Oles in Action: Samantha Roback ’19
When Samantha Roback ’19 was looking at colleges, she knew she wanted to study film.
She also knew that she didn’t want to only study film.
A liberal arts education at St. Olaf College turned out to be the perfect fit.
“I think St. Olaf is an incredible place to explore whatever creative interests you have,” says Roback, who designed her own film production major through the college’s Center for Integrative Studies and paired it with a theater major. “The liberal arts education allows you to study something like biology and then make a film about whatever you learned, or study chemistry and then make a giant sculpture based on the molecule you’re studying. And I feel like I’m much better equipped going into the work field by having that broader knowledge.”
She’s also gained a wealth of knowledge and perspective through the wide range of off-campus study programs she’s had the opportunity to participate in at St. Olaf, which for 10 straight years has sent more students to study abroad than any baccalaureate institution in the nation. She studied French in Morocco, film at a school in the Czech Republic, field paleontology in Florida, and environmental studies and filmmaking in Iceland. This fall, she participated in Global Semester, St. Olaf’s signature study abroad program.
“Each time I go abroad, I try to capture whatever happens on film,” Roback says.
The ability to pursue her passion and create her own path, both on campus and abroad, is what Roback loves about St. Olaf.
“I think being an Ole means pursuing what you’re passionate about and being surrounded by a community of people who may not be passionate about the same thing you are, but they’re passionate about watching you succeed,” she says. “And I think that makes St. Olaf a really, really inspiring and cool place to be.”
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