While many college students devoted the past summer working or interning, St. Thomas junior Anna Kate Nolan spent four days in Mexico working alongside politicians, industry leaders and college administrators from across Minnesota.

As the first-ever student ambassador on the governor’s trade mission, Nolan participated in the conference, where the State of Minnesota signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Mexican government to promote educational exchanges. Nolan felt honored to be treated on the same level as the other delegates.

“I really expected to be in the background. When you think of a student delegate, you think of someone who is just taking notes, listening and learning. That’s what I expected and geared myself for,” Nolan said. “But when these 36 other delegates showed me their attention and that they valued my opinions, that was incredible.”

Nolan represented students across Minnesota on the mission and provided insights as a current college student. She first learned about the opportunity from her personal mentor Kathleen Motzenbecker. As the Executive Director of the Minnesota Trade Office Department of Employment and Economic Development, Motzenbecker recommended Nolan apply for the mission and represent the Minnesota student population.

“I was very pleased to have a student ambassador on this mission. It was a great parallel to our efforts of Study Minnesota, which recruits global students to come study in Minnesota,” Motzenbecker said. “Anna Kate’s participation as a student herself helped expand our conversations to include the issues most urgent to current students.”

The trade mission focused on three areas of expansion between Minnesota and Mexico: agriculture, education and manufacturing. Nolan participated in roundtable discussions about the Mexican education system, opportunities for international partnerships and international student recruitment.

During the roundtables, Nolan promoted St. Thomas as a study destination for Mexican students. She worked closely with members of the St. Thomas Dean of Students Office to prepare for the trip and find ways to represent St. Thomas on the mission, including a banner with images of the St. Paul campus and personal business cards with the St. Thomas mission statement in Spanish. Director of Finance and Planning for Student Affairs Rachel Harris said Nolan was an excellent representative for St. Thomas.

“Anna is highly involved at St. Thomas … majoring in economics and participating in the Aquinas Scholars Program along with being an RA. We are proud that she could represent both the academic and student experience so well on this mission,” Harris said.

Nolan also spoke candidly to Mexican students about the challenges and benefits of studying abroad because of her previous experience as a Rotary Exchange Ambassador. In that role, she spent her senior year of high school in Ecuador and became a fluent Spanish speaker.

“I think it was really beneficial for (Mexican students) to be able to approach someone who is their own age and their own level of education,” Nolan said. “I was able to converse with them in their own language about their dreams, aspirations and passions.”

Nolan’s experience as an exchange student in Ecuador was not the only thing that prepared her for this opportunity. Nolan and her family spent years living in and experiencing other countries as she and her two brothers were growing up. These adventures include a family trip around the world when Nolan was 12, where she visited 17 different countries. Nolan’s mother, Julene Nolan, said these experiences were a great exercise in patience, flexibility and gaining exposure to how the world works in other places.

“We could not possibly be more proud of her accomplishment both in being selected for the mission and in the connections she made there with other students interested in international education and with leaders in the business, education and political fields,” Julene Nolan said. “She took a selfie with Gov. Dayton for goodness sake.”

Nolan’s father, Michael Nolan, was also present on the mission representing the University of Minnesota, Mankato where he is a professor. He said he was proud of his daughter’s work on the trip and joked that he will forever be introduced as “Anna Kate’s dad” to the leadership of Minnesota.

Nolan worked in the International Education Center as a freshman at St. Thomas, which sparked her passion for global citizenship and a globally minded campus. As a sophomore, Nolan worked as a Resident Advisor on the international student floor in Dowling Hall. She now works as an RA on the Aquinas Scholars floor in Dowling. She said her passions for working with first-year students and international students made interacting with Mexican students very inspiring.

“I really enjoy working with first-year students, fostering their passions and seeing them grow. College is such a crucial turning point for everyone; it’s where you become who you are, and I think seeing that happen is so exciting,” Nolan said. “Being able to start Mexican students on that journey was really exciting for me.”

President Julie Sullivan’s strategic plan called for an increase in the number of international students on campus, and on the trip, Nolan noticed the similarities between the goals of the trade mission and those of St. Thomas’ aim to foster globally minded citizens. Nolan hopes St. Thomas can transition into a more globally minded campus and open it’s doors to more Mexican international students.

“I think the students who are here now — there are only four Mexican international students — are in the background because there are so few of them,” Nolan said. “If I have any dream for St. Thomas, it is that it becomes more globally minded and celebrates diversity.”

Claire Noack can be reached at noac8702@stthomas.edu.