Day Trip Destinations

By Katie Leibel | Photos courtesy Minnesota Historical Society

The Lower Sioux Agency site features a visitor center and self-guided trails that interpret agency and Dakota history.

Native American History

Minnesota dedicates many sites to Native history with educational programs, exhibits

This month we travel all over the state to learn more about history, specifically, the history of Indigenous people in Minnesota as this is an important part of our story. After all, the words “Minnesota” and “Mankato” come from Native languages.

With many museums and attractions closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, visiting historic sites might not be as easy as it would be in years past, but some adaptations have been made to continue efforts to educate.

Bois Forte Heritage Center and Cultural Museum

Just down the road from the Fortune Bay Resort and Casino on Lake Vermilion, you can find the Bois Forte Heritage Center and Cultural Museum. The site includes many activities — educational and recreational — for those stuck with the winter blues.

The museum, owned and operated by the Bois Forte Band, is dedicated to telling the Bois Forte Ojibwe story, as their name, Atisokanigamig, or Legend House, implies. This group is one of seven in the Minnesota Chippewa tribe.

“We have ice fishing available at the Fortune Bay Marina, snowmobile trails and the resort where you can stay and visit for the weekend or however long you intend to stay,” said Kyle Littlewolf, the visitor service manager.

Guests can enjoy these activities and learn about the Bois Forte, with context not found in most history books.

“We found our way migrating through the Great Lakes and fought for our lands. We also had visions of finding the food that grew on water, which lead us to where we are now,” Littlewolf said.

Guests can learn about Bois Forte culture by taking a tour through the museum. Due to the pandemic, they are not giving guided tours but are happy to help with any questions that may arise.

They also have walking trails right outside the building to explore the scenery.

They also offer culture classes on Thursdays, usually at 3 p.m.

Visitors come from all over the world to learn about the culture and visit their exhibits. Exhibits include a lifeway exhibit, a birch bark dwelling, veterans’ wall, mural of mitigation, boarding school exhibit and much more.

Many items displayed were repatriated from other museums, donated by various people or artwork contributed by tribal members.

The museum is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Admission prices and more about their history and what the museum features are available on their website: boisforteheritagecenter. com.

Lower Sioux Agency Historic Site

Established by the U.S. government in 1853, this is the site where the U.S.-Dakota War broke out in 1862, a war many Mankato area residents are familiar with. The result of the war was the mass execution of 38 Dakota men on Dec. 26, 1862, in Mankato.

The Lower Sioux historic site is along County Highway 2, nine miles east of Redwood Falls.

Visitors can check out the visitor center and self-guided tour to learn more about Dakota history. The goal of its interpretive program is “to accurately and sensitively portray the powerful and complicated history of the site as well as its historical context,” said Heather Koop, head of the society’s southern district historic sites.

The Lower Sioux Agency is managed by the Lower Sioux Indian Community, a transition that took place back in 2009 to create an opportunity to expand the use of the site by operating the facility as a year-round cultural center as well as a historic site.

This site includes a Dakota history exhibit, a restored 1861 U.S. government building, scenic Minnesota River trails and a museum store featuring Native American books and gifts.

The site includes three selfguided trail experiences. The first trail is a half-mile wheelchair accessible walk to the 1861 Agency Warehouse. The second is also wheelchair accessible and leads visitors through the Traders Trail on a one-mile loop past interpretive panels and through restored prairie. And lastly, the most challenging River Trail — non-wheelchair accessible — takes visitors into floodplain forest and along the Minnesota River for one mile.

Face coverings are required during visits and those exploring the area are asked to maintain a distance of 6 feet from other visitors and staff.

“The sites around Mankato all have significant Native American content,” said Jessica Kohen, the public relations manager of the Minnesota Historical Society.

Downtown Mankato visitors and residents alike are able to visit multiple statues remembering the mass execution and the lives lost. But travelling around the state to the other sites, including this one where the conflict originally broke out, helps people to learn more about this group including their culture, the true nature of the conflict and more information on a group of people wronged long ago. .

