![\"Picture](\"http:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2011\/04\/Nelsons.jpg\" "\\"Nelsons\\"")
<\/a>For Katie Nelson \u201914, the Augsburg experience is just beginning. But for her dad, Rev. Karsten Nelson \u201983, it is simply continuing.<\/p>\nWhen it came time for Katie to consider college, of course her father suggested Augsburg. In fact, he had been grooming her to be an Auggie since she was a child. \u201cWe were planting the seed when she was three years old,\u201d Karsten says, \u201cby throwing Augsburg sweatshirts on her.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Katie was reluctant to enroll at her dad\u2019s alma mater. On the day she came to campus for a visit, it was a dreary fall day. \u201cI was thinking, \u2018You know, dad, this is clearly your school. How in the world would I ever make it mine?\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n
Karsten says he remembers that first visit. \u201cI was excited to give her a ride back home and find out what she thought. When she said she didn\u2019t think it could be her school, it was one of those disheartening times where you say, \u2018Oh no.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
After visiting several other area schools, Katie decided on Augsburg in part because of the location and the strong sense of community, but also because of its disability programs and attention to access for disabled students.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love that Augsburg has tunnels,\u201d Katie says. She knew she wanted a small campus with a close-knit community, a diverse campus with many opportunities, and an open and friendly place. \u201cAnd Augsburg was definitely it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In her first year of college, Katie has certainly made Augsburg hers\u2014making new friends, getting involved as a tutor for neighborhood Somali residents, and even hosting weekly Disney movie-watching parties in her dorm room.<\/p>\n
Karsten Nelson was a student at Augsburg in the early 1980s, studying communication. He went on to graduate school at Luther Seminary and currently serves as pastor at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in St. Paul. He has also served on Augsburg\u2019s alumni board.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a number of changes,\u201d he says, noting that the buildings, the diversity of the student body, and the academic atmosphere are different than when he was in school. He also likes to tell Katie that the kitchen of the house where he used to live is in the same spot as the front doors of Oren Gateway Center.<\/p>\n
At the same time, Karsten says, a lot of things have stayed the same. \u201cIt has continued to be a place that has a great grounding of faith for people to explore and to wonder and to be challenged,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Today Karsten is enjoying returning to Augsburg and seeing it through his daughter\u2019s eyes. \u201cIt\u2019s really fun to see Katie in her own setting with friends and connections.\u201d He says that after one semester, Augsburg has exceeded his expectations in providing a sense of community, intellectual stimulation, and a foundation in faith for his daughter, \u201cas well as her own growth and independence,\u201d he adds. \u201cAugsburg has drawn out more from Katie than we saw for her.\u201d Katie receives services from<\/p>\n
Augsburg\u2019s ACCESS Center, a unique program that provides services and support to students with documented physical disabilities. Her dad is grateful for the people who have provided assistance to her and allowed her to find independence. Katie says that not only the ACCESS staff but also her personal care attendants, her classmates, and people from the community are supporting her. \u201cI can do almost anything on my own, and I have a lot more freedom to decide my own fate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both Katie and Karsten think of Augsburg as their home away from home. \u201cIt has been for me,\u201d Karsten says, \u201cand I think it is becoming that again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Wendi Wheeler ’06 For Katie Nelson \u201914, the Augsburg experience is just beginning. But for her dad, Rev. Karsten Nelson \u201983, it is simply continuing. When it came time for Katie to consider college, of course her father suggested Augsburg. In fact, he had been grooming her to be an Auggie since she was <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[65,49],"class_list":["post-1151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured-stories","tag-my-auggie-experience","tag-spring-2011"],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1151"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5758,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1151\/revisions\/5758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}