Thanks be to God, I was raised in a Catholic family! I grew up going to Mass every Saturday evening with my mom and siblings and loved helping out around the church.

During my junior year of high school, COVID temporarily closed my Catholic church, and I began going to a non-denominational church. It was there that I came to know that Jesus wanted to become my best friend, and I grew in great friendship with Him.

When I arrived at Drexel, I was still wrestling with the Catholic vs. non-denominational church and which one was the most true. Throughout my freshman year, I attended Sunday Mass at The Newman Center because the Mass obligation had been reinstated. However, I had said no to other invitations and events because I hadn’t found the authentic friendship I had found at the non-denominational church yet.

Later that spring, because of my involvement with the Drexel Basketball team, I was invited by one of the FOCUS missionaries at The Newman Center to join their athlete group, a small group for athletes at Penn and Drexel to come together for fellowship and formation. From there, I went on the Drexel spring retreat and was faced with making a decision about how I wanted to live my life during college: a life oriented toward pursuing Heaven through Jesus Christ, or one walking down the wrong pathway and bringing people down with me. Following this retreat, I began pursuing authentic friendships and a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ, which ultimately led me to living out the fullness of my Catholic faith.