Seven Quick Takes, Vol. 8

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From January 2-6, over 6000 college students attended the national FOCUS Conference, SEEK2013. It was the largest nation-wide event that FOCUS has ever hosted. Students from all 74 of the campuses where missionaries are stationed attended. There were also many more students that I had expected from non-FOCUS campuses! For example, the University of Miami brought 14 students, which is almost the same number of students we brought. It was so exciting to be surrounded by so many young people who were on fire for their faith, and interested in growing deeper in their relationship with Christ.

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16 of those students were from the University of Mary Washington, an incredible turn-out for a first year campus. We had 9 women and 7 men come from Mary Washington and the near-by community college. It was amazing to see the friendships transform throughout the conference. Many of the students hadn't met before coming to SEEK, and they got to know each other well. We hope that these newly-formed relationships will remain throughout their college experience.

Most of the UMW women at SEEK.

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It was an amazing experience! None of the students who attended had any regrets about coming, and all of them hope to return to a national conference, and bring along friends! One of the women from my small group even sent me a text message after we got back, thanking me for the invitation to attend conference and  the financial help that enabled her to go. It was a such a rewarding investment, to see her excitement and joy at SEEK, and knowing that the friendships she formed and encouragement she received will last her a lifetime!

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There were some amazing speakers, from Curtis Martin, the founder of FOCUS; to Matthew Kelly, an internationally known Catholic speaker and bestselling author; to Leah Darrow, former contestant on America's Next Top Model who has an incredible testimony about her re-conversion to the faith. For the three main days of the talk, the men and women were divided into two groups by gender. It was awesome to hear a Catholic perspective on true womanhood, and how we can live a feminine life in a world that often tries to tell women who and what they are. I particularly enjoyed the session led by Helen Alvare, a law professor at George Mason University. She was a practicing lawyer and mother of two who offered great advice about how to be a wife, mother, and working woman. She encouraged us not to let anyone else define our lives for us, but to keep our sights focused on Christ and walk in His path alone.

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I roomed with three of our students at the beautiful Swan and Dolphin Resort in Disney. I didn't know them particularly well before conference, and so I was excited to get to know them better. Unfortunately, I came to recognize that I was definitely more of a morning person than all three of them. While it was lights out for me around 11 pm, and wake up time was around 7 am, I'm not sure the students were ever in before midnight, and I had to make sure everyone was out of bed by 8:30 am, so we would make to mass by 9. But, it was great to hear their reactions to the talks, and I was able to have some conversations with the girls that I wouldn't have been able to have if I wasn't their roommate.

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For the first time in months, I was able to reconnect with all the missionaries I went to school with and met at New Staff Training. It was so wonderful to see so many familiar faces, and to hear about the work the missionaries are doing on other campuses. I especially enjoyed catching up with Ryan and Samantha. The three of us all graduated from UW-Madison last year, and were good friends in college. I also got to eat lunch with Kourtney, my very first Bible study leader!

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SEEK2013 was an incredible experience, so full of hope! From seeing all the students gathered in one place to celebrate Mass together, to hearing about the excitement of growing Bible studies on the many FOCUS campuses, to seeing all the priests and religious men and women who were available to the students and missionaries throughout conference. It was such a joyful week, and I can't wait to get back to campus to share that joy with all the students who weren't able to attend!

Two sisters join a group of students in a friendly game of basketball.

Three of the freshmen from my small group Bible study all dressed up for the 20s-themed swing dance!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!