World Youth Day 2016: A Pilgrimage to Peace

Jack the Bulldog in front of Świętego Józefa Church in Kraków, Poland

Since arriving in Kraków, Poland, I  have struggled to describe the experience I had while in JPII and St. Faustina’s great city. Back stateside, I always answer, “Poland was amazing!” when people ask about the pilgrimage, and I always feel like I’m lying.

The truth is this: World Youth Day changed and challenged me. From the moment my father dropped me off at the Omaha airport to the second I hugged my mother hello a week later, the trip to Poland was not an easy one. There were of course moments of great joy and companionship, but there were also moments of spiritual distress and intense physical discomfort. Perhaps great change can only come after great unrest; if so, it’s no wonder that I feel fundamentally different after visiting Kraków.

The simple, superficial reasons for discomfort were plenty. We slept on a gym floor, we walked 75+ miles in one week, we were often rained on, our feet blistered and our muscles ached. A few people in our group even lacked their luggage for half the trip as the airline attempted to find it. Bathing occurred infrequently as we had to share four showers with some fifty other people. Our trip to Poland was by no means a vacation.

The wonders, adventures, and realizations made the pilgrimage so much more than these physical discomforts. I walked the streets of Kraków with the deep conviction that I was meant to be there and I simply had to wait to discover why. I was surrounded by the love of God, embodied in the careful & adoring architectures of the the churches and in the joyful demeanors of my fellow pilgrims and of the Polish citizens. One morning a short Polish woman stopped me and two of the other Hoyas on the street, asking where we were from and profusely thanking us for coming. She hugged each of us and asked us to pray for her; I can still clearly picture her beautiful and excited smile.

Father Greg Schenden and a Polish nun in the Adoration Chapel of Świętego Józefa Church

In the most simple terms, Kraków gave me a reason to live, a reason that is all my own and not motivated by external factors and pleasures. During Saturday night’s vigil, Pope Francis implored us essentially to do better and do more. I cried through most of his speech. How, I thought, can I do better and more when I already feel tired down to my soul and aching for rest? I had come to Poland hoping to rejuvenate my spiritual life and no longer wonder why God makes me and others suffer. Instead of being given that peace, I was asked to try even harder, to push through the pain and reach out a hand to my neighbors. I felt almost betrayed and scolded.

The next morning during the closing Mass, something within me shifted. I can’t tell you what, but I could feel it; suddenly I knew that I must live even through physical pain, even through mental and emotional anguish, even through spiritual desolation, not because doing so is what’s right and moral but because I am here on this earth for something. Sometimes life is hard and rest does not come, but I am here and will be until God decides my time here has finished.

World Youth Day is an indescribable experience with love and pain and God and friends, and in Kraków this summer I found peace. So despite the vast oversimplification, I will still say: Poland, World Youth Day, Kraków, was amazing.

Dziękuję, Polska. Dziękuję, Cracovia.

Again, But Better

VCW 237, finally decorated after being occupied for three weeks

Robin the kitten in a friend's backpack

“There is a kind of magicness about going far away and then coming back all changed.”
― Kate Douglas Wiggin

Hello again, dear readers!

I have been back on the Hilltop for a little over three weeks now. I'm living in Village C West again, this time as an RA (resident assistant). I have thirty residents, who are all lovely and will likely be extremely successful here at Georgetown. (None of them is friends with me on Facebook and therefore none of them knows this blog exists, so I'm not just saying that!)

Classes just started last Wednesday, and they're picking up slowly. I know I should cherish the free time while I have it, but I'm getting antsy without that much to do. I am currently enrolled in four classes and on the waitlist for a fifth. I might actually get off the waitlist for the theology course, which would be fantastic; I had the professor last semester and loved her, so I'd probably enjoy taking another of her courses. All in all, I have a decent academic workload this semester! I have Tuesday afternoons entirely free, Monday and Wednesday from 11 to 3:30 free, and Fridays after 12:15 free. It's a solid schedule, and gives me plenty of time to attend to my many obligations. Below are my classes for this semester!

1. Linguistics: Grammatical Analysis
2. Linguistics: Language & Social Justice
3. Justice & Peace Studies: Peace Is Possible
4. Spanish: Gateway to Linguistics
5. Theology: Judaism & Gender

So far I really enjoy being an RA. I've been able to meet such incredible people that I otherwise would not have known, and I love being a resource and support for first-year students. My residents seem to love my cat, so hopefully that means I'm actually helpful to them in some way, even if it's just by providing some relaxation through kitty play time.

My kitten Robin is adorable and wonderful, and he is learning not to attack my legs, so overall, he and I are getting along well. For the most part he seems happy in the dorm room; he does get annoyed when I spend a lot of time outside of the room, but I try my best to give him enough attention and let people come over to play with him when I have to do work.

It's interesting to be back at Georgetown after three months away. In those three months, I visited Spokane, Washington, and met students from other Jesuit universities around the country. I spent many long days helping my family or avoiding do any work at all. I missed my friends and my cats, but I got to see many friends as well. I sang Outkast's "Hey Ya" at the top of my lungs with my best friend, in her car with the windows rolled down, and a woman in the next car over smiled at us. I spent time in Kraków, Poland, an experience so incredible and extraordinary that I struggle to fully describe it. While in Poland, I formed relationships with fellow Hoyas I had never met and/or spoken to before, people I now eagerly spend time with back on the Hilltop. My relationship with God entirely changed in Poland; my relationship with myself entirely changed in Poland.

I'm glad to be back, I'm excited for a new year, and I'm blessed to have more opportunities to love, to learn, and to change in this school year.

Take care!

Exeunt, Pursued by Bears

National Mall, May 8, 2016

My apologies for breaking my biweekly post schedule! I was waiting to finish finals and get back to Georgia. I am now, officially, finished with my freshman year of college! I've been home for a week and a half; I'm unpacked, mostly caught up on sleep, and settling into summer lethargy and heat.

I ended the semester with a 3.7 GPA! I still don't know my class schedule for next semester because I'm waitlisted for two courses. Now I have an entire summer to help the family move, say goodbye to Georgia, and indulge. Since my family is moving mid-summer, I won't be interning or working, so there's plenty of time to help renovate and pack, to read, to research, to run, and to enjoy the sun.

The week before I left DC, my friend Audrey asked me, "What did you learn this year?" I've been thinking about that question frequently lately. Of course I learned about linguistics, ethics, Hispanic culture, theology, and justice & peace theories, but I've learned so much more than that, too. I've learned I'm not good at sharing a living space, and I've learned I need structure to survive with sanity intact. I've learned I'm a lot like my dad in more ways than one, from our music tastes to our need for solitude and peace. I've learned the value of dialogue, of listening attentively to others' opinions and thoughts, of engaging with others' ideas. I've learned how to find God in just about anything, but especially in religious and spiritual texts of other traditions. I've learned my way around DC, ways to stay safe, the value of a square foot of space, and how often to call my parents.

This past year was far from easy, but it was worth it. I'm nervous for my sophomore year, because I'm still trying to solidify my new friendships and being home again has shown me how much loving relationships keep me emotionally and mentally healthy. One of my main goals this summer is to form strong healthy habits so that I can start my sophomore year in good shape.

I'm not sure if I will update this blog throughout the summer, or how frequently those updates may come. I hope you all have a wonderful summer whether you are working, studying, traveling, or resting! Take some time to appreciate your growth in the past twelve months. Every day is a new challenge, a new adventure. Let's enjoy it.