Re my last post: I do recognize how much support I have been given. Here is a letter to the editor, I wrote to my local newspaper, the Herald Palladium. It was published Friday, May 22.
-----
Editor,
More profound than the honor of being chosen valedictorian of the University of Notre Dame this year was the outpouring of support from my communities: at ND and here. Over the past month, my family and I have received countless congratulatory phone calls, e-mails and letters.
Frank Walsh, St. Joseph city manager, and Jeff Runser, St. Joseph High School principal, featured me on their signs. And The Herald-Palladium gave excellent coverage to this landmark commencement ceremony, including my role in it.
Felicitations have come from friends, teachers and mentors - people I know and greatly respect. Yet, I have also received many messages from community members I do not know, who took the time to simply share their goodwill. All of this humbles me. Thank you.
The controversy surrounding this commencement revealed the dark power of division. Though Catholics share the belief of protecting all human life, differences about how to advance this aim did lead to much verbal violence in past weeks - from those who sought to condemn without first listening. Yet, during Sunday's ceremony, respect and cooperation prevailed. I was honored to represent my classmates at a moment that showed faith and reason can work together in common purpose for the common good. I am excited to watch us continue to strive for that good.
This community has helped form me into the person I am. Thank you again for offering me such great care.
Brennan Bollman
SJHS Class of '05
Notre Dame Class of '09
Saturday, May 23, 2009
From Those to Whom Much is Given...
...Much is expected.
A few people have asked for a copy of this valedictory speech I gave last Sunday at Notre Dame [yes, THAT Commencement, covered by every major, and minor, media outlet. The one where ND president, Fr. John Jenkins, spoke powerfully about the meeting of faith and reason, about working through differences toward common ground, for the common good. The other President followed suit, challenging our class to use our faith in service, to be a "lighthouse and crossroads"...]
So below is the full text, all ~11 minutes. And a link to the video, where you can also navigate for Fr. John's, President Obama's, and Judge John Noonan's remarks.
http://commencement.nd.edu/commencement-weekend/commencement-videos-recorded/valedictory-address/
---------------------------
Delivered May 17th, 2009
University of Notre Dame
From those to whom much is given, much is expected.
President Obama, Fr. Jenkins, distinguished faculty, staff, and guests, family, friends, and my fellow graduates: those words came from a mother’s toast to the fiancé of her only son. This young couple had successful business careers, and promise for a happy future. Yet, listening to the mother’s advice, they chose to learn about the world’s disparities, immersing themselves in issues of education, health, and poverty. They started small, but their gifts now total $20 billion. The mother, now deceased, would be proud of her daughter-in-law, Melinda Gates.
I heard that same mantra from my parents. Your family may have told you something similar. Notre Dame has taught us all.
In our time here, much has been given.
First, Notre Dame gave us an education…obvious, right? But what did we learn? I don’t remember organic chemistry syntheses that consumed me as a freshman. I do remember sobbing after I bombed my first orgo test—shocked to learn what studying hard really meant. You have probably forgotten the thesis statements for many of your term papers, but you do remember writing them for three days straight in the library basement, finally emerging triumphant. Rather than push the details, Notre Dame taught us to think critically and to tackle tough problems.
Second, Notre Dame gave us community. When we arrived, we might have thought this meant touchdown pandemonium followed by haphazard Irish jigs and crowd-pushups. We now know the Notre Dame community bores into us much more deeply. Our housekeepers care enough to leave kind notes on our white-boards. Professors care enough to invite their entire 125-person genetics class over for dinner. If you have ever had friends, RAs, or mentors make the time to listen and help, then you have received our community.
Lastly, Notre Dame gave us deepened consciences. Our families taught us to distinguish right from wrong. But here, we also came to see society’s ills as moral problems—realizing we must address concerns outside ourselves. We boxed for the Bengal missions. We TAPed into theology and faith. We CLAPed loudly for labor justice. And we applied our energies to Green ND. Out of these distinct ways we got engaged, lasting passions grew.
From those to whom much is given, much is expected. Now, what is expected?
Our education here exposed us to complex ideas, so we hope to be successful in solving real world problems. But I hope we also confront failure. Through office-hour frenzies and soul-sapping all-nighters, we learned accomplishment isn’t cheap. We had to do tough work, which is often not fun. And our best efforts didn’t always lead to the right answer. Frustration tempts us to avoid the difficult tasks, to instead focus on the easy and efficient. But if we think about our education, we realize we gained the most from the times that we failed. You may have spent a whole summer on a research project…and gotten spectacularly inconclusive data. Yet, you learned a process of inquiry that excited you. Next time may bring a discovery.
