I currently serve at Kansas State University as I finish my last semester studying Animal Science! I am excited to continue mission in a place that is so near and dear to my heart! #gocats #eatbeef

Growing up as a cradle Catholic, I attended private gradeschool and highschool, prayed, and received the sacraments in community- but never understood the concept of religion as a way of life rather than a structure. I truly witnessed Jesus for the first time at a Steubenville Conference entering into high school. After that moment, I knew that I was never going to be the same and wanted to start living differently.

As I started to grow my faith in high school I quickly realized that following the faith was not going to be easy. Just like Simon Peter, the Lord was continuously knocking on my door, but I was not fully answering. I excelled in my grades, was succesful in many indeavors, attended mass on Sundays, but still felt that I was missing something.

Entering into college, I was confronted with the reality of a much bigger world, and the idea that I had to make a choice of how I wanted to live my life.I began getting involved at St.Isidore’s Newman Center at Kansas State through events and bible studies. There, I began to see the importance of surrounding myself with a good Catholic community. I was blessed to be surrounded by FOCUS missionaries, and I was deeply moved by their way of life—one that reflected Jesus in their desire to truly know each person’s soul and to make disciples. After attending a retreat my sophomore year the Lord revealed to me that it was Him, He was the something that I felt was missing. I had been living a life of faith, but still was continuing to put pressure on myself to peform and live up to wordly standards. Standards that continued to leave me conflicted, wanting more, and empty. As I began to live in truth and place my identity in Jesus Christ I found great freedom and joy. We cannot live for this world, nor live up to the expectations of it, because we were not made for it. As students enter college and are faced with the same question of “How do I want to live my life?”, I desire to make this truth known to everyone – that they are loved, seen, and counted in the flock of a world that feels so broken.

When I answered the call to join FOCUS, I made the decision to rely on the spiritual and financial support of mission partners to help send me on mission. Your kind contributions allow me to fully enter into my mission of making Christ’s joy and name known. When you give you are not just contributing financially, but also joining me in mission, getting the chance to see firsthand how Christ works in others’ lives! I’m excited for us to fulfill the great commission together !!