When Colin Tushie B’26 first arrived on Saint Mary’s Winona Campus, he admits, he had no idea what was in store, despite having taken some college prep courses in high school.
“Looking back on my time, I have made some of my best friends, I have made some of my best memories, and I have grown more than I ever thought as a human being. All of that is thanks to Saint Mary’s and its community,” he said.
The computer science, cybersecurity, and data science major from Prior Lake, Minn., said that coming from a large high school, he really thrived in the intimate class setting at Saint Mary’s.
“My academic experience at Saint Mary’s was great,” he said. “The class sizes were so much smaller than I was used to. That allowed me to have better connections with my teachers and be able to understand the material better.”
In addition to having accessible professors and strong academics, Tushie feels that Saint Mary’s prepared him for a career in construction management in multiple other ways, including Career Services.
“Saint Mary’s offered everything a college student needs to get into the real world,” he said. “I went to multiple career fairs to meet potential employers, conducted mock interviews, and learned how to build a résumé. Saint Mary’s really helped me get ready for my future career.”
After enjoying his time on the Cardinal hockey team (including serving as captain two years), he would also like to coach young hockey players in the future.
While at Saint Mary’s, he also served on the Student Athletic Advisory Committee, was the intramural hockey league commissioner, and was an ice maintenance worker.
“The best advice that I have for someone starting at Saint Mary’s is to just dive into everything,” he said. “There are so many opportunities and great people to get to know. Try everything and go to all the sporting events. You will find amazing friends, and there is always something to do on campus to get to know different types of people.”
For Tushie, it’s the culture that made his time at Saint Mary’s so memorable. “It just seemed
like, everyday, everyone was in a great mood,” he said. “The amount of support from students and alumni that we got is unheard of. All of those things made Saint Mary’s very enjoyable for me.”
