I came to Williams without a great deal of direction. I was excited to learn new things, meet people, have some fun, “find myself,” but without a clear goal spiritually or professionally. Throughout my first and second years of college that drastically changed as I became involved in learning about Catholicism and eventually converting in the spring of sophomore year.

I’m not going to lie, the first reason I stepped foot in Williams Catholic was to meet up with a cute guy. But beyond this young man whose attractive presence and probing questions first compelled me to attend Mass, the Catholicism that I found provoked a much deeper longing in my soul: Truth. In this community of students were others who desired Truth above all and introduced me to Truth Himself. And like the woman at the well in St. John’s Gospel, I found myself insatiably thirsty for His living water. I joined everything. I went to weekly Rosary. I joined music ministry. I attended a Bible study. I hung out in the “Newman Room” too late hoping to catch a conversation with another thirsty pilgrim. I read Church Fathers and apologetics and lives of the Saints in my free time. I sat in front of our Lord in the Eucharist and asked His will for my life whenever possible.

While in a serious dating relationship throughout this period, vocational discernment became a natural part of the conversation. He had led me to come to this faith; together we realized the goal of our relationship was to bring each other closer to God. As he and I brought this question to daily prayer, it became clear that we needed to seek God’s will beyond each other. He discerned a call to enter the seminary. I was devastated. How could God have led me to this great faith and not call the partner who had joined me in the journey to share the rest of my life?

“But Lord, To Whom shall we go? You have the words of everlasting life.” After Williams I chose to answer God’s call to serve as a lay missionary for three years. Here I met my husband, a man whose heart seeks Truth above all and who also found a new home in the Church during college. My time as part of the Williams Catholic community formed me to understand that wherever Christ was, that was where I wanted to be. Perhaps that is the most enduring lesson I learned in college, and I shall be forever grateful for it.

EL ’06