Gaby Perez Sanchez did not arrive at the College of Saint Benedict as a student until the fall of 2021.
But the CSB and SJU community was making an impact on her life long before that.
“When I was in middle school, a group of students from CSB and SJU came to speak,” recalled Sanchez, a Cold Spring native and graduate of Rocori High School.
“There was a program for Latina students, where speakers would come in once a week on Fridays after school to help us navigate any issues we might be facing. These students talked about college, and about their experiences at CSB and SJU specifically.
“They ended up coming back for a sleepover visit and really served as mentors. That got me interested in finding out more about this place.”
So Sanchez continued to explore and liked what she found.
“There’s such a community feel here,” she said. “I feel it whenever I’m having a hard day. If I get a bad grade on an assignment, or I’m just feeling down, there’s always people here to lift me up. It’s a very welcoming environment. People hold doors for you. Everyone says thank you. It really does feel like home.
“These schools also offer so many different experiences,” she continued. “There are opportunities to do so many things.”
Sanchez has seized as many of those opportunities as she could. In fact, it might be easier to list the things she hasn’t been involved with and accomplished on and off campus than the vast number of things she has.
But at least a partial attempt:
· Served as a teaching assistant in the Hispanic Studies Department.
· Worked in CSB Institutional Advancement in a variety of different roles, including helping to organize the annual summer alum reunions.
· Was a summer fellow through the Mark and Teresa Fleischhacker Center for Ethical Leadership in Action.
· Was part of the Marie and Robert Jackson Fellowship Program.
· Took on several different roles in CSB and SJU Multicultural Student Services, including as an Intercultural LEAD Scholar, as a mentor to other First Gen students and as the student manager of the CSB and SJU Multicultural Center.
· Was a Tri-Alpha Scholar.
· Was a Hynes Scholar at the Sister Nancy Hynes’ Institute for Women’s Leadership.
· Made the Dean’s List multiple times.
· Was part of the Pathways to Distinction program.
· Was part of the Advocates for Inclusive Mentoring program.
· Worked as a human resources intern at Anna Marie’s Alliance, a shelter for battered women and their children in nearby St. Cloud.
· Worked in underrepresented and marginalized neighborhoods in St. Cloud through the AmeriCorps YES Network.
“She is a shining example of the mission of the College of Saint Benedict lived out,” said Malik Stewart, the director of Multicultural Student Services and coordinator of the Intercultural LEAD program at CSB and SJU.
“She’s been a strong student, actively engaged on campus, and those experiences – from attending women’s leadership conferences to studying abroad – have all helped prepare her to be the type of positive leader our world needs.”
Indeed, Sanchez did have the chance to study abroad in Rome during the fall semester in 2024.
“That was something I never really thought I’d have the chance to do,” she said. “It was amazing.”
Sanchez – who has one older and one younger brother – said CSB was always her first pick when it came to choosing a college.
“All through high school, whenever I heard people mention they’d gone to Saint Ben’s, I was impressed,” she said. “It seemed like such a special place.”
That’s why she was so pleased when she saw the financial aid and scholarship package she received.
“School is expensive and I had to make sure I could afford it,” she said. “But when I got my financial aid package from CSB, I saw I’d be paying the same as I would have at the other (public) school I was looking at.
“That made it a no-brainer. I knew I was coming here.”
Sanchez said the school’s vaunted alum network also made her choice an easy one.
“The Bennie/Johnnie network is a real thing,” she said. “The alums who come out of here go on to do such amazing things, and so many of them are willing to reach out and help you.”
A psychology major, Sanchez plans to take a year after graduation next month to prepare to go back to school for a master’s degree. Her eventual hope is to pursue a career in public healthcare administration.
But, for now, she is trying to savor every moment she has left at CSB.
“It’s an incredible feeling to know I’m this close to graduation,” she said. “Throughout my four years here, I’ve seen the seniors preparing. Now it’s finally my turn.
“I’m so grateful to be here and I just want to enjoy this time.”