Winona Daily News Progress Edition 2022: Excitement in the air at Minnesota State College Southeast
By Emma Pronschinske
Winona Daily News, April 17, 2022
Going to college at the peak of a pandemic is not something I ever thought would happen to me. But for the past two years, millions of students around the world have been navigating their way through college the best they can.
Many students who started college in the midst of the pandemic didn’t even know what the average day of a college student felt like and are only now starting to get that experience as the world is slowly but surely starting to open up and bloom again, just in time for spring.
Minnesota State College Southeast has been doing its part to help its students get the education they need while keeping everyone as safe as possible over the past two years.
Every professor and staff member at Southeast over the past two years has been very understanding in regard to the increased number of health concerns and policies.
And moving to fully online and hybrid classes was not easy, but it did have some benefits, especially for the many students at Southeast that work full-time or part-time.
The mix of online and hybrid classes has given lots of working students like me the opportunity to have a more flexible schedule to do what they need to when they need to.
The Roost, Southeast’s computer lab on the Winona campus, also adds to that flexibility. It’s open every day of the week and even stays open a few hours later than most office hours sometimes.
I’ve found that it’s a really great place to study. Whether you need a tutor to help, a computer to work on, or just a quiet place to work from, they have all that covered.
MSC Southeast also gives its students plenty of opportunities to help them get closer to the job they want and have been working towards while at Southeast.
They have helped many students connect with potential employers and have even gone as far to help with mock interviews and resumes.
MSC Southeast has been saving many students thousands of dollars as well over the past two years, and even before then, through their PSEO program, transfer pathways, and their more hands-on technical programs.
Paying for college on your own can be a daunting thought as a young adult, or anyone wanting to go back to school, but choosing to stay local and save on tuition and room & board is something that many students like myself have become very proud of.
From Health Sciences to Engineering & Manufacturing to Liberal Arts and every area in-between – Southeast is there for everyone.
Recently, MSC Southeast shared a grouping of words that best describe the college, no matter the program. Some of the words from that list that best describe the student experience at Southeast are small, affordable, practical, accessible, dedicated, and welcoming.
Even throughout the course of the pandemic, I’ve felt that all of those words are completely true. The faculty at Southeast have really taken care to show their compassion for the people around them and their passion for what they do.
And as of March 4, teachers and students at Southeast have been able to see each other’s faces for the first time in person after two years, as masking was no longer mandatory following CDC guidelines.
There has been an excitement in the air on campus — and lots of smiles on faces — since that week as the second half of this years’ spring semester carries on.
Emma Pronschinske will graduate this spring from MSC Southeast with an English Transfer Pathway degree and a certificate in Creative Writing. She plans to continue her education this fall at Minnesota State University Moorhead, majoring in English & Mass Communications.