The Mille Lacs Indian Museum and Trading Post includes a museum dedicated to the history of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.

Learning more about our story

Minnesota is rich with historical sites, Native American history and literature.

While many sites are not open amid the pandemic, multiple are still attempting to allow people to learn from home.

“The best we can do is share history content that you can explore from the comfort of your couch,” Kohen said.

Before heading out to discover more about Minnesota’s past, Kohen shares some advice about great places to visit, even with the pandemic raging on.

“Any visit should start with the Mille Lacs Indian Museum and Trading Post since the museum is dedicated to sharing the story of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. The trading post is open year-round, but the museum closes seasonally in fall,” Kohen said.

This restored 1930s trading post allows visitors to learn about the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe through museum exhibits, objects, demonstrations and tours.

“There is great Native American content shared at Historic Fort Snelling and more programs are being developed each year as we work more closely with Native American partners to revitalize the site. Across the river the Sibley Historic Site shares Native American history as it connects to the Fur Trade,” Kohen said.

It’s clear that however far or not one cares to travel, there is plenty to learn and explore surrounding Native American history in Minnesota. Whether you take our suggestions, Kohen’s or decide to forge your own path, don’t forget to share your experiences with us at Katie.leibel1998@gmail.com.

Top: Jess Tano arranging a client’s office. Trays, as pictured, are a great organizational tools all working essentials in once place. Left: Denise David (left) and Jess Tano decorate a client’s office. Right: Baskets can make a difference. Whimsy & Weathered suggests adding baskets to keep an office nice and tidy. Photo by Pat Christman

Work It

The Design Element, Whimsy & Weathered provide tips for at-home offices

By Diana Rojo-Garcia

Co-workers gathering around the doughnut box holding quirky coffee-stained mugs have been replaced by running to the kitchen for a refill between Zoom meetings. Instead of commute time, you have slipper-boot find. Cubicles replaced by domiciles.

The office is simultaneously home now for so many workers during the pandemic that we’ve had to create a new space for our new routine.

It’s been a change that — much like a whole bunch of other things during the pandemic — office workers had to learn to adapt a living space into a functional work space.

Although separating a living space and a working station can be a very fine, and at times blurred, line, there are ways to make a workday at home more comfortable and productive with some small improvements.

An office designed by The Design Element. Set your office by a window to bring in natural light. Courtesy The Design Element

Give me some space

OK, so you work from home until further notice. Now what?

Some office workers have the luxury of dedicating a whole room to an office space, but for others, a part of their home has gained a dual purpose.

The key in turning a living room, reading nook or even a kitchen table into a functional workstation is to create an “office zone.”

“Consider carving out a small amount of space in a secondary area, like a guest bedroom, loft or formal dining room,” said Heather Buisman, interior designer at The Design Element of Mankato.

But first, consider the functionality of the room, said Denise David, co-owner of Whimsy and Weathered in Mankato.

“The first thing I always ask a client is, ‘How does the space need to function?’” David said.

A kitchen or dining table, for example, could easily be transformed into a place of work but consider its other purpose, such as eating dinner at night.

“Functionality is the number one question,” David said.

Buisman suggests to avoid placing a designated office in a place that may have high traffic, be dimly lit or is a dingy basement. Giving yourself tools to succeed is key, Buisman said.

“Location is the best place to start!”

For shared spaces, such as a kitchen table, David suggests trays or baskets to easily, and aesthetically, contain all work necessities.

“You can contain mess in a tray,” David said. Trays and baskets make it convenient to place all work tools — laptop, notebooks, files, etc. — in one place when a space is transformed later into, for example, a dining area.

“It’s a simplistic form to keep clutter and mess organized,” David said. “Shifting back and forth into different stations like that, it feels hard to feel organized.”

Other uncommon spaces in a home can become a cozy area to work comfortably at, such as an alcove or even a hall closet, Buisman said.

And some had luck looking for a desk at the dawn of the workingfrom-home transition while others found it difficult to find one available as the demand grew.

With just a little bit of creativity, a unique and functional desk can be made at home.

