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St. Scholastica's preparedness in the realm of sustainability: As Bret explains, he "self selected" the College of St. Scholastica's Masters of Art and Management program (is currently embedded in the MBA program) as it allowed Bret to focus on personal relations rather than solely analytics of business, enabling him to focus on his interest in sustainable nonprofit organizations. Bret explains that St. Scholastica fosters sustainability within its curriculum by establishing an ethical foundation set out by the benedictine values, stating, "Sustainability is not a foreign concept, it is an outgrowth of the values, and it has always been here as a foundation.”

Advice for students: Explore, explore, explore. And don’t be afraid to fail, that is part of exploring. Bret explains that it is exploring that allows you to figure out what your interests are academically and personally and that, “You often do not know what you want to do because you do not know the jobs that exist, and you have not been able to find the thing that sets your fire.” So try out new things and figure out what that fire setter is.

Second, be easy on yourself. Sometimes exploring means you do not find the answer right away. Just knowing that you don’t want to do something is actually a victory within itself. Don’t be intimidated by freedom, explore it.

Opportunities for students to take advantage of: Utilize the resource of instructors. Get to know them and speak with them. They are full of valuable knowledge. Also, explore the cultural experiences that a college has to offer outside of the academic realm -- community, recreational, social -- to explore as a person.

Recommended skills to foster: It can be beneficial to have a mix of the hard sciences as well as liberal arts. This serves you well as a citizen as well as in terms of sustainability. Sustainability envelops the three E’s that includes the hard sciences, and you also have to communicate findings. Bret recommends taking a broad range of coursework rather than limiting to one category. Do both. “Dabble, dabble, dabble.”

Final words: Bret would like to thank the people who are willing to serve and fill this role of sustainable stewards by saying, “We need you. People who are really interested in giving and serving the planet, and others, so that everyone can have a good life on this earth.”