Sometimes we fail in painful ways. I lived at a Catholic Worker women’s shelter during one summer and befriended a woman named Maggie. She was almost my age, and had already been addicted to half a dozen different drugs, and incarcerated twice. I spent hours listening to her erratic thoughts, trying to form the special connection that might make a difference. And she responded, making me hopeful. But one night, she ran away, back to the streets. I’ll never know what happened to her, which still troubles me. Maybe I couldn’t have done more, but I thought I failed Maggie. Yet, I met another woman who stayed clean, regained custody of her daughter, and continues on a good path. That is success. I want to be willing to fail for a glimpse of success.
After the challenges we’ve all met here, we should continue to risk disappointment. Remember: life does give partial credit. Our best efforts may fall short or even backfire, but we are expected to struggle. To pursue what matters, even if it hurts. Only through tenacity can we make an impact.
The community we received became a home for us, therefore we expect to remain close. Yes, let’s stay connected with the familiar, but also be comfortable with the unfamiliar. We can choose to not fit in. We can choose to be outsiders.
No doubt each of us has somehow been an outsider during our time here. One student displaced herself when she traveled to Cambodia to work in an AIDS hospice. She imagined she would be ‘helping’ these sick people. Instead, she was the helpless one. She found herself sitting among a group of female patients chattering in Khmer, who barely acknowledged her presence. She felt useless and isolated. But she continued to sit in these conversations she didn’t understand, and she communicated by teaching the ladies to make paper flowers. She didn’t do anything for these patients; she let herself simply be with them. When she left them with bouquets of flowers, they left her with tearful goodbyes. These people, sick with AIDS, taught her it was okay to be uncomfortable, and without words. It was okay for me to just ‘be.’
As outsiders, we have influence. We are leaving a place that believes in common human dignity and solidarity—ideas from the Catholic Social Tradition that grounds the University mission. We are leaving a place that has recently intensified a commitment to environmental sustainability. We may enter a place radically different. So let’s be different. Let’s notice people too frequently ignored—the bus drivers, the custodians, the homeless on the street—and take time to have a conversation with them. Let’s insist on recycling. Who cares if our co-workers give us grief for carrying around our empty soda cans? Our community gave us values, so we’re expected to live them, even if we don’t fit in as a result. As we converse with strangers, and do strange things, we become strangers—but by being different in our new communities, we can lead.
What are the implications for our deepened consciences? Rather than help us confidently make decisions, our consciences should disturb us. Make us unsettled. Over the past year, we watched as the global economy imploded. The resultant job insecurity and weakened markets affect each of us, on a personal level. We are coming of age in a trying time, but economic fears are not our only problem. With pending climate change fallout, heightened global violence, and raging pandemics like AIDS and tuberculosis, we will spend much of our lives in an acutely suffering world. All of this upsets us.
The world suffers, but I have no doubt its crises involve issues about which we have grown passionate during our years here. Therefore, we have the ability to solve these problems. I had the opportunity to spend time working on neglected diseases in Haiti, and what I learned about the country is messy. Haiti fascinates me, perplexes me, devastates me…but I can’t wait to go back. Let us keep ‘going back’ to the things that unsettled us here, bringing whatever knowledge and skills we can offer—but most importantly, bringing our passion.
From those to whom much is given, much is expected. From our education, we expect to seek tough challenges, even if we fail. From our community, we expect to not fit in, to lead as strangers. From our conscience, we expect to feel forever unsettled, because our distress gives each of us power. We can transform our world.
It has taken me four years with you, my inspirational classmates, to understand what my parents wanted me to learn from their mantra. I simply need to recognize all that I’ve been given, and in doing so, to expect much from myself.
So thank you, Notre Dame, for your gifts. The class of 2009 thanks our family, friends, professors, coaches, mentors, service staff, and our Fellow, Fr. John—who began this journey with us.
You have given much to my classmates and me. Please, expect much from us in return.
A few people have asked for a copy of this valedictory speech I gave last Sunday at Notre Dame [yes, THAT Commencement, covered by every major, and minor, media outlet. The one where ND president, Fr. John Jenkins, spoke powerfully about the meeting of faith and reason, about working through differences toward common ground, for the common good. The other President followed suit, challenging our class to use our faith in service, to be a "lighthouse and crossroads"...]
