The Magis Pillars - Spirituality

Like other UCCE programs (and for that matter the majority of other service programs I have seen friends enter such as JVC, Capuchin & Augustinian volunteers etc.) the Magis program is driven by three pillars - one of which is spirituality. As I have progressed through my life, and on my spiritual journey I have found that each phase of my life makes me realize the necessity of God's grace and support more than the last. This has certainly been true as I enter a phase of my life which takes me away from my home, and in charge of a classroom of teenagers even on the days I forget that I am actually a REAL adult now... As I reflect on the beginning of my time in the Magis program, I realize that the spirituality pillar is in many ways two-pronged. We are asked to expand our personal relationship with God, to make progress on our spiritual journeys, but are also given support, resources and guidance to help us along the way. During the summer this support came in the form of regular faith sharing gatherings with our chaplain Fr. Anand, shared prayer/Grace before community meals, the Magis Missioning Mass, and our summer retreat at beautiful Camp Comeca. During the school year I am supported not only by Magis itself, but also the community of my school - STM - where we have weekly Mass or prayer services, grace before Lunch, prayer at every football game, and everyday over the intercom and in classes. Just as important to my summer, as these formal spirituality activities were the ones that simply arose in our time as community - the opportunities to attend daily Mass in St. John's, the simple witness of praying before lunch in Skutt, and the casual yet intellectual conversations which managed to occur in almost any setting. Magis Teachers with Omaha Archbishop George Lucas at Commissioning: St. John's Church at Creighton University - while it was lacking in the intimacy and familiarity of the Chapel of the Holy Spirit, it was beautiful and a great place to attend Mass all summer: For more photos of Commissioning, Summer Fun, Retreat etc. check out our community photo albums on Picasa at http://picasaweb.google.com/magisphotos

South Dakota!

I have officially been in South Dakota for one month and about 7 days. The people are friendly, everyone who finds out I'm from Massachusetts wants my life story (or more often to tell me their remotely-related to Massachusetts stories - these range from "I grew up in Massachusetts" to "oh I went to New England for a day once") and now that school has started I can officially say I am working in a great school system and have awesome students! Dotted amongst my fun times and friendly faces, are some moments that I can simply think of as "only in South Dakota" or at least "you know you're outside New England when...." * You see so many grasshoppers/locusts that you actually begin to wonder if we're reliving the Plagues of Egypt. * The busiest WalMart in the country is a few minutes from your house and you wouldn't dare shop there on the weekend. (I learned this one the hard way). * You see an adorable little kid in full cowboy garb in said WalMart and instead of thinking "oh cute, he's dressed up," you just think "they probably own a ranch." * Seeing people in cowboy gear in general is just not surprising. * Motorcycles are as plentiful as cars. * You order a "medium iced" in a coffee shop and they assume you mean tea. * Bars serve tequila with lemons instead of limes, and ask if you want an olive in your beer. * Students miss school for family hunting trips (I haven't gotten any pre-plans for this yet, but I know they're coming). I'm sure there are more! I'll update this post when I think of them!

I'm Bad At This Game!

So, as some people predicted. I am not quite as good at this "blogging" thing as I had hoped! My entire summer in Omaha went fabulous, though significantly lacking in any posts. I learned more than I ever thought you could learn in seven short weeks of classes, and earned a whole semester's credits in less than two months to boot! Our summer days were filled with classes, community dinners and faith sharing - but we managed to fit in lots of time for fun as well! Magis Family Photo, during a BBQ at the Jurgensen's (Mal's family): Some fave Magis summer activities included - Wing Night at the Moon (10-cent buffalo wings and lots of hockey games! - great for our displaced Penguins fans during the Cup), Bowling, Movie Nights in our dorm's Theater Room, Cali Taco (a delicious taco place featured on the Food Network), and trips to the Old Market (a cross between Northampton and Faneuil Hall)! Cohort 8 (aka C8) after Community Dinner: (Back Row L-R: Tim, me, Austin, Urse, Jill, Mal, Jason/Front Row L-R: James, Katy)

