I am currently serving as a FOCUS missionary at the University of Nebraska Kearney (UNK, Go Lopes!). For my first semester with FOCUS, I get the opportunity to invest directly into the students on UNK’s campus until January.

In January, I will be commissioned to serve wherever the Lord sees I am needed across the country. While I do not yet know where God will send me, I am excited to follow His call for me and continue working in many college students lives as they discover their identity in Christ and grow as missionary disciples.

The stronger my relationship with Christ has become, the more I am able to notice all of the small things God did in my life (not by coincidence, but with perfect intentionality). Looking back, I can see His hand in moments that seemed ordinary at the time but ultimately changed the course of my life. I would love to share a piece of that story with you.

Coming into college, I saw it as an opportunity to start over and finally “be the real me.” I thought this would be my chance to find my people, fit in, and discover who I was meant to be. Although I would love to say my plan worked out perfectly, it instead led to a season of brokenness. I joined a sorority and became caught up in the endless cycle of partying, comparison, gossip, drama, and seeking validation from others. I spent so much energy trying to become someone worthy of belonging that I lost sight of who I truly was.

In the midst of the brokenness, God quietly began placing people in my life. One of those places was the Newman Center, where I attended my first-ever Catholic Bible study and, for the first time, encountered the idea that my identity was not something I had to earn. I began to learn what it meant to be a daughter of God, deeply known, deeply loved, and created with purpose.

In my sophomore year of college, I met the woman who would forever change my life. A FOCUS missionary who invited me into her Bible study and eventually into discipleship. Through her friendship, mentorship, and witness, she showed me what it looked like to authentically pursue Christ. She challenged me to stop settling for comfort, to trust God’s plan more than my own, and to move beyond the fears that had kept me from fully surrendering my life to Him. She became not only a teacher but one of my closest friends.

As a convert to the Catholic Church herself, her love for Christ and His Church was contagious. Through countless conversations, prayers, and moments together, she helped guide me closer to the Lord. What began as a simple invitation to Bible study became a life-changing friendship that ultimately led me home to the Catholic Church. On April 20, 2025, she stood beside me as my confirmation sponsor as I was received into the Church.

When I look back, I often think about where I would be if she had never reached out to me. If she had not invited me into Bible study, pursued me in friendship, and walked with me through life’s challenges, I do not know if I would know Christ the way I do today. Her willingness to say “yes” to God’s call changed the trajectory of my life.

That is why I am saying yes to FOCUS. There are students on college campuses right now who are searching for the same things I was searching for: belonging, identity, purpose, and love. My hope is to be for them what my missionary was for me: someone who walks alongside them, points them to Christ, and helps them discover the truth that they are deeply loved by God. Just as one person’s investment transformed my life, I pray that God will use me to walk with students as He transforms theirs.

Every student I meet has a story. Some are searching for authentic friendship, some are wrestling with questions about faith, some have never experienced what it means to be known and loved by God. The beautiful reality is that lives are changed when someone takes the time to walk with them, listen to them, and invite them into a relationship with Christ.

That is why mission partners are so essential. Your support does far more than provide a paycheck. It creates the opportunity for me to be fully available to students, so they can find what it means to be “fully alive.” Every bible study, 1:1 time, discipleship meeting, retreat, and moment of support is made possible because faithful supporters choose not only to invest in this incredible mission but to walk alongside me in this journey to sainthood.

When you join my team through prayer and financial support, you become part of every life that is transformed. Together, we can reach students during one of the most influential seasons of their lives and help raise disciples who will carry the Gospel into their families, parishes, workplaces, and communities for years to come.

“The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.” (Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta) On college campuses, many students are searching for belonging and purpose. Through FOCUS, we meet students in that loneliness and invite them into a life-changing relationship with Christ.

“Therefore, we ought to support such persons, so that we may be co-workers in the truth.” (3 John 1:8). This was written by John the beloved to Christians who were supporting missionaries spreading the Gospel. John teaches that when people support missionaries through prayer, generosity, and encouragement, they become “co-workers in the truth” and share in the mission. This reminds us that missionaries are not the only ones sharing the Gospel. Through prayer and financial support, mission partners become “co-workers in truth,” sharing in the mission and its impact. Every life changed on campus is the result of a team working together to bring others to Christ.