So below is the full text, all ~11 minutes. And a link to the video, where you can also navigate for Fr. John's, President Obama's, and Judge John Noonan's remarks.
http://commencement.nd.edu/commencement-weekend/commencement-videos-recorded/valedictory-address/
---------------------------
Delivered May 17th, 2009
University of Notre Dame
From those to whom much is given, much is expected.
President Obama, Fr. Jenkins, distinguished faculty, staff, and guests, family, friends, and my fellow graduates: those words came from a mother’s toast to the fiancé of her only son. This young couple had successful business careers, and promise for a happy future. Yet, listening to the mother’s advice, they chose to learn about the world’s disparities, immersing themselves in issues of education, health, and poverty. They started small, but their gifts now total $20 billion. The mother, now deceased, would be proud of her daughter-in-law, Melinda Gates.
I heard that same mantra from my parents. Your family may have told you something similar. Notre Dame has taught us all.
In our time here, much has been given.
First, Notre Dame gave us an education…obvious, right? But what did we learn? I don’t remember organic chemistry syntheses that consumed me as a freshman. I do remember sobbing after I bombed my first orgo test—shocked to learn what studying hard really meant. You have probably forgotten the thesis statements for many of your term papers, but you do remember writing them for three days straight in the library basement, finally emerging triumphant. Rather than push the details, Notre Dame taught us to think critically and to tackle tough problems.
Second, Notre Dame gave us community. When we arrived, we might have thought this meant touchdown pandemonium followed by haphazard Irish jigs and crowd-pushups. We now know the Notre Dame community bores into us much more deeply. Our housekeepers care enough to leave kind notes on our white-boards. Professors care enough to invite their entire 125-person genetics class over for dinner. If you have ever had friends, RAs, or mentors make the time to listen and help, then you have received our community.
Lastly, Notre Dame gave us deepened consciences. Our families taught us to distinguish right from wrong. But here, we also came to see society’s ills as moral problems—realizing we must address concerns outside ourselves. We boxed for the Bengal missions. We TAPed into theology and faith. We CLAPed loudly for labor justice. And we applied our energies to Green ND. Out of these distinct ways we got engaged, lasting passions grew.
From those to whom much is given, much is expected. Now, what is expected?
Our education here exposed us to complex ideas, so we hope to be successful in solving real world problems. But I hope we also confront failure. Through office-hour frenzies and soul-sapping all-nighters, we learned accomplishment isn’t cheap. We had to do tough work, which is often not fun. And our best efforts didn’t always lead to the right answer. Frustration tempts us to avoid the difficult tasks, to instead focus on the easy and efficient. But if we think about our education, we realize we gained the most from the times that we failed. You may have spent a whole summer on a research project…and gotten spectacularly inconclusive data. Yet, you learned a process of inquiry that excited you. Next time may bring a discovery.
Sometimes we fail in painful ways. I lived at a Catholic Worker women’s shelter during one summer and befriended a woman named Maggie. She was almost my age, and had already been addicted to half a dozen different drugs, and incarcerated twice. I spent hours listening to her erratic thoughts, trying to form the special connection that might make a difference. And she responded, making me hopeful. But one night, she ran away, back to the streets. I’ll never know what happened to her, which still troubles me. Maybe I couldn’t have done more, but I thought I failed Maggie. Yet, I met another woman who stayed clean, regained custody of her daughter, and continues on a good path. That is success. I want to be willing to fail for a glimpse of success.
After the challenges we’ve all met here, we should continue to risk disappointment. Remember: life does give partial credit. Our best efforts may fall short or even backfire, but we are expected to struggle. To pursue what matters, even if it hurts. Only through tenacity can we make an impact.
The community we received became a home for us, therefore we expect to remain close. Yes, let’s stay connected with the familiar, but also be comfortable with the unfamiliar. We can choose to not fit in. We can choose to be outsiders.
No doubt each of us has somehow been an outsider during our time here. One student displaced herself when she traveled to Cambodia to work in an AIDS hospice. She imagined she would be ‘helping’ these sick people. Instead, she was the helpless one. She found herself sitting among a group of female patients chattering in Khmer, who barely acknowledged her presence. She felt useless and isolated. But she continued to sit in these conversations she didn’t understand, and she communicated by teaching the ladies to make paper flowers. She didn’t do anything for these patients; she let herself simply be with them. When she left them with bouquets of flowers, they left her with tearful goodbyes. These people, sick with AIDS, taught her it was okay to be uncomfortable, and without words. It was okay for me to just ‘be.’
