Student Feature: Meet Elizabeth

In addition to our Chicago campus, Loyola IPS offers students the opportunity to study both online and in Rome. Elizabeth is just one student taking advantage of our ever-expanding online program. Read below to learn a little more about an online student’s perspective of IPS.

Full Name: Elizabeth Callaghan

Nickname: Liz

Favorites: I follow Australian rules football and my team is Collingwood, known as the Magpies. I love reading Nordic crime thrillers. I also love going to Europe to look at modern art!

Hometown: Canberra, Australia

Previous education:
The last higher education study I undertook was a Masters in management and public policy at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.

What were you doing before beginning your IPS journey?
I have worked for the past seven years at Catholic Health Australia as the Director of Strategic Policy. Catholic Health Australia is the peak body for all Catholic health, aged care and community services Australia wide. My areas of expertise are in strategic planning, health workforce planning, social determinants of health, catholic bioethics and palliative care. I am just leaving Catholic Health Australia to begin in the role of CEO for Palliative Care Australia, the peak organization for palliative care in Australia.

What made you decide to come to Loyola IPS?
I have always been interested in Ignatian spirituality and I intend to eventually return to the catholic sector. For this reason, I was looking for something that would provide me with not only solid grounding in theology, as well as meet my strong interests in bioethics and social justice, but also provide me with an internationally recognized qualification.

What are your studies focused on?
I am enrolled in the Masters of Mission and Health Leadership.

What are you most looking forward to accomplishing during your time at Loyola IPS and how does that relate to your future goals?
At this point in time, I am looking forward to just being able to keep up with the work as I have quite a busy job. I am hoping to be confident in understanding systematic theology and consolidating my knowledge in the area of bioethics. I think a bit of health leadership knowledge would not go astray as well, particularly for my new role!

Do you have a favorite class or one you look forward to taking?
Well, I have only experienced one class thus far, the theology and ministry introduction. I have to say, the lecturer Peter Jones is just terrific and makes everything so accessible and easy to understand. Quite frankly, I am enjoying hearing everyone speak with American accents! It’s amazing that we can connect from Australia to Chicago and hold a class for an hour in real-time. It has been really interesting observing the cultural differences between the two countries, even in the way language is used and how people write. Fascinating!

Do you see any challenges you will have to overcome during your time here? If so, what is one of them?
My main challenge is going to be keeping on top of the reading. Already with the change in this job I am two weeks behind. When I do have the time to read, I find myself enjoying the content so much. It provides for me a sanctuary to sit, reflect and think. It is a great change from the constancy of work, emails, Twitter, etc.

Do you have any recommendations for future students?
Make sure you have a spare eight hours in your week to devote to studies. It is too valuable an experience to try and skim over.

In what way will you go forth to “change the world?”
I don’t know. In a good way I hope. That is really in God’s hands.

Are you currently working on any projects that you wish to share?
I have recently developed two websites relating to advance care planning and perinatal palliative care. It has been fun developing the content, conducting the interviews and undertaking editing for the YouTube clips. The website addresses are www.pnpc.org.au and www.myfuturecare.org.au

What is a fun fact or story about you?
I am about to be the manager for a hockey team, the Green Lanterns, for the twilight season (it is moving into summer here in Australia). It’s not serious at all, and it seems a bunch of parents and their kids have all decided to play. There are 27 teams in the competition, which for Canberra is big!

 

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