Honors College Testimonials
No two Honors experiences are exactly alike. Meet current and past Honors scholars and learn how they have built personalized pathways through meaningful coursework, faculty connections, and experiences that support their goals.
Through the Honors College, I was made aware of opportunities and events I otherwise wouldn’t have known about, like the annual family history workshop hosted on our campus. I got to meet people of all ages who are passionate about history and chat with fellow archivists! I was also encouraged to explore events outside my major, like seeing the Guerrilla Girls speak at the Plains Art Museum. Plus, I met new friends in all of my honors classes!
– Violet Zirnhelt,
Majors & Minors: History, Museum Studies
Hometown: Grand Forks, North Dakota
Planned Next Step After MSUM: Get my master’s in library science!
Favorite Honors Course/Faculty: Issues of the Nuclear Age
Honors has pushed me outside of my comfort zone and encouraged me to explore new ideas, experiences, and perspectives. Through meaningful discussions with my peers and unique opportunities beyond the classroom, I’ve been able to learn in ways I never expected.
– Alora Rude,
Majors & Minors: Communication Arts and Literature Education, Acting and Production
Hometown: West Fargo, North Dakota
Planned Next Step After MSUM: Become a full-time English teacher and pursue a master’s degree in educational leadership.
Favorite Honors Course/Faculty: Colloquium in the Humanities (HON200) with Dr. Annette Morrow because I loved the Socratic Seminar style of class. I loved getting to know my peers through open discussion about various topics, spanning from art to religion, and journaling to history. We were also given several amazing opportunities outside of class. One weekend, we had the opportunity to tour the Hjemkomst Museum, and another week, we even made our own paper! I loved getting to bond with my peers by leading our own discussions and being actively involved rather than just listening to a professor’s lecture for an hour.
Memorable Honors Experience: Going to see the documentary The Librarians at the Fargo Theatre. This was one of our honors encounters, and it was such a blast getting to go to this with friends. It was during the Fargo Film Festival, so there were a lot of people who came out from the community, along with a handful of Honors students from MSUM. It was fun to see the organist play beforehand and to hear the director of the documentary answer questions and speak about her experience afterwards. I learned so much here, and I never would have gone without the push from Honors. Honors pushes me outside of my comfort zone and encourages me to step out to learn something new. I have truly enjoyed my time and can’t wait to learn more.
I came onto campus with most of my generals completed through Minnesota’s PSEO program. The honors program has been great in not only meeting me where I’m at in my education but also providing a community of talented and diverse individuals to experience different cultures, music, and academic areas with. Especially since most of my coursework is solely STEM-related, the honors program has been essential in helping me stay in touch with the performing arts side of campus.
– Taytum Nelson,
Majors & Minors: Physics, Mathematics, and Computer Science
Hometown: Audubon, Minnesota
Planned Next Step After MSUM: Pursue a PhD in Applied Physics and perform optics research as it relates to nuclear fusion.
Memorable Honors Experience: Being able to use my connections in the honors program to perform science outreach and education on campus. Last year, I helped plan an event between the honors program and the physics department to educate students about recent developments in astrophysics and discuss them.