A baker, philosopher, teacher, writer, and giver of unvarnished answers; we are delighted to welcome Storm Obuchowski to the Institute of Pastoral Studies. Storm joins the IPS team as the Coordinator of Student Services. His professional experiences make him well-suited to the position and his laid-back demeanor makes him a natural fit into the IPS community.
Storm graduated with a BA in Philosophy (2013) from Loyola University Chicago. He went on to obtain an MTS degree from Boston College. Born and raised in Chicago, joining IPS has been a welcome opportunity to come back to his roots. I asked him about the discerning process that led him back home to Chicago and to IPS. He philosophically reflected on how life passes in seasons and that he came to a season of rest in his life. He was able to ‘work from anywhere’ due to the pandemic and he chose to come home to Chicago to rest and reflect.
I asked Storm how he sees his new role at IPS currently and what he’s hopeful for in the future. He said he feels very welcomed at IPS and defines his role as a nexus for the many moving pieces in the department. He’s hopeful to have the opportunity to streamline some processes in the future; with an eye towards efficiency and proactively meeting student needs. He is also a potential contributor to the IPS blog, so please stay-tuned for posts from Storm.
Every good introductory interview has a fun fact and as a fellow owner of an unusual name, I was curious about the origin story of Storm’s first name. He said that his parents are musicians and that while composing a song during her pregnancy, his parents landed on the name Storm, and it stuck. His last name, is also a good story, involving the evolution of a battle axe into a walking stick during medieval times and we made the executive decision to save that story for another post. Storm works in the IPS office in Lewis Towers, during regular business hours. He looks forward to serving the students of IPS, please stop by and say hello.