It feels incredibly “right” that I am finishing my time at Holy Cross where I started, in a CBL course. I have taken quite a few along the way, but as I searched for classes I made sure I would have in-class reflection and discussion about my site with my peers. I am so grateful for the depth of relationships I have been able to form with my professors and classmates alike in CBL courses, and this semester taking both “Seeking Justice” and “Liberation Theology” I am granted that opportunity. I am certainly not taking it for granted, as my moments here on the hill are numbered, and am appreciating every minute of discussion.
Right now I am sharing time with G, a young woman participating in the Job Corps curriculum in Grafton as she studies to become a Certified Nursing Assistant. I had gotten to know G through the Worcester Public Schools Transition Program and am grateful to still be able to spend time each week with her at Job Corps as she has transitioned out of WPS since turning 22. I have been a witness to her resilience and am in awe of her strength as she has entered this new opportunity with her head held high. She has navigated a very complicated transportation system to get there, has met a whole new group of people she has never known before, has been introduced to a difficult curriculum as she prepares to take her CNA exam, all while laughing and soaking up the world around her. It makes me sad to think that my time with G is limited, as is my time at Holy Cross. I can only imagine her thoughts as she prepared for her transition from WPS to Job Corps: saying her goodbyes, eating in the cafeteria one last time, and savoring her final walk to the library as she bid farewell to a place that had become home. Yet, none of this is evident in our conversations and her experience at Job Corps. She is truly present in each moment, working through all of her studies with extreme care while meeting new friends each day.
I hope to channel G’s bravery and courage as I enter a new chapter of my life. As I transition from my life on the Hill to my life in West Hollywood, LA as a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in August I must live more like G. I hope I can be half as outgoing, as hardworking, and full of life as I leave my comfortable, lovely home on Mt. St. James and forge a new path in a very new and unfamiliar place. I am so endlessly grateful for my time and relationship with G for more reasons than can be named, and will hold these in my heart as reminders of home and courage as I move very far away. I know that even though G will not be in LA with me, our time together will be etched in who I am forever.
