My wife and I are excited to return to my Alma Mater of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville for my first year on staff! Here is a picture of 5/6 people on my team!

I have been blessed to have been raised as a Catholic since birth and even attended a Catholic School from Pre-School to 8th Grade, and yet, unfortunately, I never had much of a desire to truly live out or understand my faith, just enough to pass my religion classes. My already feeble faith life took a drastic turn, however, when I entered High School. I became obsessed with vanity, comparison, and whatever my peers had to offer me, especially when it came to the realm of pornography. For 3 years I was stuck under an addiction to porn, letting God constantly know that Owen knew how to party and God did not. Coming into college, I had no real intention of being affiliated with the Newman Center, other than attending my obligatory Sunday Mass (because why not) and maybe attending some free meals here and there. My life completely changed when I was invited into a men’s group that I had no idea what it was about. Turns out it was a purity group called “Dangerous Men”, and its goal was to free young men from the bondages of lust that SO many of them are under today. Not only was the content of “Dangerous Men” transformative, but the final retreat for it was life changing for me. When exactly did my life change you may ask? It was in the confessional for the retreat, where I laid all of my sins bare before God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and after my sins were absolved, I decided that I wanted to do my best to give my entire life to God. At the beginning of my sophomore year of college, my life skyrocketed as I began to lead a Bible study, became more involved in events and groups at Newman, and started to form the best relationships of my life, with people who actually cared about my goodness. This skyrocketing also provided amazing opportunities to grow in my relationship with God such as three SEEK conferences, two Exodus 90 fraternities, leading a college retreat, leading “Dangerous Men” with my best friend, and last but certainly not least, working as a counselor at Camp Gray Catholic Summer Camp. Working at Camp was not only the greatest experience of my life so far, but it is also where I met my future wife, Ashlyn Pitzen. So, what is the silver lining within my story? Turns out, when you try your best to give your whole life to God, not only do you understand the fullness of your identity and why you exist at all, but also LIFE BECOMES THE GREATEST EXPERIENCE EVER! I discovered that the depths of the Catholic faith are endless, and when you dive into them, you start to fall more and more in love with the person of Jesus Christ and His Church that He established. Through the many men I have been blessed to lead over the past 4 years and the many things I have told them, I always emphasize one thing in particular; that I am teaching these things to them because I lived the “college life” and when I started living my life for God, my life became immeasurably better! My greatest desire is that everyone in the world, most especially my family and friends, are able to understand even just a fraction of the joy and happiness I experience every day because I know that if they TRULY understood it, they would chase God to their heart’s content. As St. Augustine of Hippo says, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in You”. This is why God called me to fulfill His great commission with FOCUS, so as to give as much of my time as possible to guide the restlessness of the human heart toward Him, the only thing that can truly satisfy it. With an amazing organization, team, and my incredible wife by my side, I just can’t wait to see what wild journey God takes me on next!

Let me be clear, I am incapable of doing this as a full-time job without your support! With your help, I will have the absolute blessing of being able to live out what God has been stirring in my heart all these years that I have sat in my engineering classes, worrying more about the state of my peers’ souls than the content of thermofluid systems dynamics. Now, I will have availability to help them understand who God truly is and how to live out a fruitful, amazing life as a Christian, just like it was done to me! Although the financial support is necessary and immensely appreciated, honestly, there is nothing better you could do then pray for the Church, for the apostolate of FOCUS, for the souls at the college campus I will be at, and for the work that God desires to work through me as a husband, hopefully father, and missionary! Not to mention, I plan on providing for my wife and, hopefully, future kids through your support. Please understand that there is no possible way to express the gratitude that my wife and I have for your support toward our mission work as a couple and mine as a missionary! Know of my prayers for you, thank you so much, and God Bless!