I am the third of four kids. I feel fortunate that my parents made the great sacrifice to send Kyle, Laura, Michelle and me to great Catholic schools. The combination of a loving home and challenging schools have given us solid roots in the Christian faith and strong academic backgrounds on which to grow. I attended Central Catholic High School in Toledo, Ohio. There I participated in basketball, volleyball, class council, Spiritual Commission, and National Honor Society.

I did not decide to attend Hillsdale until halfway through the summer before my freshman year. While scheduling my classes for the university that I had been planning to attend, I realized that the education I would receive there could not hold a candle to the liberal arts education offered by Hillsdale. My parents were ecstatic about my change of heart because they knew better than I how important a Hillsdale degree is. With the help of a generous scholarship and my parents’ support, I made what I am sure I will always consider one of the best decisions of my life.

Of course, the education I have received here is second to none, but just as important are the friendships I have made since arriving at Hillsdale. Coming from a close-knit high school community, I was worried about opening myself up to new people. In hindsight, I think I wasted a lot of time fretting over it. If I had known how amazing the people here are and how they would enrich my life and strengthen my faith, I would have saved myself a lot of stress in the months leading up to my freshman year.

Since I have recently changed my career path, I am not positive what specific business profession I would like to pursue. I do know that I would like to mentor and coach basketball at the high school level and eventually raise a big, healthy family.

While at Hillsdale, I have had the opportunity to reconnect with my brother, Kyle. Being four years apart in age and constantly juggling busy schedules back home, we had little time to spend with each other. Although he graduated from Hillsdale in 2009, he stayed at the College to work as an admissions counselor. During my time here, Kyle has become my boss, my lunch date, my companion for watching Ohio State football and basketball, my source of free laundry, and my best friend. We are both very lucky to have had the chance to get to know each other.

In my Rhetoric and Great Books class my freshman year, Dr. Sundahl passed around a giant poster-sized “get well soon” card for a student who had gotten her appendix removed. I thought it was so sweet that Dr. Sundahl would take the time to do that for one of his many students. It shows how special Hillsdale professors are and just how close our campus community is.

The core curriculum at Hillsdale has allowed me to build off my high school education and explore subjects that I would not have learned about otherwise. I have become a well-rounded student but have also had an opportunity to discover what academic path I am most interested in.

kmurnen1@hillsdale.edu