Posted by Vanessa, UST Senior, Catholic Studies and Communications and Journalism
If you major in both Catholic Studies and Communications and Journalism, what kind of career will you end up in? The options are seemingly limited. Perhaps you will find yourself writing for your local diocesan newspaper or doing advertising campaigns on behalf of EWTN. You might even declare your final vows and go on to publish your convent’s monthly newsletter. Or, is it actually possible that combining Catholic Studies and Communications and Journalism might open doors rather than close them?
Although I never intended to take part in the Catholic Studies program as a segue into an explicitly Catholic career, most people who are unfamiliar with the program tend to assume as much. My undergraduate experience in Catholic Studies has been a testament to the importance of faith in all areas and situations of life. Our belief in God should not be an aspect of ourselves separate from the others. Above all else, it should be the detail of our being that is most infiltrated throughout the rest: “I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your loving kindness and Your truth” (Psalm 40:10).
Upon graduation this coming May, I hope to find a job in the area of Communications. My focus has been in Visual Communication, and I would be absolutely thrilled if I could one day be a Graphic Designer. This career is not obviously linked to faith, but it is if I choose to make it so! Because of the Catholic Studies Department and its faculty, I will be able to move ahead into the workplace, confidently taking Christ with me. My daily prayer is that I might reflect Christ to all I encounter and – regardless of whether an environment be religious or secular – be a constant witness to his perfect love.
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Posted by Gwendolyn Ryan, UST Alumnus 2008, Social Work, Catholic Studies, and Philosophy
This is my second year living in Rome but I promise you, living here is never boring. There is something enticing about Rome, that just sucks you in and never spits you out. If you have lived in Rome, you know exactly what I mean. I came here to study in the Spring of 2006 at the Bernardi Campus, the semester that I spent here was one of the best experiences of my life. I moved back to Rome after colleg in September of 2008, and even for me it was a crazy thing to do. When I moved here I didn’t have a job, I hardly spoke the language and I knew only one person. After college I had agonized about what to do next, having graduated in social work, I was thinking about starting a social work job in the Twin Cities. But I couldn’t shake my memories of living and studying in Rome. I had always wanted to live in a different country on my own, the challenge and the intrigue were so enticing. I finally decided after much thought to go for it.
Rome has agreed with me. When I first arrived, I did a month-long English Teaching Certificate program that was very intense. I graduated from the program with my teaching license to teach English as a second language. After that I frantically interviewed all over the city until I finally landed a job in October. That was a very stressful time, since I had to pay rent and yet I still had no job. All the money that I had saved had disappeared for the teaching course and what was left was dwindling thanks to the high conversion rate from Dollars to Euro. I had found an apartment behind the Vatican, it was tiny and rather ugly, but I didn’t care since I lived a ten minute walk away from the Vatican. My job for a language school made me work long hours for little money, but it was worth it. I went to Papal events, traveled around Europe with cheap flights, went to mass in a million different churches (and languages), played soccer in the park, and met people from all over the world.
I have since moved across the city to a different apartment, but I am still teaching English and I really enjoy it. I teach mostly private in-home lessons now and my students range in age from 3 to 60 years old. Lessons are rarely dull, even if they involve whining children more often than not. I’m still somehow paying the rent and even traveling, and I’m still thanking God for allowing me to live here, there is nowhere else I would rather be at the moment. Viva Roma!
You know you live in Rome if:
1. You live on a busy highway but your neighbor is a rooster.
2. You are woken up in the morning because the porter is singing loudly in the street. What the porter actually does is still a mystery.
