Part-Time Student Testimonials

Keri Stevens:
Combining art and theology

Keri Stevens is a mother of two young sons, a professional artist and an active parishioner. As full as her life is, she is also pursuing her degree, “between maternity leaves.”

Despite the 200-mile drive to southern Indiana from Thompson’s Station, TN, Keri looks forward to weekend classes at Saint Meinrad. “I am completely impressed by the Benedictine spirituality there, the people I meet and the beautiful campus,” she says. Often, her husband and sons will accompany her for the weekend.

“I like the pace of studies and that I get to travel for those intense (monthly) weekends of classes. It would be very difficult for me to complete weekly assignments with an infant and a toddler.”

Although motherhood has limited her recent professional work, Keri hopes “to integrate my art, teaching and theological studies. At a minimum, I hope my theology degree will help my art, which, in turn, will hopefully ring others to Christ and his Church. Eventually, I hope to work in some capacity for the Church.”

Paula Welker:
Finding answers—and questions

A resident of Florissant, MO, Paula Welker is halfway through a Master of Theological Studies program, where she finds herself in the company of other lay degree students who share her desire for a deeper understanding of their faith. “I am beginning to realize that God, our faith and our Church are so much larger than my tiny perspective,” she says.

With a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy, Paula currently works in drug information publishing. She’s also involved in pro-life activities in her parish and diocese and enjoys reading, traveling, skiing—and the St. Louis Cardinals, whose baseball games she often listens to on her monthly drives to Saint Meinrad for classes.

Paula started her part-time MTS degree coursework in September 2004, and hopes to graduate in 2011. Her plans to earn a degree occasionally get sidelined or delayed by work and other commitments.

While she came seeking answers to the questions her non-Catholic friends asked about her faith, Paula finds she has even more questions herself. “Another lay degree student once told me that if your faith is not shaken a bit while you study theology, you’re not paying attention,” she recalls. “The more I learn, the more questions there are to ask.”

That doesn’t bother Paula. “I’m learning to love the fact that I will never know it all.”