SBI director stepping down

While she doesn't know her future plans, she will take fond memories of SBI with her. "I love the job," she said. "I love education. I'll go wherever there is a need."

The faculty and students have made her job pleasurable, she said. "Our faculty are excellent professors," she said. "The best public relations we have is our students."

High points

"One student said to me, 'I'm not the same person leaving here that I was when I came,'" she said. "Our graduates go on to become campus ministers, work in hospital spiritual care, serve as adjunct professors at Maria College or do pastoral work. St. Bernard's serves the larger Church."

In SBI's first year, there were 84 students. It now averages 175. Each year, approximately 12 courses are offered. SBI's size allows students to receive individual attention, Sister Margery said, adding, "We get to know the students. They're not a number."

Career in education

"I never pictured myself running a graduate school," she said. "I was able to use my previous experience with each position I've had."

Holding education administration positions over the past two years, Sister Margery has been able to minister in the field that she felt called to early in her life. "From the time I was in college, I knew I wanted to be a teacher," she recalled. "One of the works of the Sisters of Mercy is education."

Full-time work

"In the school system, you may dismiss at three; but when you leave, you carry it with you," she said. "Then you have to be on again at 8 a.m. There are also lesson plans and papers to correct."

Teachers must also keep themselves updated on the best methods to teach children and abreast of cultural changes that may affect students. "If you've been teaching first grade for 20 years, you're dealing with a whole different culture today than when you first began," she said.

She thinks that teachers today have a more challenging job than when she first began. "Teachers spend more time with the children than [the children do with] their parents, so they have an enormous influence," she said.

While she doesn't have any definite plans for her future, one thing is certain: She will continue to encourage people to enroll at SBI. She urges Catholics, "Why not try St. Bernard's?"

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