New Things
Well, hello there people of the internet. Its been a long time. I know, I'm sorry. Its just been crazy lately. The entirety of April and May were reviewing, studying and exams. Sooooo many exams. Around 15 of them actually. But good news, I got the IB diploma! Not that it really means much now, but its nice to know I got it. And then June was graduation and my birthday, in that order. One was the day after the other. 18! My parents can legally kick me out now. My bro got confirmed, my sister is off to high school, I've been up and around VA and PA visiting family and... what else? Oh yeah, COLLEGE. What? I know. Its crazy. I've only dreamed about this moment for the past four years of my life-thank you, public school system... Suffice to say, thinking about college is what kept me going through my high school years. That and a whole lot of Jesus. And coffee.
Yes, I am FINALLY done with high school. Now I am going to a place where monks roam campus, Mass is offered daily, I can take theology classes, and there is a coffee shop called Holy Grounds (I'm super excited for that one)...and guess what? I leave on Thursday. Thursday. I can't really fathom that right now. It hasn't sunk in yet. I mean I'm packing and have all (well almost all) of my dorm stuff and I finished the summer reading (yeah, I still have summer reading, and its all pretty and annotated now because I've gotten into that habit, thank you IB.) I've even met a bunch of awesome people! My roommate is amazing, the suite-mates and other friends I've met so far have been awesome and I haven't even gotten to campus yet but I've gotten to talk with, and email back and forth with some of the professors. The dining hall is great. Yes, miracle of miracles, the food is really good! But, I still can't believe that my summer is basically over. Not that I'm getting bitter about it, mind you, just surprised at how quickly it flew by. I'm getting quite sentimental. I can't even drive around town without thinking about how much I'm going to miss this place and that place and my neighborhood and my Church and the people here. But its exciting and its happening, soon. Very soon.
Another wonderful aspect of going to Catholic college is discernment. Yes, if you couldn't tell by the monks and the whole Holy Grounds thing, I'll be at a Catholic college. A dream come true! Having daily mass, and the opportunity to visit Jesus in the Bl. Sacrament 24/7 is really going to be great for my discernment. Life, I find, is continuous discernment. Every question I face I need to solve with prayer, whether that be which college I chose, who I roomed with, my major etc... all of those were answered through careful discernment and much prayer. No step in my life should be taken without it, because I don't trust myself to have the answers. I'm not in control. If I've learned anything about life over the few years I've been around, its that I'm not in control of anything. He is. So, it makes sense that I would go to Him for the answers. I know right now, that He wants me in college. Now, whether later in life He wants me on a mission field in Africa, in a home with a family, in a school teaching first graders, in a convent, or whatever it may be... I don't know. I don't necessarily need to know right now, do I? I know what He wants of me in this moment, and that is enough. Sure, I will date in college (to my father's chagrin). I will go to vocations weekends (he's ok with that one). I will do internships in elementary schools. I will do service projects. I'm not going to sit around my dorm idle, waiting for Jesus to descend from Heaven and tell me face to face that He wants me to do X,Y and Z. He will let me know when I need to know. I trust that. I trust Him.
In the mean time I plan on living life to the full (John 10:10) and campus has plenty of opportunities for that! Bible studies, swing dancing, ballroom dancing, the white water rafting center near campus, daily Mass, Adoration, the March for Life, joining a household, taking part in theater, etc... (yes, when I said living life to the full I meant living life without doing the stuff I know I'll deeply regret later on in life... I can't tell you how relieved my dad is about that).
I can't wait to start this new part of life, and apparently it can't either because its happening in a few days! I will keep you all updated on college life and life in general. Pax, friends!
Yes, I am FINALLY done with high school. Now I am going to a place where monks roam campus, Mass is offered daily, I can take theology classes, and there is a coffee shop called Holy Grounds (I'm super excited for that one)...and guess what? I leave on Thursday. Thursday. I can't really fathom that right now. It hasn't sunk in yet. I mean I'm packing and have all (well almost all) of my dorm stuff and I finished the summer reading (yeah, I still have summer reading, and its all pretty and annotated now because I've gotten into that habit, thank you IB.) I've even met a bunch of awesome people! My roommate is amazing, the suite-mates and other friends I've met so far have been awesome and I haven't even gotten to campus yet but I've gotten to talk with, and email back and forth with some of the professors. The dining hall is great. Yes, miracle of miracles, the food is really good! But, I still can't believe that my summer is basically over. Not that I'm getting bitter about it, mind you, just surprised at how quickly it flew by. I'm getting quite sentimental. I can't even drive around town without thinking about how much I'm going to miss this place and that place and my neighborhood and my Church and the people here. But its exciting and its happening, soon. Very soon.
Another wonderful aspect of going to Catholic college is discernment. Yes, if you couldn't tell by the monks and the whole Holy Grounds thing, I'll be at a Catholic college. A dream come true! Having daily mass, and the opportunity to visit Jesus in the Bl. Sacrament 24/7 is really going to be great for my discernment. Life, I find, is continuous discernment. Every question I face I need to solve with prayer, whether that be which college I chose, who I roomed with, my major etc... all of those were answered through careful discernment and much prayer. No step in my life should be taken without it, because I don't trust myself to have the answers. I'm not in control. If I've learned anything about life over the few years I've been around, its that I'm not in control of anything. He is. So, it makes sense that I would go to Him for the answers. I know right now, that He wants me in college. Now, whether later in life He wants me on a mission field in Africa, in a home with a family, in a school teaching first graders, in a convent, or whatever it may be... I don't know. I don't necessarily need to know right now, do I? I know what He wants of me in this moment, and that is enough. Sure, I will date in college (to my father's chagrin). I will go to vocations weekends (he's ok with that one). I will do internships in elementary schools. I will do service projects. I'm not going to sit around my dorm idle, waiting for Jesus to descend from Heaven and tell me face to face that He wants me to do X,Y and Z. He will let me know when I need to know. I trust that. I trust Him.
In the mean time I plan on living life to the full (John 10:10) and campus has plenty of opportunities for that! Bible studies, swing dancing, ballroom dancing, the white water rafting center near campus, daily Mass, Adoration, the March for Life, joining a household, taking part in theater, etc... (yes, when I said living life to the full I meant living life without doing the stuff I know I'll deeply regret later on in life... I can't tell you how relieved my dad is about that).
I can't wait to start this new part of life, and apparently it can't either because its happening in a few days! I will keep you all updated on college life and life in general. Pax, friends!
A Student's Prayer (by St. Thomas Aquinas)
Come, Holy Spirit, Divine Creator, true source of light and fountain of wisdom! Pour forth your brilliance upon my dense intellect, dissipate the darkness which covers me, that of sin and of ignorance. Grant me a penetrating mind to understand, a retentive memory, method and ease in learning, the lucidity to comprehend, and abundant grace in expressing myself. Guide the beginning of my work, direct its progress, and bring it to successful completion. This I ask through Jesus Christ, true God and true man, living and reigning with You and the Father, forever and ever.
Amen.
Amen.
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