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Congratulations to Dr. Jennifer Schmitt Carnell

Congratulations to Dr. Jennifer Schmitt Carnell

Our only daughter, Jenn, has reached a major milestone.

She started this journey while at Stetson University. By the time she graduated with a double major in English and German, she knew she wanted to be a professor. Her professors were an inspiration to her.

In 2013, she began applying to seven grad schools for a Doctorate in English, but none of them accepted her. She stayed in Orlando and worked at Cru headquarters. She decided to try again in 2015. She applied for a Master’s in German to four different schools. Three accepted her. One school replied with wide-open arms. The University of Minnesota accepted her for a six-year paid program to receive a Ph. D. We were floored. We knew God had honored her original desire to aim for a Ph. D. Eight years later, in June, we joined her in celebrating her achievement and her determination. Her specialty is Medieval German Literature. We call her Doctor Jenn. But let’s go back to 2015…

The Journey

At the time, Jenn was dating Brian, a UF friend of Josh’s. Brian took a step of faith and moved ahead of her, finding roommates and a job at the University of Minnesota. He proposed a few months after Jenn settled in and began her studies. They were married June 3, 2016, in Orlando.

2020 was an eventful year. Jenn completed her coursework and was doing more teaching. She also started shaping the topic for her dissertation. Covid-19 arrived, and the university switched to online teaching. She also switched advisors since the professor was not a good fit for her. She took maternity leave to have Kent, born May 8, 2020.

Each succeeding year, she would do research, teach, and help raise an active little boy. Jenn had many wonderful opportunities to present papers at Medieval conferences, study in Germany, and more.

Finally, in February 2023, she met over Zoom with her professors, family, and friends. We watched Jenn defend her dissertation, “Repeat the Sounding Joy: Hearing Communal Joy in Medieval German Literature”. Dr. Parente, who helped Jenn reach her goal, called her a true Medievalist. She went beyond Medieval German Literature to understanding the Medieval period in Europe. She examined the role of joy in secular and sacred communities in Latin, French, and German texts. She passed with flying colors.

We were planning on a fun graduation week with Jenn in May. Unfortunately, all our Minnesota family were quite sick, so we postponed our trip. Jenn was well enough to attend the stadium event and also to receive her diploma in a second ceremony.

By the time we came in June, they were all well, and we could enjoy a fun week together. Because of being sick, Jenn had rescheduled part of her graduation ceremonies. We enjoyed a personal “hooding” ceremony with her professor, friends, and also Sus’ sister and her husband. We enjoyed meeting her professor and her friends, that supported and encouraged her along this eight-year journey.

One of the big areas of support for Jenn was an academic Christian ministry on campus called Anselm House. Her friends there helped her abide in God’s way as she navigated grad school.

She is currently working remotely with a manuscript library for a three-year commitment. She is helping modernize an extensive Medieval manuscript database. She will be researching and cataloging thousands of German manuscripts.

Jenn’s long-term goal is to be a college professor. One highlight for her was a Fellows program. Jenn participated three different semesters. In the program, a few graduate students travel to Minnesota high schools to encourage the study of German. She was able to guide students through reading a Medieval text. Jenn explains, “The students saw the fancy script and the older, more irregular spellings and immediately responded, ‘I can’t read that. But invariably, every class could read the text by the tenth word or so. It was amazing to see them get over the initial barrier and realize that they can read older forms of language.”

Jenn worked very hard, overcoming quite a few obstacles. We are very proud of her and her persistence to pursue her dream. Jenn is grateful for what God has done for her. We look forward to how He will continue working in and through her and her family on the road ahead.

 Thank you for your prayers for our family.

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