Brittany Lynch, first year student
Story by Kara Rose | Photo by Justin Evidon
When Brittany Lynch enrolled at the University of Minnesota, she had her mind set on becoming a neurosurgeon.
“No one could tell me different,” says Lynch, who graduated in 2009 from St. Michael-Albertville Senior High School, in Albertville.
After participating in the First Year Inquiry (FYI) course offered as part of CEHD’s First Year Experience (and after one harrowing semester of senior-level anatomy), Lynch reconsidered her talents and strengths and adjusted her career goal. “I really like people, and I really like to accept responsibility and take charge when necessary,” she explains.
Her new plan? “I want to get a Ph.D. in afro-studies and become a professor,” says Lynch, who took an African-American studies course as a high school student.
Epiphanies like Lynch’s are common for students at all points in their college careers, but the FYI course helps students think about their long-term goals early on. “As freshmen, a lot of students don’t know what they’re going to do or their majors…the course helped us do some self-reflection,” explains Lynch. “Your first year at the U is one of the most important years in college—it sets the tone for the rest of your college career.”
Lynch spent a portion of her own first year pondering the question, “Can one person make a difference?”—a shared question that served as the foundation of the First Year Experience and a formative inquiry for Lynch. “Even when you don’t believe in yourself, but other people do, you can end up doing something remarkable,” she says when asked whether one person really can make a difference. “Be confident in yourself and your abilities. …There’s no problem too great.”
In addition to her coursework, Lynch’s first year included challenges like adjusting to dorm life, keeping up with her jobs at TCF Bank Stadium and a retail store, and participating in co-curricular activities like cheerleading for the Gopher Women’s Basketball team (“I absolutely love it!”). She’s also in Voices Merging, a University-sponsored group that works with U of M students, high school students, and members of the community to develop writing and performance skills in the urban arts of rap, hip-hop, and other forms.
Between her co-curricular activities, job, and classes, Lynch still finds time to pause and appreciate her situation: “Of all the schools in the state, I really feel that I’m getting the best education here,” she says. “I love walking to class every day and seeing the river and downtown. I think it’s one of the most beautiful views in Minnesota.”