3. Pasta is on the menu, once, twice, perhaps three times a day.
4. You smile and laugh your way through the work day; never entirely sure that you have understood what is going on.
5. You can go to mass every half hour if you are so inclined.
6. The pope is your neighbor and you can meet him twice a week if you want to.
7. The bus might stop at the bus-stop where you are waiting, but it probably won‘t, at least not in your lifetime.
Posted by Monica, UST
If you like music, dancing, dessert, Christmas cheer, and the energy found in everyone who just finished classes, then the CSI/SHINE dance was the place to be on Friday, December 11. The annual Christmas dance was located in Murray-Herrick 304 this year and it was one classy event. It was so fun watching everyone file in donning their semi-formal gear and/or Christmas apparel. There were a couple Santa hats, a dozen ladies dressed as Christmas trees, a few Christmas sweaters and a whole lot of beautifully dressed people boogying on the dance floor. It was an absolute blast and what I would call a huge success for CSI and SHINE. There were a large number of people there and almost everyone was out on the dance floor bustin’ a move. It was like a big dance party that everyone was invited to and each person was free to dance as crazy or tame as they wanted. Good, clean, Christian dancin’ fun was the theme of the night and it was a night that was well needed by everyone. I, for one, believe that the CSI/SHINE dances are the best dances at St. Thomas. If someone doesn’t believe me, they need only to attend one of the dances and their hearts will be sold to the twinkling lights, the upbeat (yet appropriate) music, and the completely lovable people who faithfully attend. The next CSI/SHINE dance is on the last day of classes of Spring semester. For those who missed out on the Christmas dance, I suggest attending the spring dance to redeem yourself and have an incredible night!
Posted by Jace, UST freshman, Catholic Studies, Secondary Education, and Theology
The signs of waking up bright and early with the sun shining, the briefcases packed, and the charter bus waiting was the tip-off to an adventure of a lifetime! The Notre Dame Conference was the calling of a large sum of eager participants seeking knowledge in philosophy. Even though the trip towards South Bend, Indiana was suppose to take eight to nine hours, the cozy and warm welcoming twelve to thirteen hour bus ride (due to a flat tire) was a place of fellowship and the games ‘ninja,’ and ‘mafia.’ Beginning the trip off with this unique type of fellowship was stupendous because bonds that were made with several that continue to flourish. The conference started out with a bang, whether it was Michael Novak, Alice von Hildebrand, or numerous of other very intellectual philosopher’s, the Tommie students were “mind-blown” and yet our babbling mouths would not stop talking about what we’ve just learned. With this Notre Dame couldn’t have been a better campus, whether it be the grotto, the stadium, or (my favorite) the marvelous ‘Touchdown Jesus,’ Tommies were in awe at the beauty that this school had to offer! The fellowship flourished on the trip back, even though some games were permitted to play… the students of St. Thomas gained many experiences, much knowledge, and a unique fellowship that was taken back to our home, University of St. Thomas.
Posted by Ellie, UST Sophomore, Psychology, Music, and Catholic Studies
How many times do we leave a gathering thinking,“ well that was fun”, but yet are left with an underlying feeling that somehow there was an element of meaninglessness in the way we spent our time. As soon as I walked into the beautiful new Albertus Magnus chapel to begin the first Catholic Studies community night, I knew this would be a very fruitful gathering. The mass was beautiful, with not an empty chair to be had. Following mass, we all piled into the gathering space, definitely challenging the room’s capacity, to listen to Father Laird’s powerful reflection on Mary and her role in our lives. After joining together in raising our thoughts to the call to receive our Lord and His will in ourselves, we shared in a most delicious Italian meal and had the opportunity to discuss this reflection. The whole evening had its focus on Christ and the meaning our lives have when we live in communion with our brothers and sisters, imitating our mother, Mary. I can’t believe that anyone left our gathering without a feeling of true fullness and nourishment which was rooted in the fellowship, support, and community experienced, but definitely not hindered by the wonderful pasta!
Posted by Renee, UST Graduate Student, Master of Arts in Catholic Studies
Good morning from the Catholic Studies Women’s House! We just got back from 7 AM Mass and had breakfast together. My name is Renee Burke-Drazba and I am a first year graduate student from Boston, Massachusetts. My roommates are Marisa Wachtel, who is a senior and Abby Saffert and Joan Hendrick, who are sophomores. We go to daily Mass together every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Community life is great! Although we have very different schedules, we get lots of time to hang out and have fun.
