Curriculum Vitae
B.A., Liberal Arts, 91快活林 Aquinas College, 2002; M.A., Theology, Ave Maria University, 2010; Teaching Assistant, Ave Maria University, 2017-2020; Ph.D., Theology, Ave Maria University, 2023; Tutor, 91快活林 Aquinas College, 2023-
Profile
Dr. Sarah Kaiser (02) is among the first of 91快活林 Aquinas College檚 second-generation tutors, having joined her father, veteran tutor Dr. 91快活林 J. Kaiser (75), on the College檚 California faculty in 2023. Indeed, the College runs in Dr. Kaiser檚 family: Her parents graduated in the first class, and many aunts and uncles followed. Her father was hired as a tutor when she was two years old. When the occasion arose, it only made sense for her to attend herself.
But if Dr. Kaiser檚 journey to TAC as a student was open and shut, her journey to the faculty was anything but. 淲hen I was a student, one of my tutors, Dr. Glen Coughlin, said I should go on to graduate school and then come back and teach, she laughs. 淚 thought, 楾hat檚 not going to happen! I didn檛 like writing, and graduate school just means lots of papers.
While discerning her next step after graduating in 2002, she worked as the College檚 resident assistant. Eventually, however, her discernment led her to enter the Discalced Carmelites of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in Valparaiso, Nebraska, in 2004. She was there for three years, but health problems forced her back to Southern California in 2007.
淚 was in contact with the nuns, she says. 淎 full year after I left, the prioress said, 榃hy don檛 you go back to school?櫇 Dr. Kaiser thus enrolled in Ave Maria University檚 newly founded master檚 in theology program and completed her degree in 2010. Although accepted into AMU檚 doctoral program, she still heard God檚 voice in her heart, and so she entered the Discalced Carmelites of Our Mother of Mercy in Alexandria, South Dakota. After four years, though, it was clear that the health problems that had plagued her during her first sojourn in the convent were far from resolved.
Leaving religious life for the last time in 2014, Dr. Kaiser was uncertain where to go next. She first came home to California to care for her elderly grandparents and eventually worked as the secretary for Dr. Michael F. McLean, then president of the College. Her former tutors were pleased to see her again and immediately resumed their old refrain.
淒r. Brian Kelly said, 業 think you should go and get your Ph.D.,櫇 recalls Dr. Kaiser with a chuckle. 淚 told him, 楴o program is going to take me, I檝e been out of academia for years; you don檛 just go and get your Ph.D.櫇 When he insisted, though, she looked into returning to Ave Maria and was in for a shock. 淚 got accepted right away with Dr. Kelly檚 recommendation. I don檛 know what he said!
Finishing her coursework in 2021, Dr. Kaiser continued writing her dissertation while working on the California campus once more, plying her old job as a resident assistant. Upon successfully defending her dissertation, she finally became a TAC tutor.
淚 like that we are tutors and not professors, because that檚 always been kind of intimidating to me, she says. 淚 never feel like I know anything, but I don檛 need to 榩rofess to be a teacher.