As outsiders, we have influence. We are leaving a place that believes in common human dignity and solidarity—ideas from the Catholic Social Tradition that grounds the University mission. We are leaving a place that has recently intensified a commitment to environmental sustainability. We may enter a place radically different. So let’s be different. Let’s notice people too frequently ignored—the bus drivers, the custodians, the homeless on the street—and take time to have a conversation with them. Let’s insist on recycling. Who cares if our co-workers give us grief for carrying around our empty soda cans? Our community gave us values, so we’re expected to live them, even if we don’t fit in as a result. As we converse with strangers, and do strange things, we become strangers—but by being different in our new communities, we can lead.
What are the implications for our deepened consciences? Rather than help us confidently make decisions, our consciences should disturb us. Make us unsettled. Over the past year, we watched as the global economy imploded. The resultant job insecurity and weakened markets affect each of us, on a personal level. We are coming of age in a trying time, but economic fears are not our only problem. With pending climate change fallout, heightened global violence, and raging pandemics like AIDS and tuberculosis, we will spend much of our lives in an acutely suffering world. All of this upsets us.
The world suffers, but I have no doubt its crises involve issues about which we have grown passionate during our years here. Therefore, we have the ability to solve these problems. I had the opportunity to spend time working on neglected diseases in Haiti, and what I learned about the country is messy. Haiti fascinates me, perplexes me, devastates me…but I can’t wait to go back. Let us keep ‘going back’ to the things that unsettled us here, bringing whatever knowledge and skills we can offer—but most importantly, bringing our passion.
From those to whom much is given, much is expected. From our education, we expect to seek tough challenges, even if we fail. From our community, we expect to not fit in, to lead as strangers. From our conscience, we expect to feel forever unsettled, because our distress gives each of us power. We can transform our world.
It has taken me four years with you, my inspirational classmates, to understand what my parents wanted me to learn from their mantra. I simply need to recognize all that I’ve been given, and in doing so, to expect much from myself.
So thank you, Notre Dame, for your gifts. The class of 2009 thanks our family, friends, professors, coaches, mentors, service staff, and our Fellow, Fr. John—who began this journey with us.
You have given much to my classmates and me. Please, expect much from us in return.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Don't forget...
Patrick Farrell, photographer from the Miami Herald, just won a Pulitzer for his work in Haiti with the hurricanes, and school collapses.
Watch this sequence (2 minutes). It speaks for itself: http://www.miamiherald.com/1401/story/1008735.html
Watch this sequence (2 minutes). It speaks for itself: http://www.miamiherald.com/1401/story/1008735.html
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Another six-word story
Refer to March 22 and April 5, 2008 posts about the six-word memoirs. This one is from my friend Matt. (I am happy to post others!) A thought for today:
Isn't it cheating to use contractions?
Isn't it cheating to use contractions?
'Change' for Haiti?
In a time when my pragmatic hopes are simply grounded in our President helping lead the world through an economic "panic"--why not avoid euphemisms and go back to the 19th century term?--and to some greater peace and understanding between nations, and environmental stewardship, and healthcare improvements, and...
Well, I guess my hopes are many, and Haiti is always among them (I supported Dodd early on because he's taken strong actions for Haiti's truth and justice, even calling for an investigative commission for the 2004 coup against Aristide).
But....I honestly have not thought Obama would add to his consideration this desperate, oft-neglected island. So, wow, kudos Mr. President for inching in the right direction:
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Canada/2009/02/21/8478981.html
Well, I guess my hopes are many, and Haiti is always among them (I supported Dodd early on because he's taken strong actions for Haiti's truth and justice, even calling for an investigative commission for the 2004 coup against Aristide).
But....I honestly have not thought Obama would add to his consideration this desperate, oft-neglected island. So, wow, kudos Mr. President for inching in the right direction:
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Canada/2009/02/21/8478981.html
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Question, Speak, Write
Just a reminder that we all have a voice. I have been questioning. And I want to re-commence writing, here.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/us/politics/10media.html?ref=politics
Believe in searching for the truth. Another Fox Mulder-ism.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/us/politics/10media.html?ref=politics
Believe in searching for the truth. Another Fox Mulder-ism.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
"I've given up on the current one..."
At a recent international health conference I attended, keynote speaker Dr. Jeffrey Sachs said he’s “given up on the current one, but is counting the days until January 21, 2009.” What follows is paraphrased—as I frantically scribbled, trying to capture each idea—but the content is not altered.