The Big Drive

Unfortunately I didn't have the chance to update this blog during our (me and my dad's) road trip to the west - but our trip definitely deserves a post! The Sites: En-route between Palmer, MA and Omaha, NE we made a few stops. One great thing about being "out west" as well as my drive here was getting to see just how diverse our country is - the landscape, the people, the cultures. Even at rest stops in rural areas we would see people of several different ethnic/racial backgrounds and here lots of languages being spoken. The two big stops enroute were Niagara Falls and Chicago! It was my first time visiting both Niagara and "Chi-town," and I was really excited since both were on my list of places to see. To summarize in a few brief words... Niagara: beautiful and amazing! Do I really need any others? Some things really can't be described. That's what pictures are for (and why I'll be posting some very soon). And then, Chicago: the Lake was beautiful and even smelled a bit like our Atlantic (you can take the girl out of New England but she'll still be a beach lover). And my first experience driving in a city larger than Worcester? Let's just say my word choice might not have been quite so kosher if I wasn't driving with dad. Overall our visits to Niagara and Chicago, and our chance to see all the sites in between (including a LOT of roadkill - 5 dead deer and dozens of other animals if you're keeping count) was a really great experience, as was spending some quality time with my dad on the drive out. The Rest Stops: This might not seem like the most logical inclusion in a road trip journal, but we drove 1400+ miles and I drink a lot of water. We made lots of rest stops. Rest stops are a simple highway plaza on the edge of an interstate, a place where there are more people from out of town than locals, yet I feel as though these places, which seem so detached from their surroundings can say a lot about the culture of the state or area. For example, New York. The majority of the rest stops in NY had a rustic-like architecture reflecting the rural area and Adirondack mountains we were driving through. The NY rest stops were also very big on recycling. Once we hit the PA border I saw a giant sign reading, "Free Coffee" now anyone who knows me probably knows I couldn't pass up the offer for a free cuppa' joe, and so we stopped at the Pennsylvania Welcome Center. The thought entering my mind was "hey pretty cool PA keep your drivers awake and safe." The free coffee stand was actually operated by a Boy Scout troop from North East, PA (that's the town not just like saying we're from WMass) and also included free tea, juice, coffee and fruit. My bets on it being someone's Eagle Scout project, but it still showed the area's value of service. As the landscape changed and grew flatter on our journey past Chicago and into Nebraska, the rest stops again changed. In Ohio/Illinois the rest stops were huge but far apart, with mall-sized food courts and free wi-fi. After hitting Iowa the main option was truck stops or small, roadside rest centers with restrooms, picnic groves and vending machines. We also noticed that none of the rest-stops, gas stations etc. in Iowa sold magazines... Dad thinks its simply that they aren't high demand truck-stop items but I believe further sleuthing might be in order! Either way, my last advice on rest stops for cross country drivers? Expect people who usually prefer a passenger role to suddenly crave driving somewhere in the middle of flat Iowa turf fields (solely out of boredom), Niagara is definitely worth the couple hour detour, and plan a rest stop for the Boy Scout's freebie trailer in P-A. Hope you enjoyed "The Big Drive" an update about my Omahan life will be up in the very, very near future (most likely this weekend)!

Ready to Leap

Well this is it. The day it all begins. I was officially offered a position teaching Church History and Ecclesiology at St. Thomas More High School in Rapid City, SD. I visited Rapid this past weekend and while I don't have any pictures to post yet, I promise it was gorgeous! Heading out I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I knew the Black Hills were an area of Hills and Mountains, but the general geography of South Dakota is plains - Rapid City is a cross between the two. There are higher hills in the distance, and long stretches of straight roads. But the majority of the city is a series of rolling hills - a lot like Worcester! Maybe thing won't be so different after all? Either way - I've made the decision, and I'm ready to leap right in! Anyway, I'm setting up this blog as a way to keep in touch with everyone. I'll try to post on a (somewhat) regular basis, so that you can see photos and hear stories! You can also leave replies to the posts on the site as well!