As a junior in my first clinical placement, we do a lot of reflections about ourselves, our goals, achievements, progress, and things we need to work on. While writing for my clinical placement,
I keep thinking more and more about how far I have come since entering college.
I come from a somewhat small, suburban town in central New York. I graduated with about 180 students where we all knew each other and all had our own friend groups – the typical high school life. So coming to Nazareth was a big change for me (even though Naz’s undergrad is small compared to other colleges)
and I wanted to experience it all!
I had plans to get involved in everything that I did in high school – community service, music clubs, sports teams – but that changed, for the good, when I got to Naz.
Even though I wanted to be involved in everything, I soon realized there just was not enough time in the day to be involved in everything I wanted to do as well as keep my grades in good standing. There were a few things that I still made a priority to get involved in; I joined music therapy club (AMTAS) and got a job on-campus that was not too time-consuming.
Something I was not too familiar with though was my spiritual life. On move in day, I met the Catholic chaplain and immediately wanted to join this community.
Because I was so warmly welcomed by the Center for Spirituality community, I became more involved in special events and weekly gatherings.
This past fall, I went to a monastery for a weekend and learned about monastic life while also having a chance to relax off campus. I have also been attending Taize worship which is offered once a month. I even recently had the opportunity to go to Taize, France where this practice was first created.
When entering college, I wanted to have many familiar things around me to keep me comfortable,
but the whole point of college is to go outside your comfort zone.
I would not trade any experiences I have had with the Center for Spirituality community with anything because these experiences were the ones that were out of my comfort zone. Because of this, I changed as a person in my beliefs and views – I believe for the better – and formed incredible friendships that I hope will carry over my lifetime.
All in all, I just want to say that college shouldn’t be a place to totally change who you are, but to find what may be pulling your curiosity and go for it. You will never know the experiences you will have and the people you will meet. And it will be worth it!
