A.T. Aucoin, Mechanical Engineering, 2nd Year

Sunday January 19, 2020

“In a society like this, nothing new can be created, if not with a life… Only a different and new life can revolutionize structures, initiatives, relationships–in short, everything.” – Luigi Giussani

Ready or not, we’re back for another semester at Georgia Tech. And, yes, the rumors are true – school is rough. With classes and commitments, finding ways to integrate faith into your daily routine can be exceedingly difficult. When you’re up late grinding on work, taking time for daily mass or stopping by adoration seems rather extraneous and admittedly may not help you understand your electrostatics homework any more than before. However, through all my school and non-school related struggles, I found the need to establish a network of people to call my people – people who share my values, who push me to be better, and who can form a community that I need. 

Sometimes it’s hard to know what community to enter or how to seek it out. The first week of anything can be exceptionally overwhelming with new people and choices surrounding you. Who will be your study buddies? Who will you ask for late night homework questions? Who will you turn to when you don’t see the results you wanted? In a society where people can easily isolate themselves through screens, going through the motions, or simply being “too busy” for others, we must be intentional in choosing to live life in communion with others.

Under these circumstances, I found myself planning Welcome Week alongside the rest of the Catholic Student Organization (CSO) board in the hopes of helping students find a faith-filled community at Georgia Tech. We kicked the week off with an oh-so-liturgically-appropriate Epiphany Party, followed by a “highly competitive” round of trivia on Tuesday, then some Wednesday sandwich making for the local homeless, lots of Thursday praising and worshipping, and a finale of Friday fires and smores. All this to say, it was a busy first week of the semester. Food was shared, individuals ventured into our community, events fostered wholesome fun and we could all call Welcome Week Spring 2020 a success.

Yet, community doesn’t manifest itself solely through organized gatherings. Living with community is a persistent call to friendship, to living life fully, and to being present to others whenever possible. It’s crying on the Catholic Center porch during the first month of college finding a new face bringing you tissues. It’s dying laughing during bible study when you hear another girl’s “high” of the week. It’s squading up to road trip two hours just to pick some apples. The community I’ve found through the Catholic Center extends outside its walls, giving me support in every facet of life. While Welcome Week was an absolute blast, I am so excited to be back for another semester where I can live life abundantly in communion with other faith-seeking, fun-loving, crazy-yet-amazing individuals.