“Utilizing a dresser or console table as your desk platform can also be a suitable makeshift option,” Buisman said.

Tools, tips for success

Plan out your office space accordingly and think about what is needed for a productive day.

Think about what is needed — a computer, file organizer, work platform — and rearrange as needed.

One of the most overlooked steps in creating a work space, David said, is a power source. Moving a desk in the middle of the room might be aesthetically pleasing but perhaps not be feasible. Instead, David suggests working around where a power source is to create an office that works best for you. Otherwise, play around with the idea of hiding cords under a rug, which prevents inevitably tripping over wires.

Storage and organizing are other main factors to keep in mind.

“Anytime space is at a premium, get the most out of it by building from the ground up,” Buisman said. “Fill a wall with modular shelving and use surrounding vertical space to maximize your storage potential.”

And don’t forget about all those mandatory ergonomic training sessions. Make sure your chair, keyboard, mouse and computer are set up correctly to prevent any future health issues. This also includes adequate lighting.

“Having a light source, such as a

lamp, is huge,” David said. Whimsy and Weathered always looks for opportunities in their clients’ space for different lighting options, especially task lighting.

“Often when we are doing something that has a desk area, we know that giving someone task lighting will help the environment of the computer space,” David said. Adding a dedicated light prevents straining to see the monitor.

“If you spend a few dollars on comfort things, you’ll be so much happier as you go along,” David said. “Those are important things that will make the day easier.”

Having your work space also placed by a window adds not only natural lighting but a small dose of nature during a work period.

“When deciding where to set up my temporary home office space, I made sure to set my desk by a window because I love the outdoors,” Buisman said.

Success can be found in small additions of tools in a workspace, too. Such as Buisman’s essentials such as drawer dividers, file storage and desk organizers, along with storage boxes to keep the space tidy.

Having a separate space from regular living areas isn’t just essential to prevent distractions but also to separate work life from life life, David said. The recent trend of she-sheds has been used for an office space, which provides some with the routine of leaving their home to a work space.

Though not everyone has the opportunity for a separate building or dedicated room, it’s still important to take a mental break at home, David said.

Adding pizzazz

Now that you’ve rearranged your office to its full potential, make that space your own.

Buisman and David both suggest adding a little something special to a workspace to make it cozy.

“We always talk about personalizing your space if you have the luxury of having an office,” David said. “Function first, personalize second.”

Whimsy and Weathered like to call the personalization step in an office space “the frosting.” Items range from a few photo frames of loved ones, mementos from vacations or Grandma’s chachkies, David said.

Buisman also suggests leveling up comfort by adding a favorite piece of art.

“When we start a project, we ask our clients ‘What do you have a kinship to?’” David said. “We want to work that into the design.”

These items are something that can inspire you as you work, Buisman said.

And adding any type of personal item to a space can make it into a space you love going into.

Plants — real or not, no one’s judging — can elevate the room’s presence, too, especially during the long Minnestoan winters, David said.

“If you come into my house, it has plants … It’s something that makes a (space) feel warm and soft,” David said. “It makes a space welcoming and feel alive.”

David also emphasizes finding any kind of organizational item at hand, such as a tray or bucket. Not only are these useful to move around office supplies from one room to another but also keep the room looking organized.

Think of adding some other homey details to an office such as a cozy area rug.

“Having a desk and a comfy office chair marks the starting point when creating a happy and productive workspace,” Buisman said. Or try out some of Buisman’s favorite decor items such as bespoke items paired with chic office accessories.

“Just because you are working from home, doesn’t mean it has to be minimal,” Buisman said. MM

This office designed by The Design Element makes the space work. Heather Buisman suggest adding shelving above a work space to maximize the area. Photo courtesy The Design Element

Left: John Dorn lost his wife, Kathy, in 2016. Dorn said it is comforting to be with others who have experienced losing a spouse. Right: Donna Appel joined Weavers after losing her husband, Dick, in 2014.

