Here are three ways Concordia gives our students the tools they need to succeed after college.

1. Do More in Four  

Not only does Concordia have a four-year graduation guarantee, but students also have opportunities to be involved on campus and in the community. BREWing (becoming responsibly engaged in the world) is a tenet of the Cobber life experience.

Recent finance grad Mark Huneke ’18 kept busy as a student-athlete at Concordia – not only in golf and hockey but also as a member of the Offutt School Leadership Organization and the Student Athletic Advisory Committee, acting as a liaison between his team and Concordia Athletics.

“I like being in SAAC because it’s based on service and giving back to not only the campus community but also to the Fargo-Moorhead area,” Huneke said. “Doing service work is one of the things Concordia teaches you very early in your college career.” 

Students also found ways to be actively involved in the community. Mackenzie Hedge ’18 is a nursing and Spanish major who created a photojournalism project on the homeless population in the Fargo-Moorhead area. 

“I’m a nursing and Spanish major, which has nothing to do with photography and journalism at first glance. But the nursing program at Concordia emphasizes narrative medicine, which is all about getting to know the personal stories of the people you’re treating,” Hedge said. “Narrative medicine is about treating the person, not just the patient, and the faculty at Concordia remind us that it’s OK to care.”

2. Experiential (PEAK) Learning

Acquiring knowledge is half the battle. Before you graduate, you’ll want practical experience to prepare for your career. Concordia strives to create an environment where students have integrative learning in programs we call PEAK (Pivotal Experience in Applied Knowledge). Before graduating, each Concordia student completes two PEAKs where they will experience crucial hands-on learning to benefit them in their future careers and as global citizens in a rapidly changing world.

Emily Goff ’18 and Bailey Tillman ’18 are two recent grads who completed internships during their time at Concordia.

“One of my internships was part of my Issues and Roles class and I was in the oncology unit at Sanford,” Goff said. “I followed a ‘buddy nurse,’ who was there to help you transition from student to nurse. I performed all the day-to-day tasks that the nurse did. As long as a nurse was with me, I could do everything they could do, like giving medications or coordinating care.”

3. Prepare for your career from Day One

Most college seniors ask the question: “What next?”

At Concordia, we help you explore the answer by building career preparation right into all four years of college. During his time at Concordia, Shane Seifert ’18 studied healthcare leadership and had hands-on experience as an intern at the largest healthcare provider in the region.

“My studies in healthcare leadership and long-term care administration and my internship at Sanford complement my career goals by giving me real-world experience in healthcare right in our community,” Seifert said.

Published May 2018