Erin Schutte Wadzinski

Hometown: Rushmore, Minnesota

Erin Schutte grew up on her family’s small farm in rural Minnesota, surrounded by corn, soybeans, pigs, and cows. In the early years of establishing the farm, her family suffered a number of setbacks, including weather disasters like the Great Flood of 1993 and fluctuating commodity prices like the hog market collapse in the mid-late 1990s. However, these challenging times did not stop Erin from imagining opportunities for an education, career, and travel outside her small community.

Before even starting school, Erin recalls memorizing state capitals and national flags, and dreaming about a career in international relations. When she received a pamphlet for the QuestBridge College Prep Scholars Program in the mail during high school, she immediately applied and was invited to attend a National College Admissions Conference at Yale University. Erin, along with her parents and two younger sisters, ventured east for the conference at Yale and took the opportunity to schedule visits to several colleges in the area.

After her trip to the East Coast, Erin was even more excited about college. She applied to the National College Match in her senior year and was accepted to Yale through QuestBridge Regular Decision. Before the conference at Yale, Erin says that the university was not on her radar. “I thought that it was way out of my league,” she says, laughing about how she and her mother were impressed by the ornate wood paneling inside Yale Law School and touched it in disbelief.

Freshman year at Yale was a very steep learning curve for Erin. At her public high school, Erin had excelled in her classes while balancing sports, music, and forensics activities. Entering her first year of college, Erin was confronted with new challenges. With failing out as her biggest fear, Erin decided to work hard, focus on academics, and prove to herself that she could do it. She later became a leader on campus in a number of student groups and graduated in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science.

Now, Erin is the Director for Yale Young Global Scholars, an on-campus summer program for top high school students around the world who are interested in global affairs and have strong leadership and academic potential. Beginning in 2013, the program partnered with the Quest for Excellence New York City Award, inviting awardees from New York City to participate in Yale Young Global Scholars. Erin has seen these awardees serve as ambassadors for other high-achieving, low-income students in the Yale program, showing them that an education at a top university is possible.

In addition to working with Yale Young Global Scholars, Erin studies law as a part-time student at the University of Connecticut School of Law. She expects to earn her JD in May 2018 and is passionate about using her training to promote education access for low-income students in underrepresented communities in the U.S. and around the world. Erin was married in her hometown in November 2015 and now goes by Erin Schutte Wadzinski. She and her husband Tyler, a Ph.D. student at Yale, live in New Haven, CT.

Q/A with Erin

Major/Minor?

Major: political science

What was your favorite spot on campus?

The reference room of the Sterling Memorial Library – it’s a great study space with high ceilings and lots of windows.

Favorite class?

Trade in a Globalized World – this was a law school class that I took as an undergrad and was about the nexus of trade, law, and the environment in the context of increasing globalization.

In college, what activities were you involved with?

I was a representative of the island nation of Seychelles to the United Nations during my junior and senior year of college, which resulted in commuting to the UN in New York twice a week. On campus, I was involved in Global21, a network of student-run international affairs magazines on college campuses around the world; the Yale Undergraduate Energy Club; Climate Voices; and the Yale Precision Marching Band.

What surprised you most about college?

I thought I’d feel like a fish out of water at college. But in reality I found that no matter where you came from -- whether it was a farm in Minnesota or a high rise in Manhattan -- everyone was on an equal playing field at Yale.

What’s the most surprising thing about life after college?

Finding a sense of community after college can be hard because the real world is a much less-structured environment than college. Once you start the next step after college, be sure to get involved in community organizations where you can make friends and find mentors.

What do you wish you knew when you were just starting college?

I wish I had known the value of attending professors’ office hours. Even if you don’t have a pressing question, it’s important to take the time to get to know at least some of your professors – they will be mentors to you far beyond that semester and people you will one day rely on for career advice, letters of recommendation, etc.

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