There’s no typical day in the Women’s House. Marisa, Abby and Joan all have classes during the day and since I’m a graduate student, all of my classes are in the evening. The one night that we take off is Wednesday night. It is our community night. We rotate each week who cooks dinner-this week, Joan made tacos and Texas sheet cake, which is a super rich chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Dinner usually gets a little loud because we usually spend more time laughing than eating. After dinner, we pray a rosary together. At the beginning of the year, we wanted to choose a patron saint for our household. We chose Saint Gianna Beretta Molla, the patron saint of the pro-life movement. She was a woman who loved God and showed it by taking care of her family and by committing her daily actions to Him. We are learning more about her life together as a household and pray to her daily.
Between all the homework we have and part time jobs, we always find time to hang out and have fun. We go out for ice cream, watch movies, take trips to Coffee Bené (which is practically across the street!) and spend time with the men who live in the Catholic Studies Men’s House. Tuesday nights we watch Pride and Prejudice at their house and invite people who don’t live in the houses. I just ran my first 5K last weekend at Lake Harriet and although Joan was out of town, Abby and Marisa came to cheer me on! It’s great to know that I live with women who I can rely on, who support me and that I can have fun with.
The house we live in is so warm and cozy. We are so blessed that all the furniture was provided for us. Abby and Joan share a room with a separate office in it and Marisa and I have our own rooms. We have a huge backyard and our neighbors yellow lab, Daisy, has become the unofficial mascot of our house. She barks when we come home and loves attention. We have lots of living space and love to have people over. It’s such a blessing to live in a house that’s practically across the street from campus and it certainly feels more like home than an apartment or dorm.
That’s it for now! Come stop by and say hi if you are ever in the neighborhood. We’d love to see you!
Posted by Anthony, UST Senior
Hard hats, saws, nail guns, noise complaints, saw dust, lots of coffee (some tobacco may also have been present), shouting foremen, crews working the normal business day to shame to meet deadline, an electrician, and even an on sight firefighter. Multimillion dollar construction contract in South Saint Paul? No way. Five hundred dollar construction contract in the middle of Saint Paul. More specifically, the 2009 Saint John Vianney Seminary’s homecoming float worksite.
In regards to the float contest, the seminarians have notoriously swept the homecoming “field” for as long as present memory can recall, regardless of the blue ribbon commission’s ultimate decision. A pirate ship, armed with candy lobbing cannons; a two-story castle, whose climax was a Lord-of-the-Rings styled battle between a twenty foot long dragon, his league of orcish minions and no less than forty armored knights ; and the Tommie version of the Trojan horse, which at first appeared like a slightly obtuse football—until it paused in front of the judges and (miraculously) became a football field housing a team Tommie football players.
This year was no different. The Sems warmed themselves that snowy October morning with the literally flamethrowing exhaust of their biblically proportioned Dolorian, which came complete with fully functioning, horizontally hinged doors and an endearing white haired Doc at its helm. And in tribute to the “125 Years” theme, the 125 or so seminarians that did not play main characters of the Back to the Future trilogy donned white shirts with years 1985-2009 stenciled front and back in black spray paint, and walked in single file line, thus creating wonderful visual pun.
Unfortunately, neither the time-line, nor endearing doc, nor even the hot Dolorian could secure for them the win. Apparently, despite the snow that the Sems ordered in that morning, the fire-extinguisher-bearing fire fighter, and the clearly competent scientist present (he was even wearing a white lab jacket for godsakes), the judges did not score the float well in the “safety” category. Which apparently is a scoring category.
Oh well. Maybe this year’s loss will motivate an even more massive float next year. Who knows… only time will tell.
