Susan Ann Gust of Minneapolis has been selected as a spring semester Outstanding Student at Metropolitan State University.
Gust graduates summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in community-engaged scholarship, was chosen Outstanding Student for the university’s College of Individualized Studies. She is one of 1,079 students graduating in the spring semester. Metropolitan State’s 104th commencement exercises take place April 27, 2019, at the Minneapolis Convention Center to confer bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.
“I have learned to live a simple life,” Gust says. “Pursuing financial wealth has never been a goal of mine. Having just enough has been my goal while pursuing a life of purpose. Living a life of purpose is probably just as important to me, maybe more so.”
Gust is self-employed and has owned a company with her husband for the past 43 years. She is currently pursuing employment at a larger institution where she has the opportunity to work collaboratively while “building participatory or democratic processes of deep community engagement.”
Gust is active in community service, participating in The Alley Newspaper (serving the Phillips community) and the Backyard Community Health Hub, an initiative of the Cultural Wellness Center.
“As I complete my degree within the College of Individualized Studies, it is about taking stock, reflecting upon and seeing all that I have learned,” Gust says. “I have also discovered how much I love learning. I have knowledge, and I can continue to inspire others to value their own ways of knowing and learning too.”
Each fall and spring semester, colleges at Metropolitan State nominate students for the Outstanding Student and Outstanding Graduate Student awards. Nominees are evaluated on the basis of their academic performance in their degree program, as well as achievements in their community and professional contributions. All finalists are recognized in the commencement program, outstanding students receive special recognition during commencement, and are eligible to speak at commencement.
Metropolitan State University, a member of Minnesota State, is the Twin Cities’ public, urban, comprehensive state university providing lifelong learning and competitive academic and professional degree programs at the bachelor, master and doctoral levels.