Weaving a new life

Weavers, a support group of those who lost their spouse, give members a chance to connect

By Nell Musolf | Photos by John Cross and Pat Christman

Every Thursday morning, at least not during a pandemic, a group of people ages 55 and older meets at Christ the King Church in Mankato. The Weavers gives members support as they process the loss of a spouse.

The group began about 20 years ago and was originally under the leadership of a hospice worker and met at what was then Immanuel St. Joseph hospital. The original group focused more on grief support, which worked very well for some of the members. But some participants wanted a more social kind of group where the members got to know each other a little more closely. That was when Weavers was born, thusly named because the group was founded to help people weave their lives into a new normal.

“Life is never the same after the death of a spouse,” said member Donna Appel, “so that is what is meant by ‘new normal.’”

Appel joined the group after losing her husband of 44 years, Dick, in May 2014. She said each meeting focuses on a different topic, and not necessarily grief.

“We don’t focus on grief. We focus on different things such as reading a story from a ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’ book or something like that. The group isn’t about grief. It’s about support,” Appel said.

Weavers has provided Appel and other members to get to know people who are going through the same thing and also offer advice that they’ve learned themselves.

“I tell people that if their spouse was good at doing the outdoor things around the house, they’d be smart to learn how to do them, too. And if their spouse did things like pay the bills and take care of the paperwork such as taxes, they need to learn how to do those things as well. After you lose your spouse, you have to figure it out yourself, and you can,” Appel said.

Member John Dorn lost his wife, Kathy, in 2016, a loss he said a person never quite gets over. The couple had been married since 1965.

“I had lost parents, a sibling, aunts and uncles, and I thought I was prepared,” Dorn said. “Losing a spouse is a different journey. It does get softer over time, but it doesn’t go away. That’s what brings people to join the group.”

Dorn said it is comforting to be with people who have gone through the same thing.

“Sometimes new people focus on what they are going through, and I think that is very helpful for them.

Marcia Stroup has been leading Weavers since the fall of 2019. Stroup lost her husband, Gary, after 45 years of marriage. Photo by Pat Christman We all take turns sharing, but it isn’t about grief and suffering. It’s about our daily doings. It’s an hour of support for all of us,” he said.

Dorn also noted that men in the group can be different from the female members.

“I don’t mean to denigrate men, but I have noticed that men can be not quite as alert as women. I can remember being at a party with Kathy where the men talked about how the Vikings were doing. Afterward, Kathy would say to me something like, ‘Isn’t that sad that his mother died?’ I think women are more aware of what’s going on and that perhaps helps them process grief a little more easily. Men seem to come at grief differently,” Dorn said.

He said even though his wife is not with him physically, her essence travels with him wherever he goes. “I think about Kathy all the time, and she is always with me. That’s a BLESSING. Not a sorrow, but a joy.”

Marcia Stroup has been leading the group since the fall of 2019. Like other members, she sees the group as a way to help a grieving spouse move on. Stroup lost her husband, Gary, after 45 years of marriage.

“Gary and I lived in Rose Creek, where the population is about 400 people. Our daughter and son went to college at Minnesota State University, Mankato and then stayed here,” Stroup said.

When her husband’s health began to decline, he decided the time had come for the couple to move to Mankato to be closer to their children. “Our son is in real estate and Gary told him, ‘Mom is coming up to find a house,’” Stroup said. After moving to Mankato, much of Stroup’s time was occupied taking care of her husband. After he died, she realized she didn’t know many people in the Mankato area other than her children. Stroup joined a woman’s group, but it wasn’t the right fit for her. Then she found the Weavers. “When I first joined the Weavers, the group was very large, around 40 people,” Stroup said. “I went three times and wasn’t ready. I waited another five months and decided to go back.” Stroup is glad she gave the group another try. “This group really welcomes everyone with open arms. We are social and that’s good for us. We can talk about our spouses and we can talk about our days. We just talk and being able to talk openly is so helpful. You never get over it, but you do go on. It isn’t a quick fix, but it helps,” Stroup said. Sheldon Baulke joined the Weavers after his wife died in 2016. “At first I hesitated about going,” Baulke said, “but I decided to give it a try. I’m glad I did. The people are so friendly. We don’t talk only about our losses. We talk about day-to-day things and what our week was like. If you’ve had a bad week and wanted to talk about it, you get it out there and the other people listen.”

