A Meeting of Minds

St. Mary’s University welcomes Marlin Schmidt, Minister of Advanced Education to campus

St. Mary’s University welcomed a very special guest to campus on Thursday, May 10, 2018 as the Honourable Marlin Schmidt, Minister of Advanced Education spent some time touring the St. Mary’s campus and engaging in discussion with students and faculty.

Joined by Calgary-Shaw MLA Graham Sucha, Minister Schmidt engaged some St. Mary’s University students and alumni on various topics and issues and sparked some in-depth dialogue and poignant questions from the students in attendance.

For St. Mary’s Bachelor of Education graduate and alumna Ruth Medrano, the opportunity to have a conversation with Minister Schmidt was enlightening.

“It felt valuable that my voice was heard for something so important,” said Medrano. “I just hope that any piece of information that I provided based on my experience can help to improve student experiences going forward.”

Medrano credits St. Mary’s for having a profound impact on her life both personally and professionally, and was happy to be able to extol the virtues of a St. Mary’s education with Minister Schmidt.

“My experience at St. Mary’s was amazing, literally the best experience of my life,” said Medrano. “It has shaped me in so many ways and saved me in so many ways too. I have nothing but amazing things to say about St. Mary’s.”

First-year Bachelor of Arts English student Daniel Melvill Jones also found it extremely beneficial to be able to sit down and speak candidly with the Minister.

“When you’re at a school like St. Mary’s it’s easy to get into a bubble as to just why this school is great, but what he provided was perspective on how it fits in the larger body of education in the province,” said Melvill Jones. “He talked about the disconnect culturally between Albertans who don’t value higher education and those that do and just being aware of how our school fits into that was really helpful.”

“Meeting [Minister Schmidt] help put a face to the government. To be able to see his thought and his care and concerns about our province was really impactful. I felt valued and I felt that it help me value our government more.”