Life Update

I am happy (and relieved) to report that I have been hired at Catholic Charities as a Case Worker. I'll work with individuals and families who are at a high risk for becoming homeless. I'm very thankful for everyone who helped me get this job and all the positive thoughts, advice, and prayers I've been getting from family and friends.

I start work on Monday—which is good because I need the money and bad because I have so much to do. Even though I have a lot to do, I wanted to write an update.

As promised, my year of service changed me. Probably the most obvious/measurable way that I've changed is how I've changed my plans: I decided not to go to graduate school right away (I applied to five schools, got into three, and was offered a Graduate Teaching Assistantship that would have covered all tuition costs and provided a stipend). There were a lot of reasons I decided not to go to graduate school—one of which was that the school where I was offered the GTA was in Kansas—but probably the biggest reason is that I want to continue to serve the poor and vulnerable for a year or two or maybe even more. I still see myself getting a MFA one day, but it might not be for a while.

For a few years I've seen the connection between my faith/spirituality and social justice/service. This year I've grown in my faith, expanded and deepened my spirituality, gotten to know myself better, and learned more about the systems of poverty and injustice. Now, I cannot separate spirituality and social justice. I think if I stopped serving others and engaging in different aspects of social justice my spirituality would be empty and weak. I'm certainly not a perfectly just person, but I want to do my best to make the world a more just place. I've enjoyed putting my faith into action and doing that is largely why my faith has grown so much this past year (it's also grown because I've taken the time to explore my spirituality and reflect).

The work I will be doing is more charity (it is Catholic Charities, after all), but I'll be continuing to serve those in need. I also plan on seeking opportunities to work for social justice both within my work and outside of work.

I'm excited about my future and nervous about paying rent, student loans, buying a car, and all the other financial and logistical things I have to figure out that I haven't done (or done much of) before. That said, I'm happy to have this to report: so far, so good.