I don't think I've had any entry that has discussed religion but I'm breaking that trend. In case I never mentioned this before, I went to a Catholic high school where I had some of the most amazing experiences and met some incredible people. I am still close with people from my high school and still feel very much connected to that community. Going to Catholic high school and getting involved in the campus ministry there in multiple ways helped me learn more about myself, my interests, and grow closer to the Catholic community.
When I came to NYU, I had a feeling it would be difficult to maintain that since it is not a religiously-affiliated school and since it has a somewhat diverse religious population. Fortunately, my freshman year I lived in Hayden which is only about a block or two away from St. Joseph's University Parish. Going to the Sunday 6pm student mass was all too convenient. I also tried to get involved with the Newman Club which meets from 7-9 on Thursday evenings to have dinner together and discuss different religious topics. I also went on a small retreat that spring which was great, and really refreshing. However, living in Chinatown proved that getting to church would be a little more difficult--I didn't like the local church and St. Joe's seemed too far away. This bothered me.
This year, I am lucky enough to have some of my Catholic friends living in my building so at the beginning of the year we tried to make an effort to go to mass together at St. Joe's. Well, busy schedules began shortly after and that tradition ended. But I still received mass emails from one of the priests at St. Joe's and saw that they were having another Kairos retreat over President's Weekend. I had wanted to go on Kairos since I was a freshman, finally had no conflict, and decided that it would be a good idea to go.
I am so thankful I went. We spent four days in Peekskill, NY--a group of 18 retreatants and 8 leaders (all college students)--relaxing, eating delicious home-cooked meals, getting to know new people, breathe some fresh air, and of course, praying, reflecting, and hearing the leaders' personal stories. Shortly after arriving at the retreat house, the Rector collected everyone's cell phones and didn't return them until we left on Monday--it was GREAT! Being disconnected from everything and just being able to focus on what was going on there was such a nice change of pace and really allowed us to bond and relax.
Going on that retreat was definitely one of the best decisions I've made this year because although things have been going well for me recently (thank God), I haven't been going to mass as much as I'd like (although that was what I decided to do for Lent) and I didn't feel particularly connected to Catholicism. This helped to change that in me and introduced me to some peers who included me in their community. Most of the people on the retreat are members of the Aquinas Circle, another Catholic club at NYU that meets on Tuesdays from 7-9 and is pretty similar to Newman. I went to the meeting this past Tuesday and hope to continue going. Knowing that there are such great people so close to meet who share some of the same beliefs as I do is really encouraging, especially in a huge place like NYC where it isn't always so easy to find that.