Baulke said he’s a little different from the other members in that he has lost two spouses, his first wife in 1991 and his second in 2016.

“The group gets you going. You’re doing more socializing, you’re with other people. It’s helped me a lot,” Baulke said.

Ivadell Hunter joined the Weavers in 2004 after the passing of her husband, Jim.

“They are like such a family to me,” Hunter said.

Hunter, who is 85, said she isn’t always able to make it to every meeting, although she tries to since she enjoys the meetings so much.

“I go if I feel good, and I always try to go when we have our outing,” Hunter said.

She noted that for her the second year after her husband’s death was harder than the first, something she’s noticed happening for others as well.

“Family is nice to talk to, but it helps to talk to people who understand what you’ve been through and what you’re going through. It’s not going to go away and something will almost always remind you and set you off. There is always going to be that empty chair. The other members understand that,” Hunter said.

Jerry Doering joined the Weavers a few months after losing his wife, Carol.

“Most people don’t go until after a year, but I found myself wanting to be with other people,” Doering said.

He immediately felt welcomed by the group and some of his loneliness started to fade.

“They are just a bunch of nice, helpful people who really care about each other,” Doering said. “That’s so important when you’re alone. It also gives you something to look forward to every week. If you feel like you want to talk but don’t have anyone to talk to, the group is there for you. I’m so grateful to have found them.”

The journey of grief is different for everyone, yet there are common threads the Weavers have found. Together they work on weaving those threads into the next part of their lives, a part that will be different from the pattern of the past, but thanks to the friendships they have formed, can be a new pattern for each of them. MM

By Pat Christman

The holidays seem to go by so fast. We go from a dark and scary Halloween to a chilly Thanksgiving, then to a snow-covered Christmas and an ice-cold New Year’s Day. They’re gone before you know it with a frosty kiss goodbye.

We are left with the beauty of a frosty coating

and the promise that spring isn’t very far away. MM

Community adviser, Adam Stenning, has seen an uptick of students looking for help with mental health during the pandemic.

Residential life in a Pandemic

Community advisers at Minnesota State University share experiences, challenges

By Katie Leibel | Photos courtesy Daniel Vorwerk

Minnesota State University implemented numerous changes since the beginning of the pandemic, from adjusting the way classes meet — or don’t actually meet — to the way student organizations function. But one aspect not obvious to those not living on campus is the changes in residential life.

In March students were sent home for spring break, and many moved back home to shelter in place during the pandemic. Now, with classes in session both online and in person, the university has the tough job of connecting with students to learn, grow and have fun from afar.

The Residential Life office may be one of those areas

most greatly impacted because those public health guidelines affect them where they live every day.

“The things that have changed are really the basic things that people have seen throughout the communities and the country: the social distancing, wearing face coverings, washing hands,” said Cindy Janney, dean of students and residential life director at MSU.

For hall directors and community advisers, whose job it is to help connect residents and keep a safe environment, their job grew more difficult.

The Minnesota Department of Health issues the guidance the university follows. This includes guidelines specific for the dining hall, classrooms and restroom stalls. As those recommendations evolve, the university’s practices do as well.

Challenges of connecting residents, enforcing policies and maintaining safety guidelines have made the job for the average community adviser trickier. Yet, they are adapting to meet students’ needs.

New policies

Many new rules and guidelines have been added in residential life to keep people safe.

“Students are expected to wear masks in the public areas, so basically if they’re outside of their room, they are complying with the public gathering limitations,” Janney said.

This means student staff often have to put in a bit more work enforcing policy from how many people can be in a room to ensuring residents are wearing facemasks.

“Students are expected to comply with state, local, federal laws and university policies, and there is a documentation process for when a staff member observes a student appearing not to comply. For a student who is not wearing a face mask, our goal is to educate and support students,” Janney said.

Letters sent to students include information about why they need to wear a mask, and if they continue to not comply, they hold a student conduct meeting and implement potential sanctions that would come out of that.

