What years were you a student at OSU?

Fall 2009 - Fall 2013

What year(s) were you a member/participant of the Newman center at OSU?

Started with Freshman year with Kairos ( What it was called before Fragua, before alpha). Participated all four years I was at college.

What did you major in at OSU?

Mathematics, with minors in computer science and music

Where do you work now? What is your current job title/role?

I am a mom of two and full time home maker. My husband, Eric, is a software developer at Tektronix.

What have you done since graduating and leaving the Newman center? What's going on in your life now?

My husband and I got married at St Mary's in 2015 and moved up to Tigard, first, but now Beaverton. We welcomed our first baby girl April 2016 and our second girl October 2018. I've been a full time mom ever since!

Back in 2015, another friend from the Newman center knew a lot of us that had just gotten married and moved up to the Beaverton area and we started a Lenten small group. We all knew that we needed to band together to support each other in faith and community, so we've been meeting weekly ever since. The missionaries always used to talk about sending us out into the real world, even naming one of their classes "catapult." We joked about how we were getting in our own little space ship and leaving the mothership (the Newman center) and going out to keep the faith and spread the good news. Ever since, we've been calling our group "Escape Pod"!

I've been so grateful to grow in Christian friendship with my fellow Newman center escape pod members and have them help me be accountable in growing in holiness and traveling on my journey to heaven. As a stay at home mom, I don't see other adults very often and I’m not sure what I would do without them. We have Bible studies, share prayer requests, volunteer, and more. I'm so grateful for Newman for bringing us all together and sending us out in our own little Escape Pod.

What were the most memorable retreats/experiences/events from your time at the Newman Center and why?

For sure my most memorable experience was the Fragua retreat. Not necessarily because I had a super great time but because it helped me see my life more clearly during a rough patch in my life. The retreat helped push me to do some things that I kind of already knew that God had been nudging me to do. I loved the adoration and mass in the little chapel. I always felt like that was the true center of the Newman Center. Sometimes when I was having a rough day, I would stop for a couple minutes of prayer before the Tabernacle and always felt more at peace.

I also enjoyed the camping trips because it was an opportunity to get to know people deeper and have some fun.

Has anything you gained or learned from the Newman center helped or benefited you in life now? If so, how has it helped?

I remember the missionaries always saying things like "this is more important than your school work/degree" and I remember thinking I guess... But not really believing it.

I actually tried to bring my science textbook on the Fragua retreat. Did I have time to study? Nope. Did I get a C on the test, yep.

But now that I'm older, graduated, married, a mom, I think I understand better what the missionaries meant about it being more important. After my entire life of education and striving to be the best in academics, I realize my grades don't matter as much as my relationship with God.

After having my own kids, I've realized, all I want for them is to grow up and choose Jesus. I just want to be in heaven with them. Of course I want them to succeed, get married, have a good career, have children, live a long life, etc. But ultimately, all I want is for them to be a saint. How clearly I now understand what my heavenly father wants for me: exactly what I want for my own children- choose Him.

Now I see that going on the Fragua retreat definitely changed my life for the better and aligned me more on the pathway to heaven. The C I got on that science test? Doesn't matter at all.

Do you have an important memory, special spiritual moment, or funny story from your time at OSU Newman center to share?

Since getting married, my husband went through RCIA and joined the Catholic Church. But it hasn't been an easy journey and the journey continues, but I remember once, Teo came up to me and told me that all I needed to do was to Pray with CONVICTION about my (then, future) husband, and that God would work in his heart. It just has always stayed with me, how he said I needed to pray with *conviction*. I needed to believe that, what felt impossible, could be done. I needed to pray believing that God could work in him- WAS working in him. Every time I start to get worried about something or feel like something is impossible/that it could never happen. I try to remember that I need to pray with conviction and believe that God is already working in that situation. That moment with Teo has stuck with me.

What is one piece of advice would you give current OSU Newman college students?

My most important advice is, have a faith game plan for when you leave college.

You can't do it alone! It's so easy to let other things become more important than God.

If you are moving away after college, find a young adult group to join when you move there. Group up with other Newman people in the area. Get involved at the church- volunteer with the teens, become a lector, join knights of Columbus, do a yearly retreat. Even if it's just join a Catholic Facebook group, do something that will keep you accountable and a part of a faith group.

I've watched many Newman friends stop going to church, fall away, and be influenced by 'the world.' Mostly because they had no faith support people. Put yourself in a position that, when you stop feeling on fire, other people can help reignite the flame, or at least keep it smoldering!

In the world, it can be easy to think that your experience at Newman was 'just a dream,' 'not real life' 'naive about the world' but I would argue that your experience at Newman is MORE real life than what media, other people, the world will tell you. It's a taste of God's plan for your life and your life in heaven. Don't let the light be clouded. Get a support group!

Second, like I said earlier, your relationship with God IS more important than any job, grade, promotion, even other relationships. Don't forget a long-term, heavenly perspective! Many saints have been poor, uneducated, single, lost status or jobs, spoken against mainstream culture, because God truly matters most.

I wish you all the best. Keep fighting the good fight.