I am so excited to be serving at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa! In the picture above, starting from the left, is our campus minister Megan, my teammate Anita, myself, my teammate Philip, and our team director Tyler! The Lord has worked in my life so intentionally during my time in Iowa so I am beyond happy to continue growing closer to Him and helping others do the same, while staying in Iowa! It was a Drake missionary who was so influential in my life at a FOCUS tailgate, making it so clear to me how important it is to pursue the Lord everyday in our lives. It feels so providential to be able to fill her very spot at Drake. Within FOCUS, I will be serving as a Varsity Catholic missionary, intentionally leading student athletes. Being a student athlete is a busy, chaotic life that is hard to understand until you have experienced it yourself. It is challenging, yet rewarding, but opens up such great opportunities for community and authentic friendship. I am very thankful for my time as an athlete, but also understand how difficult it is to keep your identity in Christ and not in athletic performance. I am hoping to help them build their identity in Christ while enabling them to use their God given gifts in athletics! I am ready to see how the Lord can use me and my story serving athletes at Drake!

I am blessed to have grown up in a Catholic family in Wichita, KS, attending Catholic schools through high school. (Ask me about the Diocese of Wichita – it’s awesome!) Once I reached college I had to make a decision whether I was going to stay committed to my faith, with no other accountability but myself. Although I continued going to mass every weekend, I was living for all the things of this world throughout the rest of the week. The college scene is full of fun, social interaction but it is often a place where people lose themselves, as I felt I did. 

At the end of my second year at the University of Northern Iowa, a teammate from my soccer team invited me to attend an athlete bible study at the Catholic student center. Slowly the Lord started to work in my life through this one small invitation and my small ‘yes’. The next fall, by the grace of our Lord, I went to a college football tailgate put on by FOCUS and genuinely met some of the most joyful, Christ-loving people I had ever met. It was their clear zeal for their faith and happiness beyond anything I had seen before that motivated me to switch the priorities I had in my life thus far. I attended my first Seek conference in January 2025, listened to talks the Lord knew I needed to hear, as well as gained virtuous friendships unlike anything else. 

The next year I bought into my faith and decided that God, and my relationship with Him, would be at the center of my life going forward. I began attending daily mass, praying daily rosaries, and pursuing Him each and every day. I came to experience the joy and love of the Lord and finally felt whole. In my senior year at UNI I was blessed to lead ten, amazing freshman girls in bible study and walk with them in their faith lives. I found so much joy in helping them know the Lord as well as I do now, and deeply desired to continue doing that. Since FOCUS played such a large role in my life leading me to my faith, I feel so confident the Lord is calling me to do the same for others.

The Lord desires each and every one of us to know him personally and to have a deep relationship with Him. Choosing Him is the most important decision we can make each day of our lives. Now, I want to help others find Him as well one small yes at a time. I pray that I can be the joy of the Lord that others see, just like the first FOCUS missionaries I encountered were for me. 

God has called every one of us to partake in His mission in bringing others to know and love Christ. Whether that be actively pursuing people on a college campus or supporting from afar through prayer or financial resources, every person is just as equally important and as equally called by God. I believe God has asked me to mission on the college campuses to help students grow in their personal relationships with Christ, but I cannot do it without you. The Lord has put you in my life or on my page for a reason! I would love it if you would consider joining the mission and helping support me!