Discernment

Last night,  a colleague and I hosted a Discernment Dinner for three current Loyola students.  The dinner was sponsored by EVOKE.  An e-mail was sent out months ago describing this opportunity for faculty and staff, and my colleague and I thought it would be a great chance to hear more from some Loyola students who we may never otherwise have the chance to know.

One goal of the dinner was certainly to connect students with more faculty and staff.  The students were great and we learned so much about them and their paths to Loyola, as well as what they are involved with on campus today.  The one thing that stands out to me the most about last night is the opportunity we had to converse with the students about how you discover your own vocation.  What is your own personal discernment journey all about?  In other words, how do you come to the realization of what you want to do and who you want to be when you grow up?  Have you figured it out yet?

I realized during our discussion  that current high school seniors feel pressured to know exactly what they will study in college and the path they will take in building their careers.  College is that next step.  The students I spoke with last night agreed that they felt different pressures, whether it is to follow in the footsteps of a sister who is nine years older or to find a major that leads to something practical that mom and dad believe will help them find a job after college. It was refreshing to hear one student talk about her own college path, first as a biology/pre-med major to a psychology major and finally into her love of advertising and public relations. She shared that one of the best classes she took was Career and Life Planning, where she first realized that advertising may be a possible career choice that she had never thought of before. Now that student has an internship with Groupon and loves it.

Although these students had never met each other prior  to yesterday, they learned that they had shared connections through mutual friends, classes, and experiences.  The students also shared one common interest in wanting to go abroad, live remotely, and give back to society with their time and talents. They each have a love and respect of people and of different cultures, and it was truly fascinating to hear how one student grew up in Vietnam while another wants to work in Africa.  At some point all of them have considered joining the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, too.

Thank you to our Loyola students for a great evening of conversation. They are all great examples of illustrating how the college experience can still be extremely positive even if you begin your freshman year undecided about your major or future career goals.  I can’t wait to see each of these students graduate and truly make their mark on the world.