Memo to the President of the United States: January 21, 2009
10 things to do:
1. End the Iraq War immediately:
We can’t solve the problems there.
2. End the Bush tax cuts immediately:
Stop giving $250 billion a year to the rich.
3. Increase spending on sustainable energy:
Form a fund of $30 billion per year, giving energy at least the same level of funding as health currently receives through the NIH.
4. Send an envoy around the world to tell others that we’re back on the negotiating table for climate change.
5. Stop putting our food into our gas tanks:
Biofuels are worse than a waste of money. They’re a waste of food!
6. Sign the UN Convention on Biodiversity and the Law of the Sea, so we protect our “commons”:
Return to upholding international law, which IS our law of the land under the U.S. constitution. This president won’t—but the next better—honor the law of the land. You can try to call what happens at Guantanamo harsh interrogation techniques, but it is torture and it is illegal.
7. Invite leaders of African and Middle Eastern countries, along with the governors of Arizona and California and other leaders of dry lands, together to unite around the common problem of water:
What McCain calls the “transcendent power of Islamic extremism” is really the transcendent power of water. The instability of the world comes from the instability of our resources.
8. Re-establish money to the UN population fund:
We need to provide access to contraceptives and save the children that are born so couples can have fewer. We’ve played politics with the population for too long.
9. Make the MDGs the centerpiece of international policy:
Bush has mentioned the words Millennium Development Goals in sequence in a sentence exactly once in his presidency, on September 14, 2005. At the UN, we nearly fell off our chairs! We need the MDGs in the inaugural address of the next president.
10. This conference was organized by the Unite for Sight organization, so I’ll return to that theme of sight. Our government doesn’t see. We need to be able to see again.
Our government is like a parasitic helminth that loses its sight as it infects our intestine, but it doesn’t care because it doesn’t want to see inside the intestine.
Memo to the President of the United States: January 21, 2009
10 things to do:
1. End the Iraq War immediately:
We can’t solve the problems there.
2. End the Bush tax cuts immediately:
Stop giving $250 billion a year to the rich.
3. Increase spending on sustainable energy:
Form a fund of $30 billion per year, giving energy at least the same level of funding as health currently receives through the NIH.
4. Send an envoy around the world to tell others that we’re back on the negotiating table for climate change.
5. Stop putting our food into our gas tanks:
Biofuels are worse than a waste of money. They’re a waste of food!
6. Sign the UN Convention on Biodiversity and the Law of the Sea, so we protect our “commons”:
Return to upholding international law, which IS our law of the land under the U.S. constitution. This president won’t—but the next better—honor the law of the land. You can try to call what happens at Guantanamo harsh interrogation techniques, but it is torture and it is illegal.
7. Invite leaders of African and Middle Eastern countries, along with the governors of Arizona and California and other leaders of dry lands, together to unite around the common problem of water:
What McCain calls the “transcendent power of Islamic extremism” is really the transcendent power of water. The instability of the world comes from the instability of our resources.
8. Re-establish money to the UN population fund:
We need to provide access to contraceptives and save the children that are born so couples can have fewer. We’ve played politics with the population for too long.
9. Make the MDGs the centerpiece of international policy:
Bush has mentioned the words Millennium Development Goals in sequence in a sentence exactly once in his presidency, on September 14, 2005. At the UN, we nearly fell off our chairs! We need the MDGs in the inaugural address of the next president.
10. This conference was organized by the Unite for Sight organization, so I’ll return to that theme of sight. Our government doesn’t see. We need to be able to see again.
Our government is like a parasitic helminth that loses its sight as it infects our intestine, but it doesn’t care because it doesn’t want to see inside the intestine.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
More 6 words
From a friend's book club. Amazing how much we can reveal saying so little...
"I love to cook and eat."
Ellen H
"Grab life by the horns today"
Angi C
"Life's a journey. Make it count."
Liz H
"Interested in everything, doing too much."
Becky F
"Just recently bloomed where I'm planted."
Sharon B
"One long road with many detours."
Dawn T
"Happy now. I'll just keep going."
Sarah T
"Get off the merry-go-round and breathe."
"Always question. Dig for the truth."
Bean K
"Good life happens at book club."
The Club
"I love to cook and eat."
Ellen H
"Grab life by the horns today"
Angi C
"Life's a journey. Make it count."
Liz H
"Interested in everything, doing too much."
Becky F
"Just recently bloomed where I'm planted."
