Growing up, I wanted to be an elementary teacher AND the starting shortstop for the Cleveland Indians. For a while, I wanted to be a lawyer and then a high school English teacher. In college, I majored in English and took courses in creative writing, Peace Studies, and history. I decided I wanted to be a journalist and wrote for the school paper. I graduated and applied for jobs in a variety of fields (but that would use my English degree). They all looked good on paper, but I had a nagging thought, “I want to work with people.” What did that mean? The thought called me from a comfortable job and dropped me in Central Minnesota and work with Somali refugees. It was there that I learned what “working with people” looked like in my life. There was still something missing.  I returned to Villa Maria and the HM Sisters for the JOY (Just One Year) live-in program and felt at home as I studied spirituality, service, and volunteered. It took me another 2 years before I began the process to enter the Community. Today, I work as a Refugee Resettlement Case Manager and am a Novice with the Sisters of the Humility of Mary.

-Eilis