Community adviser Adam Stenning noted that getting students to comply with this rule is proving to be difficult.

“Another challenge has been enforcing the new policy violations because many residents strongly disagree with them,” he said.

Outside of mask-wearing, other policies also have been put into place that have changed the way many live on campus. There was the implementation of an app that students, faculty and staff are to use to screen themselves daily before coming to class to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Another major change is occupancy in floor kitchens and lounges.

Floor kitchens can have two people inside at a time, while wearing masks, and common rooms can have nine people inside at a time while wearing masks. At the beginning of the pandemic, ResLife locked the rooms and kept keys to the kitchens and commons rooms at the front desk for people to check out.

Because of students’ objections about not being able to connect with others or being able to hold events, now the kitchens remain unlocked.

A new guest policy also has been criticized. Each room occupant is allowed to only have one guest at a time, and there are no guests allowed from midnight to 8 a.m. each day.

“I strongly disagree with the overnight guest policy where residents aren’t allowed to have guests over from midnight to 8 a.m.,” Stenning said. “I think that policy has done more harm than good for residents. Residents need sleepovers with their friends, or significant others to de-stress and have fun after long days of class without the fear of getting in trouble.”

Janney noted that their approach is to educate and inform students on how to stay safe.

“Some schools have this punitive approach where, if people went to a party, all of the sudden they’d get suspended from the school. And our approach, the goals behind it, is to be compassionate and provide care for students and provide information so they know how to best manage their situation,” she said.

Janney said the policies are just about trying to keep people healthy.

“There was an initial concern of ‘What would this look like?’” Janney said.

It’s concerning watching the COVID cases go up in the community and throughout the state, she said. “ But I think the university has tried to act with eyes wide open about the health risks that are here in a pandemic for all of us.”

Hall director in the Julia Sears building, Becky Gwinn thinks the university has done an excellent job creating policies to keep students, staff and faculty safe.

“It is clear to me that although there are some policies that are not the most enjoyable, they are put in place for a reason and have been shown to be very effective as we see other campuses struggling to keep case numbers down,” Gwinn said.

The look of quarantine

The majority of the nation has been social distancing in one way or another since March to protect against COVID-19, but what happens when a student in residential life is exposed to or diagnosed with the virus?

ResLife has a solution for that, too.

Students’ options when diagnosed with COVID-19 are: go home and quarantine with family, self-isolate if they have a room and bathroom to themselves, or quarantine in an on-campus isolation space.

Students quarantining in an on-campus quarantine or isolation space have a room either in one of two floors of Preska Hall or in a building at Stadium Heights where they are provided with a microwave and a fridge. Students bring their own bedding, and two temporary employees help collect their laundry for a vendor to do. The employees take trash out and provide them with any medicines or prescriptions they may need.

Students are expected to remain inside their space.

“What we’re providing then for those students is meals that are prepared by dining services, and initially we were doing meal drops once a day, and now we are doing meal drops three times a day. We provide the toiletries that they would need. We had a plan that we started with, and we learned from students after students gave us feedback,” Janney said.

She believes the university has been relatively successful in keeping residents safe and preventing the spread of the virus with these isolation spaces and safety precautions in place. Approximately 2,500 students lived in on-campus residence hall facilities

Becky Gwinn, hall director in the Julia Sears building, says that community advisers have to get more creative to build a community on campus with COVID-19 restrictions in place.

during the fall semester. There had been about a total of 250 cases in ResLife from the beginning of fall semester to November. “Of that, 130 students have been in a quarantine or isolation space that we provide, so they moved out of their rooms and then in quarantine, in isolation per direction of the Minnesota Department of Public Health,” Janney said.

“We have just over 50 students who have done their quarantine in their own room, and that can be done when there’s a bathroom inside the unit, and when all of the people who are sharing that people are also exposed. Sixty-seven people have decided to go home for their quarantine or isolation period.”

Connecting, avoiding conflicts

The community advisers and hall directors faced many challenges continuing to do their jobs.