Posted by Jim Carrico, UST Graduate Student, Master of Arts in Catholic Studies
Last Thursday (10/22/09) the CSMA students hosted the second annual Fall Disputation. A disputation is a formal discussion upon some philosophic question, always phrased in a yes / no form. At this latest discussion the question posed was, “Is execution a legitimate form of punishment?” Most would agree that as a form of defense, execution could be resorted to in some instances. However the question was crafted so as to exclude this consideration and rather focus on the point of whether it is justifiable purely as a form of punishment. This question was elucidated by Dr. Kennedy and then taken up by, Dr. Wojda and Dr. Lu. What followed was a riveting examination of the nature of punishment in general and its aims. The fruit of the evening was that everyone went away with a more lucid sense of what issues were involved in the question. The CSMA students intend to host many more disputations in the future. So keep your eyes peeled and be sure to reply to emails and postings with any intriguing questions you may have. We are always looking for topics!
Posted by Matthew, UST Senior, Chemistry and Catholic Studies
I could not really picture what my college experience would be like if I had not chosen to be a Catholic Studies major. The courses, by design, target the person as a whole seeking to advance the intellect and increase a person’s capacity for learning in a way that, in my opinion, no other department at St. Thomas can replicate. One would think that that my mind would be in two parallel worlds if I was studying Thermodynamics and Quantum Mechanics at the same time as the Life and Thought of Cardinal Newman and Pathways and Practices of Christian Spirituality; however, it is quite the contrary. Catholic Studies combines faith and reason together, without compromising either, to create a fulfilling and deeply humanizing atmosphere. The philosophical, historical, and theological aspects of Catholic Studies courses have improved my analytical skills by teaching me to examine a subject logically, from a historical context, and with prudence. Chemistry has given me a sense of how little we actually understand about the natural world and, as a result, manifests how important it is to study our, as Chesterton says, “little sister earth” with a rational, ethical, and an imaginative procedure.
Posted by James, UST Senior, Philosophy and Catholic Studies
Any student can empathize with the unique set of fears and challenges brought forth by the beginning of a new school year. Our fresh bold feelings of hope, excitement, seriousness, and anticipation our often stifled a bit by a coupling set of fears and anxieties. It is only natural and right for us to look to our leaders for guidance and support when we experience such a mixed-bag of emotions.
At the beginning of this school year, I was blessed to take a retreat with the Catholic Studies Leadership Interns. This retreat was a wonderful opportunity for me to recall to mind who I acknowledge as my ultimate leader: Jesus Christ. With a total of five seminars, a group of about thirty Catholic Studies students learned the role of Catholic leaders in the world, which is always in the light of Jesus Christ’s perfect leadership. For example, we discussed how we define Catholic leadership, the necessity of Catholic leadership, the principles of Catholic leadership, where Catholic leadership takes place, the consequences of Catholic leadership, and much more.
We also spent a fair amount of time as a community in recreation: anything from canoeing to thrilling games of ping-pong to listening to the captivating sounds of Fr.Keating and Dr. Naughton’s guitar-playing-skills. It was a great time!
Most importantly, though, we spent time together in prayer by praying the hours of the Office, having a Holy Hour with benediction, and celebrating the Holy Mass. This, we know, is the source our communion.
All-in-all, it was a great blessing to retreat with the Interns. I was reminded of the power of Christ’s love and its uniting effects. The retreat re-ignited the Catholic vision within me; and, therefore, re-emphasized true principles through which I can orient my everyday life and lead others on the path to Christ.
Indeed, at the onset of a new school year, I empathize will all those who experience fear and anxiety. However, as Christians, we must fix our eyes on Christ who alone has the ability to dispel all fear and anxiety by revealing to us our true end. I conclude with a brief passage we read at the retreat, which was particularly inspiring to me. It was taken from a message given to the youth of America in May of 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI: “At times, however, we are tempted to close in on ourselves, to doubt the strength of Christ’s radiance, to limit the horizon of hope. Take courage!…Let your imaginations soar freely along the limitless expanse of the horizons of Christian discipleship.”