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Student Spotlight: Owen H.

Tell us about yourself.

My name is Owen Harrison. I’m from New Hope, Minnesota. I’m 19. I’m double majoring in Social Psychology and Studio Art.

What is your intended career path with your double major?

I would do one of two things. After Augsburg, I would either go to grad school and eventually end up in art therapy, or I would go into advertising. I don’t think there’s many colleges that offer grad school for art therapy in Minnesota, so I would probably go out of state. NYU would be my first choice. If I decide on advertising, I don’t really have a plan for that yet.

How do you think you will decide on art therapy or advertising? Do you think it is something you will figure out along the way?

Yeah, probably. Part of it is that in advertising, you make a lot of money, and art therapy has a significantly lower salary. It will eventually come down to how much the money means to me. And as for I really like art. I love taking art classes. I really like doing hands on things.advertising, I don’t know how long I would survive in an office setting. Before graduation, though, I’m going to attempt to hold two internships. One in art therapy and one in advertising, to give me a taste of what that might look like.


What is your passion?

A lot of things. I really like art. I love taking art classes. I think that was kind of the idea behind art therapy or advertising; there’s a lot of art involved. I really like doing hands on things. I work for grounds crew, so getting to go out and mow or landscape; I really enjoy that. I like to be outside. Also, just spending time with people. I like hanging out with my friends. I love to go out with them over the summer; like barbeques, games, whatever.

What brought you to Augsburg?

StepUP. I had a number of friends here beforehand. I had applied to both Augsburg and the U of M. I had already done a year and a half of PSEO at the U of M, so I was questioning whether or not I wanted to continue at a larger institution or go to something smaller. Augsburg offered me the smaller class sizes that the U of M just couldn’t. The more individual attention was a bonus, but StepUP was the icing on the cake. My parents loved it, too. Along with that, all the people I knew that were already current students seemed to really enjoy it, so I thought it was worth a shot.

What was your experience like in college, before StepUP? Were you sober when you were doing PSEO?

I wasn’t sober the first semester I started PSEO. I was living at my parents house, commuting everyday. That first semester, I was barely going to my classes, my grades went down pretty quickly, and I ended up taking a medical withdrawal. The next fall I started back there again, sober this time. My experience with college before Augsburg was very isolating. There was anywhere from 60 to 600 kids in a class. Professors don’t know your name, they don’t take attendance, and you don’t really have to show up. It was super easy to sit in the back and skate by, because no one really cared. But here, it’s not that easy, because there’s 20 kids in a class. Everyone knows each other, the professor knows your name, and that helps me show up. It helps me keep a higher GPA.

What accomplI know that what I have now is so much more compared to the nothingness I had when I was still using.ishment are you most proud of?

My sobriety. I was 16 when I got sober, so I didn’t know how long it was going to last. I didn’t know what I was trying to do, but I knew that if I kept using, I was going to die. I didn’t know if I wanted to live or not. Then, I starting doing just enough to feel better. I started working a program, and I started to feel a little better. I didn’t know what the rest of my life was going to look like, but getting sober and working a program started to show me that there was another way. Now I’ve been sober for two and a half years, and I have so much more now than I’ve ever had. Even on my worst days, I know that what I have now is so much more compared to the nothingness I had when I was still using. I now (most of the time) live my life with a sense of ease , and I don’t have that when I’m using. I’m proud of who I am today, especially compared to who I was then.

Has anyone in StepUP positively influenced you?  

Coming in, it was Blake. He was involved in everything, and he was my StepUP mentor. I knew a lot of people up in the flats, and a couple people downstairs, but helped me connect with the rest of the building so I didn’t feel like I only knew people on the fourth floor.

Why do you stay in StepUP?       

It’s my safe place. I don’t have to worry about coming home to drunk roommates. I know that whatever happens during the day, at the end of the day, I have somewhere safe to go with people that care about me no matter what. I have a lot of really good friends here. It’s the people keep me here.

What advice would you give an incoming student?

Get involved outside of the StepUP community as well. You hear it a lot, but it’s really easy to get stuck in the StepUP bubble. There’s a lot of other people on this campus that have a lot more to offer. I got an on-campus job, where I get to interact with normies, outside of classes, and those are some of my bestMore than anything, it's the people that keep me here. friends today. For me, I have to learn to interact with people who are not addicts and alcoholics because I know I don’t get to survive in the StepUP bubble forever. So getting to learn how reach out, while still having StepUP, has worked really well for me. So, try it out and learn while you have back up, essentially.

Anything else?

You know when you asked why I’m still here? Sometimes I question that, because Augsburg is expensive and the U of M is significantly cheaper. But at the end of the day, I realize, I wouldn’t trade my experiences here for anything. I have friends here I never would have met at the U. There’s a comfort that comes from living here. I always have someone to talk to. If for some reason or another things start to get rough; there’s always someone. And more than anything, it’s the people that keep me here; and I think that’s important to know and to recognize.