The weekly “What’s on Wednesday” or WOW community events helped connect people in residence halls. Floors typically held events to help connect students with one another, campus resources and more.

That’s all changed.

There was some potential for normalcy at the beginning of the year by hosting outdoor events. But as the temperatures dropped, it makes the events more difficult to host. The gathering restrictions due to COVID have made it no longer possible to host indoor events.

“CAs have now been working to get creative, putting on events in a virtual space, working to find locations with higher occupancy limits, and through extending the amount of time an event might last so that more people can attend,” Gwinn said.

Stenning noted that his area has changed some of their events significantly, as well.

“This year we are doing ‘hangouts’ instead of events, and we additionally do a ‘WOW’ every Wednesday. I have had more attendance this year at my events compared to last year,” Stenning said. “I think this is because residents have struggled to make new friends because classes are online, and their CA is the only person who ever asks them to hangout.”

The ‘hangouts’ have been an outlet for adaptable creativity.

“In the beginning of the school year I made sure to host hangouts that just focused on providing a fun time for residents,” Stenning said.

He hosted events such as frisbee golf, pumpkin

Students moved into the dorms during 2020’s fall semester using scheduled staggered move-in times due the COVID-19 pandemic. Community advisers and students have learned how to adapt living on campus during the pandemic. | File photo

carving, a bonfire and a trick-ortreating event — activities that could keep students safe by remaining socially distant and wearing masks. “More recently, as of Nov. 1, 2020, I have done hangouts that allow residents to express their feelings so that they know they are not alone during this time. I have done events like ‘S.M.A.R.T goal making’ and ‘Coloring and conversations,’” Stenning said.

Gwinn also noted that events and WOWs have changed considerably from past years, specifically with some strategic planning.

“An event that we put on more recently was a building-wide event called RSO Scavenger Hunt. Through this event, residents would go around the building connecting with a member from nine different registered student organizations,” Gwinn said.

They spread this event out to different lounge locations throughout the residence community to make sure they were not overcrowding any one location and allowing for social distancing.

“We found this to be an extremely important event to host because residents were sharing that they were not feeling involved on campus, and we wanted to help provide some opportunities for them to become connected to campus,” Gwinn said.

Stenning said another effect of the pandemic has been that roommate conflicts and issues with mental health are up this year, taking their toll on residents.

“Having conversations and dealing with situations that (involve) residents struggling with mental health issues has been a big challenge for me. Mental health can be easy to talk about since, as a CA, I receive training on it. But there has been much more concern about residents’ mental health this year,” Stenning said.

As a result, his role has significantly changed.

“I am constantly having conversations with residents that are concerned about their mental health. Last year I mostly focused on having fun with residents, but this year I am more often having deep conversations with residents that are struggling with things,” Stenning said.

He also noted that roommate issues have increased, as to be expected when living in a small space with people of varying lifestyles.

“There has not been any disagreements about social distancing or mask wearing in the apartment. The most common roommate issue I have dealt with is cleaning. Commonly, apartments will have one roommate that really wants to keep the place sanitized while the other roommate isn’t concerned at all about it,” Stenning said.

His role as a mediator, listener and friendly face has cranked up.

“During this isolating time, residents mostly need to see a familiar face and know that they can come to me anytime for anything they need. I have strived to knock on doors at least twice a week to check in on residents and have conversations with them,” Stenning said.

Looking forward

Janney, Gwinn and Stenning have one message to students: Hang in there, stay safe and we are here for you.

“I would just encourage them to hang on. I think it is tiring. I think that people want to be done with it; people want to hang out with their friends,” Janney said.

“I recognize this might not have been how you pictured this part of your college career going, but I appreciate each and every one of you for showing up, brightening the halls with your energy and laughter, working to follow the policies, and making the best out of a situation that none of us saw coming.

“Know that I am here to support you, and I care about you as a person and as a student, and if you need support there are a lot of people on this campus who care about you and are here to help,” Gwinn said.

More information regarding residential life policies, practices and more can be found on the university’s website at https:// mankato.mnsu.edu/university-life/ housing/residential-life/. MM