Sharon B
"One long road with many detours."
Dawn T
"Happy now. I'll just keep going."
Sarah T
"Get off the merry-go-round and breathe."
"Always question. Dig for the truth."
Bean K
"Good life happens at book club."
The Club
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Six words to describe our lives
Ernest Hemingway was supposedly once asked to write a story in six words. "For sale: baby shoes, never worn."
Inspired by the idea, SMITH magazine sought 6-word memoirs from its readers, publishing them in a book: "Not quite what I was planning." (http://www.smithmag.net/sixwords/)
I emailed everyone I knew, asking for the same thing, 6-word memoirs, just an experiment. Here is the awesome response:
“ups and downs with little understanding”
Charlotte
“All questions with few important answers.”
Courtney
"Hope, believe, and most importantly love."
Megan
“slowing metabolism, learning how to party”
Dan
“whatever you do, make it funky”
Brendan
“Turn it up all the way.”
Anon friend’s Mom
“along the rail, finish line nears”
Anon
“family, faith, friends….love, pray, hope”
Katherine
“empathy, compassion, reflective, awareness, perspective, contributer”
Math Teacher
“The mountains lift up my soul.”
Mike
“Doubt talks, Brian writhes, God whispers.”
Brian
“God works through our weakness. Hope!”
Michele
“Love others well to serve God.”
Kevin
“Nothing is permanent, even sharpie tattoos.”
“Two years more, then life begins”
Laura
“Shooting for the moon, stumbles often.”
Andy
“go away and leave me alone”
Steve
“Rediscovering daily that life is wonderful.”
Nick
“Life to the fullest, family, God.”
John
“I live for becoming happy
I work hardly for keeping my life
I trust that God exist and He is present everywhere
I try to be cool with everyone”
Alain
Seminarian from Haiti
"life is just a true lie"
Sothearith, Cambodia
Currently studying at Dali University, China
“Winners never quit, quitters never win”
Chhim Sereypong
Royal University student
Cambodia
“too hard on myself, lighten up”
My Dad
“too hard on myself, it’s genetic”
Me (couldn’t resist...)
“Life is a box of chocolate…”
Sarah
“When all else fails, eat chocolate”
My Grandmother!
“70 yrs. I know He exists.”
Sister Bernadette Cordis, Maryknoll Missioner
“Plug and chug. Will it help?”
Anon
“Resisting cynicism: liberation, justice starts within.”
Me
Inspired by the idea, SMITH magazine sought 6-word memoirs from its readers, publishing them in a book: "Not quite what I was planning." (http://www.smithmag.net/sixwords/)
I emailed everyone I knew, asking for the same thing, 6-word memoirs, just an experiment. Here is the awesome response:
“ups and downs with little understanding”
Charlotte
“All questions with few important answers.”
Courtney
"Hope, believe, and most importantly love."
Megan
“slowing metabolism, learning how to party”
Dan
“whatever you do, make it funky”
Brendan
“Turn it up all the way.”
Anon friend’s Mom
“along the rail, finish line nears”
Anon
“family, faith, friends….love, pray, hope”
Katherine
“empathy, compassion, reflective, awareness, perspective, contributer”
Math Teacher
“The mountains lift up my soul.”
Mike
“Doubt talks, Brian writhes, God whispers.”
Brian
“God works through our weakness. Hope!”
Michele
“Love others well to serve God.”
Kevin
“Nothing is permanent, even sharpie tattoos.”
“Two years more, then life begins”
Laura
“Shooting for the moon, stumbles often.”
Andy
“go away and leave me alone”
Steve
“Rediscovering daily that life is wonderful.”
Nick
“Life to the fullest, family, God.”
John
“I live for becoming happy
I work hardly for keeping my life
I trust that God exist and He is present everywhere
I try to be cool with everyone”
Alain
Seminarian from Haiti
"life is just a true lie"
Sothearith, Cambodia
Currently studying at Dali University, China
“Winners never quit, quitters never win”
Chhim Sereypong
Royal University student
Cambodia
“too hard on myself, lighten up”
My Dad
“too hard on myself, it’s genetic”
Me (couldn’t resist...)
“Life is a box of chocolate…”
Sarah
“When all else fails, eat chocolate”
My Grandmother!
“70 yrs. I know He exists.”
Sister Bernadette Cordis, Maryknoll Missioner
“Plug and chug. Will it help?”
Anon
“Resisting cynicism: liberation, justice starts within.”
Me
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