University of St. Thomas

Janelle Schulenberg, Class of 1986

I selected St. Thomas as my preferred college because I was seeking a respected business degree program and appreciated the faith-based environment. It also offered opportunities for financial aide, grants and a work-study program that were integral to helping me fund my education.

In 1982, female students had not been on campus very long and I was teased that women only attended St. Thomas for their "Mrs." degrees. I also fell prey to the notion that all the other women would be from very wealthy families and would be more concerned about whether their belts matched their shoes and purses than with the future career prospects this education would offer. While there may have been some truth to these stereotypes in others’ experiences, they proved false for me as I was exposed to some of the brightest, most motivated and warm women in my life to that point.

There were rumors about certain clergy and faculty members not appreciating women on campus but my dealings with those individuals were always mutually respectful and focused on the best educational outcome for students or standards for the institution.

As I became increasingly involved in campus life and activities, I was warned that while St. Thomas was a fraternal organization, only males whose fathers and grandfathers attended would be privy to post-graduation employment opportunities. This, too, proved false in my experience. In fact, early on in my career I was on business travel in California when a member of the Old Guard approached me, somehow already knew I had graduated from St. Thomas, and arranged for me to meet some influential people in the industry I had just been hired to serve. I never forgot that and have committed to paying that forward at every opportunity.

From these experiences I learned that the glass ceiling and the good ol’ boys club didn’t exist for those who refused to be limited by that mind set and focused on positive means for peak performance and opportunity capture. This has served me well in a career path that has been dominated by traditionally male industries.

St. Thomas prepared and molded me for a career that has absolutely been rooted in my education there. Were there challenges along the way? Absolutely. But each bout with adversity taught me valuable life and career lessons. For example, having to work several jobs to attend gave me a heightened appreciation for the opportunity and greater pride in the accomplishment. I would not have traded my school for anyone else’s and still wouldn’t. I’ve often said that it was just big enough and just small enough - I was never a number and there were opportunities to be as involved as one wanted, yet there was no babysitting - I was responsible for my own registration and graduation planning and for the discipline of getting the right classes and the coursework done.

My wish for the future generations of women at St. Thomas is that they seize the full opportunity presented and maximize each day while keeping an eye on the ultimate career goal. And commit to giving back when able. Your time here is precious and will never return yet the benefits will last a lifetime in values, friendships, memories, and career implications. Pass it on…