Speaking Out

Throughout my undergraduate experience I was actively involved with many leadership opportunities on campus. In my final year, I was blessed with the opportunity to help shape the future of my alma mater.

For high school seniors, the end of the school year is approaching. While this normally brings relief and excitement for the summer, high school graduates face the uncertainty of what is to come. Starting university or college is, after all, a leap into the unknown.

In today’s dating world, men who want to wait until marriage for sex are unicorns. People say they exist, but no one you know has ever dated one.

Over the years, I’ve been on a lot of dates. There’s been many that went nowhere, and three that turned into somewhat serious relationships. As a practising (if somewhat lapsed) Catholic over the last five years, I had certainly never dated a unicorn.

This past month, I was fortunate enough to  travel around Europe for three weeks. I spent time in Berlin, Milan, Venice, Paris and Barcelona. I came home with great pictures, and even greater stories. From amazing feats of architecture, to historical sights, to everyday street life, I had the opportunity to sample the diverse palate Europe has to offer.

Children are our future. While this truism emphasizes that children grow up to either perpetuate or change the legacies left behind by their forebears, it is questionable whether these implications are considered in the system that cares for Canada’s most vulnerable youth.

It’s unavoidable and it’s everywhere. In our newspapers, on our televisions and computers. No matter how hard you try to avoid it, it will always find a way to pop up. When it comes to bad news, we’re going to hear it one way or another.

Leadership positions in campus ministry are invariably rewarding. They nurture relationships between peers that are rooted in faith and create a comfortable space where students can feel open to grow in confidence in their devotion to Christ.

“Are you an engineer?” I ask, pointing to the slim, shiny ring on his pinky finger.

“No,” he replies. “This is my promise ring.”

I went into the theatre expecting explosions, fast cars and over-the-top action; I got all of that and then some in Furious 7.
Furious 7 is the latest instalment in the Fast and Furious film series. The series has built itself around street racing and daring heists and Furious 7 has it all.

For the first time in months, I was feeling nervous about going to Confession. I had a sense of dread as I imagined reading my lengthy examination of conscience to my confessor. The worry of never again being able to look my priest in the eye lingered at the back of my mind as I scrambled to prepare to receive the sacrament.