a child, I was always tearing stuff apart and trying to make new things out of it,” he shared. “It didn’t always work out the best, as far as my parents said. A lot of times, things would end up kind of broken. But eventually I started creating some pretty interesting stuff.”

engineering program. Springsteen was also planning to wrestle in college, as the sport had always been a large part of his life. “I wanted to make sure that I found a school where there was an engineering program and I could wrestle. I knew that if I went to a school with one or the other, I wouldn’t be quite as happy,” he said.

So when it was time for him to go to college, no one was surprised he was looking for a school with an

The University of Mary turned out to be the perfect fit. Head wrestling coach Adam Aho had seen Springsteen at a

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wrestling tournament and was impressed, so when Springsteen applied to Mary at the encouragement of his high school coach, Aho invited him to join the team. “I really liked Coach Aho’s mentality,” Springsteen said. “And after speaking with Dr. Pilling (dean of the Hamm School of Engineering) about his plans for the engineering program, the University of Mary as a whole felt like a really good fit for me. And now, six years later, it really worked out.”

defense providers in the world. Springsteen says the real-life experience he gained as a student at Mary, which included three internships, helped him secure this dream job.

Springsteen with Dr. Terry Pilling, Dean of the Hamm School of Engineering

Springsteen placed 7th at nationals his sophomore year at Mary.

Now, Springsteen lives in Tuscon, AZ, where he is a software engineer at Raytheon Technologies Corporation. “Even though I graduated with a degree in electrical engineering, I actually was very prepared to go into a software role thanks to the interdisciplinary way engineering classes are structured at Mary,” he said. Raytheon is an aerospace and defense company. It is one of the largest aerospace, intelligence services, and

“Other factors that have benefited me a lot in my career are flexibility and interacting with other facets of engineering,” Springsteen shared. “I became very good at understanding what each of the other facets of engineering does and where their strong points are, and I learned how to communicate with them in a way that they understand, so we can work together and arrive at a solution. When we face problems that expand beyond just one facet of engineering, we must work with other departments, and being able to communicate with them helps a lot.” Springsteen’s time as a scholar-athlete at Mary has equally impacted his life. “In wrestling, you face a lot of adversity, and you have to learn how to keep going, even in the face of some difficult obstacles, some that may even seem impossible to overcome. As you keep pushing and preparing yourself, you overcome stuff that at first seems impossible, and eventually, you feel like you could basically overcome anything,” he said. “It gave me confidence. When I feel like I can’t do something, like when I’m faced with a task at work that I have no idea even how to begin, wrestling gave me the determination and the confidence to really push myself and try to develop a plan, execute it, and just keep going.” Engineering is a challenging degree program, and being a scholar-athlete

is a full-time job, so Springsteen had to remain focused to excel in the classroom and on the mat. “I basically spent all my free time working on one or the other,” he said. “Given that they are both things that I enjoy, it wasn’t hard to dedicate my time to the things that I love.” His professors, coaches, and teammates were crucial to his success and helped him manage the balance. “Sometimes when my classes or labs in the engineering program overlapped a little bit with my practices, my coach allowed me to make up the practices outside of the typical practice time, and my other teammates would use their free time and practice with me just to make sure that I was still prepared out there on the mat,” he shared. “The same thing went the other way around with my engineering program. When I had tournaments that took me away from my classes, my professors were really understanding and flexible.” Some of Springsteen’s best memories from his time at Mary are working on interdisciplinary projects in his engineering classes and competing in the national tournament for wrestling. He placed seventh at nationals his redshirt sophomore year and was second seed going into the national tournament his redshirt junior year, when the tournament got cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He was named an All-American for that year and decided to take an extra year of eligibility and begin his master’s degree at Mary. Springsteen plans to finish his master’s in project management at the end of this summer and has already seen the positive impact the program is having on his career. He hopes to use his degree and experience to someday work as a project manager and help the software engineering and electrical engineering departments work better together. umary.edu 15

ALUMNI NE WS & NOTE S

> MEGAN DARDIS-KUNZ > JESSICA (ALVARADO) & COLLIN ENGELHARDT'S FAMILY > ERIN (HARDY) & JOSHUA DILL'S FAMILY

> SARA (WIESE) & LUCAS BRENDEL'S FAMILY

> BREANNA BLUE'S DAUGHTER

JILL (JENSEN) KANDEL, ’77, recently released her second book, “The Clean Daughter: A Cross-Continental Memoir.” EMILY (BEMMAN) JOHNSON, ’99, is celebrating her 20th wedding anniversary with her husband, Ret. TSgt. James Johnson. Together they have a daughter, Morgan, who will be a senior in high school this year. The family lives in Arkansas. ANGELA (ROBINSON) DOCKTER, ’02, has been married to Jeremy since 2003. They moved back to Bismarck in 2008, where they now reside with their three children. Angela has worked at Basin Electric since 2013. AUBREY (FIEBELKORN) ZUGER, ’04, was honored with a Friend Award for her role advising YWCA Cass Clay in Fargo, North Dakota, on legal protections for victims of domestic violence. MEGAN DARDIS-KUNZ, ’07, has been employed by Boise State University School of Social Work for four years. She was promoted in 2021 to the title of clinical assistant professor and was given the responsibility of coordinating the Master of Social Work program in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

