Week Four

I am at my most peace and most joy when I travel. Wherever it is that I go, and whether it is through driving or flying, I feel most peaceful. When I travel and get to experience life and the world in a different manner I feel that I am able to relax and let my troubles stay behind. When I go somewhere unique and different I feel that no one can get to me, that I can think for myself and be able to let my heart find peace and connect with myself. This is when I am able to reflect on my days, my troubles, my excitements, my life and my passions. Oddly enough, traveling and vacations for me are the most rewarding. I get to accomplish things that I struggle to get done during my everyday life, focus my head and heart in order to put my life and current situation in perspective. To me, this is peaceful. My time alone traveling, even if it is with family or friends, makes me appreciate life and all of its benefits and always leaves a lasting impact on my head and heart. I feel mentally focused after my travels and my heart feels refreshed and rejuvenated to be able to connect with my passions and remain opened to life and all of the endless possibilities for myself. For reasons I cannot explain, traveling influences me, excites me and drives me to be the best person I can possibly be. This past summer I got the opportunity to intern in Brazil for 6 weeks. This trip was most rewarding for me not simply because of the work experience and tools that I gained from it but also because it allowed me to grow as an individual and feel in control of my own life, thoughts and path in the world.

Week Three

What would I do in the last hour of my life?  Where would I be and who would I want to remember me and how?  In my last hours, I would like to make my best efforts to tell those in my life who have made a lasting impact on it, who have made a difference for me and shaped me, that I cannot express truly how much they have done for me.  More specifically, I would like to tell my father that what he has done for me over the years and how he has sacrificed for me and raised me means the world to me.  My father and I have had an interesting relationship.  My parents divorced when I was only two years old and although separated by nearly 50 miles, my father made it his number one priority, over supporting himself, his job, his son and my stepmom, to be in my life at every moment.  My father would drive hours to come watch my little league games, spend nights driving me to and from his house just so we could spend time together and talk to me for endless hours each night on the phone for nearly 15 years just so I felt that he was there.  His biggest sacrifice that he made, one which I don't ever think that I could truly thank him enough for, was when he relocated 100 miles from his home, his job and his life in order to perserve my well being and happiness.  Seeing that my mother was struggling with alcoholism which was unknown to me really at the time, and just prior to her moving into a rehab center, my father transitioned his life in order for me to still have some normalcy in it.  His new life consisted of a grueling six hour commute to work, a more expensive home, another mouth to feed, but he never complained.  His dedication and love for me goes beyond words and without him I know for a fact that I would not be in this position today.  He is my leader, my role model and my hero for what he has done.  My only wish is that I could be half the man and father that he was for me, because he is one of a kind.  In my last hour, or in his, I will make sure that he knows what a special person that he is to me and that I love him.  I would like to be remembered in my last hour the same way that he will be remembered by me in his last hour.

Week Two

My time of crisis started when I was an upperclassman in high school. Shortly before my senior year, my mother was checked into an alcohol rehab center to fight her battle with alcoholism. Her decision to finally get help with her problem made a major impact in my life. For one, it showed me the power of addiction and the strength, inner courage and desire it takes to overcome such an addiction. It also showed me how such an addiction can strain even the most powerful and strong relationships, but at the same time how such an addiction can bring people closer together and show what individuals are truly made of. My mother raised me as a single parent. With that being said she was my best friend. However, when she left to battle her addictions I felt a piece of me leave too. Her absence from my high school graduation, my moving in day at college and my overall everyday life put a great hole in our relationship. It took nearly three years for me to see her again and take the steps to rebuilding our relationship. This was such an emotion rollercoaster and crisis for me as I did not think that I could ever have the same relationship and friendship that I did with my mother before she left. But some how some way I found strength and courage, like she did, to overcome my own crisis and make the strides to find my friend again.

Week One

Why Ignatius Loyola?

After two years at Loyola, I have always heard about Ignatius but didn't really know anything at all about him.  I was raised catholic and until coming to Loyola I was clueless even about the name Ignatius.  I enrolled in this class really because I would feel pretty stupid for not knowing or understanding anything about Ignatius Loyola and graduating from Loyola University.  Also, I was hoping that enrolling in this class could potentially open my eyes a little more to spirituality, not just religion in general.  Over the past few years I have become interested in learning a bit more about spirituality and how it can relate to me, or I can relate to it.  After just two weeks in this class so far I feel that I am not only learning more about Ignatius and spirituality, but myself in general and how spirituality relates to my own life.  I am feeling more comfortable with the idea of being spiritual and the fact that it has to be found within oneself, something that I never really thought about.  I am enjoying that this class is so far challenging in the sense that it is getting me to think critically and outside the box, something that I did not think a religious studies class could really grab my attention and do.  In the end, I am excited to continue the semester and see what I can learn and maybe how my new knowledge can shape me, my growing mind and my overall life in general.