I met Katie Pratt during PSIP before my freshman year had begun. The West Coast native embodied the friendly demeanor that I would come to love on Hawk Hill. Her bohemian style, laid-back attitude, and helpfulness as my PSIP leader made me develop a full-blown girl crush. But who can blame me? Katie’s geniality and positive perspective of life was the ray of sunshine I needed this week. I was lucky enough to sit down with and discuss her trials and tribulations on Hawk Hill, bi-coastal travels, and future plans.
Basics
Hometown: Beaverton, Oregon
Class Year: 2014
Major: Double Major in Elementary Education and Special Education
Involvement on Campus: Women’s Track and Field, City Belles, Education Honors Fraternity – KDP, Koinonia leader
Relationship Status: Taken
What is your favorite thing about SJU?
“My favorite thing about St. Joe’s is its proximity to so many awesome things on the East Coast. It’s not in the heart of the city, but not in a super suburban area. It forces you to spread your wings and see what is around. Its a good location to embrace what you have here, but also experience the rest of the East Coast.”
Let’s talk boys. You’ve been in a bi-coastal relationship the past four years. Most people can’t make a City Avenue to Manayunk relationship work, how do you do it?
“The biggest thing about being in a long distance relationship is not having a present together, you have the past and a future. I think people struggle not having the day-to-day. The best way Kyle and I deal with that, is knowing that the bigger things matter, not the little details. Its okay if you miss a skype date, its okay if you can’t talk for ten minutes every day before you go to bed, but we’re in sync with the bigger things. Its the bigger things that matter.”
Tell us about your plans for the future!
“Next year, I’ll be attending grad school at Pacific University to get my master’s in Special Education and this summer, I will be working as a counselor at a camp in central Oregon. I love hiking and the outdoors so I am really excited. It is a sleep away camp for children with disabilities.”
What is the biggest lesson you have learned in college?
“Good question! When you’re coming into college, you’re coming from high school where you think you have to create who you are in relation to things that are predetermined for you such as, your high school, living with your parents, etc. Everything is taken away in terms of who you are in the confines of your own life. In college, you’re supposed to make weird decisions. You’re supposed to make friends who don’t last the four years. This is the time to experience the full spectrum of the emotions and of situations. You can leave at the end feeling really comfortable with who you are. You define who are as a person, not in this city, or with this person, but just who you are in life.”
I’m addicted to your Instagram account because of your artsy view of the world, fun activities, and traveling – what is one of the coolest trips you have taken?
“This last summer, I did a cross country road trip. It was super symbolic of my senior year. My boyfriend and I drove through ten states in ten days. We stopped at a lot of different landmarks – Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park, along the Mississippi River, and in the city of Pittsburgh. It was one of the coolest things I have ever done because not only did I do it with someone who has been a great presence in my life the last four years, but we physically drove the distance that has kept us apart for those four years. I actually had knee surgery this past summer unexpectedly and did the whole trip on crutches. There was a lot of sweating, being wheeled around and being carried! Just me, my car, my boyfriend, and the United States.”
Before she fulfills her position at camp this summer, Katie will be traveling to Italy with her mother. When she comes home, her brother and her will be driving the distance from Philadelphia to Oregon to get her vehicle back on the West Coast. As we were wrapping up, Katie confided that in all her endeavors in the past four years, another lesson close to her heart is the lesson of spontaneity. “Another thing that I have learned and came to appreciate are the ridiculous things you do in college that you will laugh at yourself for in ten years, but in this context, they’re okay. I used to take the train to Trader Joe’s to get my groceries – I was spending ten dollars just to go grocery shopping! Walking to a house party with feet of snow on the ground.
“Relating it to life and traveling, so many people wait until the perfect moment, the perfect time, but there is no perfect time, you just have to say yes sometimes.”
HCXO
Taylor