Momentum

> REBECCA (KELLY) & JOHN PAULIN

SARALYNN (BOWLING) WIEHE, ’10, married her husband, Joseph, in June 2019. The couple has a daughter, Abigail Robin, and is expecting a son. The family lives in Ohio. SARA (WIESE) BRENDEL, ’12, and her husband, Lucas, welcomed their fourth child, Andrew Bennett, in December 2021. The family resides in Bismarck, ND. ERICA (BELVERSTONE), ’13, and DAVID STARKS, ’12, moved to Mandan, ND, in May 2021. They welcomed their second son, Shepherd Grey, on June 1, 2021. Big brother is Benjamin (2.5). Erica is currently a stay-at-home mom to Shepherd and big brother Benjamin and a private woodwind and voice instructor. David works at Basin Electric as a real time trader. JULIE (READE) BEZENEK, ’13, is retired and recently moved to Underwood, MN, with her husband, Wayne, whom she married in 2018 after her husband, Cliff, passed away in 2015. SEAN CLEARY, ’13, and his wife, Amy, welcomed their daughter, Audrey, into the world on January 15, 2022. She was baptized on April 9 at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Bismarck.

> SEAN & AMY CLEARY'S FAMILY

JESSICA (ALVARADO), ’13, and COLLIN ENGELHARDT, ’13, have been married since August 2013 and currently reside in Bismarck with their four children. Jessica is a stay-at-home mom and Collin works in the business office at the University of Mary. ADAM WORONIECKI, ’15, and his wife, Allison, moved back to Bismarck in July 2022 for Adam’s new role as a pediatric dentist at Prairie Rose Family Dentists in Mandan. CLARE (STIENNON), ’16, and SCOTT HELD, ’16, reconnected four years after graduating in the same class from the University of Mary and were married in July 2021. The couple lives in Montana. KELSEY THOMPSON, ’17, moved to Helena, MT, and works at St. Peter’s Health on the oncology unit as a registered nurse. VICTORIA BRUCKER, ’17, graduated from the University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine in May 2022 and will begin an internal medicine residency at Gundersen Health in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

ALUM NI NE WS & NOTE S

> SERIANN (BIRCHEM) & EDWARD SWIONTEK > MATTHEW & RACHEL (GOETTLE) WERMERSKIRCHEN'S FAMILY > ETHAN & MIA (WILLARD) ANDREWS

> ANGELA (ROBINSON) & JEREMY DOCKTER'S FAMILY

MATTHEW, ’17, and RACHEL (GOETTLE) WERMERSKIRCHEN, ’18, welcomed their second child, Miriam Catherine, on March 17, 2022. In May of 2022, Matthew earned his Juris Doctor from the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. They returned to Bismarck where Matthew is working at Zimmerman Law firm. OLIVIA (ECKERT), ’17, ’20, and THOMAS BARRY, ’18, welcomed a daughter, Chloe, in August 2021. The family lives in Florida. SERIANN (BIRCHEM), ’17, ’20, and EDWARD SWIONTEK, ’17, were married in November 2020 and welcomed their first child, Nicolette Kay, in March 2022. The family resides in Bismarck, where Seriann is a physical therapist and Eddie is a lawyer. ERIN (HARDY) DILL, ’17, and her husband, Joshua, were married in July 2018. They welcomed a son, James Michael, in November 2021. The family lives in Sioux Falls, SD. MAGDALEN (MORRIS) GRAVES, ’17, is a physical therapist and lives in Richmond, VA, with her husband, Dylan. The couple was married in September 2020 and are expecting their first child.

> VICTORIA BRUCKER

REBECCA (KELLY) PAULIN, ’19, and her husband, John, were married in September 2021 and have since moved to Ohio. ETHAN ANDREWS, ’20, ’22, married MIA (WILLARD), ’21, on August 7, 2021 in Hillsboro, Virginia. The couple lives in Bismarck, and Ethan works as an instructional services & interlibrary loan librarian at the University of Mary. REBEKAH (BITTNER), ’21, and ZACK KRUEGER, ’22, got married in the summer of 2021. Rebekah teaches at St. Mary’s Grade School in Bismarck, and the couple is expecting their first child. BREANNA BLUE, ’21, welcomed her first child, Phoenix Penelope Irene, on December 22, 2021.

KEEP IN TOUCH!

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> OLIVIA (ECKERT) & THOMAS BARRY'S FAMILY

DR. TIM SEAWORTH RETIRES AFTER OVER TWO DECADES AT MARY

Dr. Tim Seaworth, after more than 20 years of service to the University of Mary as Vice President for Student Development, retired this summer.

His two decades at Mary were spent growing and renewing the Catholic identity of programs that are key to the university’s mission: among them university ministry, student activities, residence life, and mission for life, the university’s student service and volunteercoordinating arm. Seaworth’s favorite moments have been the chances he’s had to really invest in individual students’ lives. For Seaworth, that’s the legacy: using the whole of the life of a university — its academic and non-academic aspects — to form the whole of the person, so that students might become all that they were meant to be. umary.edu 17

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