Finding My True Self

In our latest blog post, Dominican Volunteer Rosanna Fiasche shares how she is discovering herself and her ministry and community.

Rosie serves as a counselor at Immaculate Conception Academy Cristo Rey High School in San Francisco California.

Hello Everyone!

Six months ago or so, I made the decision to leave my family in Chicago to travel halfway across the United States to San Francisco,California to spend a year of my life as a volunteer. Who knew that three months in, that I would fall in love with San Francisco and ICA. Before I left for San Francisco, I made a promise to myself that I was going to step out of my comfort zone and go on adventures. My first weekend, before my ministry even started, I walked all over my neighborhood from checking out the beautiful murals throughout the streets to walking all the way to Castro just to check out the Rainbow Crosswalk. I have even went hiking near the ocean with a previous DV. I have been on plenty of adventures since arriving in SF. I have never lived away from home before,so this is my first time experiencing something new and chasing my dream to serve others. I put myself first and I have not regretted one moment. With the support of my family and friends I embarked on a journey of finding my true self.

Rosie Fiasche

This year I am working at Immaculate Conception Academy, which is an all-girl Cristo Rey High School. When I graduated from college I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life but being in this community so far as confirmed that I want to work with young women. Being a Cristo Rey high school, the students go to work once or twice a week to help pay their tuition. I have many roles in ICA and one of them is chaperoning with the students every morning to their work. So I get a chance to interact with each grade level has been awesome and to be honest it makes me feel so old even though I am only 23, but I love it because they keep me in the loop with everyday society. They continually bless my life and keep me laughing throughout the day. There is this one student who I absolutely love. She always makes me laugh during commute and she is so smart. It is refreshing to see the world through her eyes. It is these moments where I appreciate my life. I may complain about waking up early every morning to commute with these girls everyday but secretly I love it because it gives me the chance to interact with the girls and get a glimpse of who they can become. My main job though at ICA is working in the guidance office. I have more of an assistant role in the office, where I run notes and do little projects for the counselors. For example I work on the bulletin boards we have (which I have to say are pretty great). Here is one of the boards, that the counselors and I worked on together in the beginning of the school year.  I also created a video about the freshwomen field trip to Holy Names University in Oakland, CA. (Check out our youtube channel to watch it- ICA Cristo REY Guidance Department) Each task I work on helps each counselor in so many ways because there is only two of them but 300 something students. Another role I took on is helping out with the food program, which does not sound so glamorous but it can be really fun to watch how the girls interact with each other and how they interact with me. The freshwomen at ICA are something else. They continually keep me on my toes, that is for sure. I do not regret one moment of choosing to work with this community. Many people may think I am crazy to want to work with high school girls, but for me this is a blessing.

In spirit of Thanksgiving, here are 10 things I am grateful for:

1.    My ICA Community

2.    For my 9 lovely Dominican Sisters who are always watching out for me and made me feel welcomed as soon as my feet hit the ground.

3.    The support of my family

4.    My fellow DV’s (Liz, Sean, Jake, and Lacey)

5.    Allison and Megan for the things they do for us

6.    For the city of San Francisco for just being its great self.

7.    My friends who continually push me to follow my dreams

8.    I am grateful for the love of God and all that he has provided for me

9.    My students who teach me something new everyday

10.  Lastly, for my mom because I know how difficult it is for her baby girl to be so far away from home. Thanks for letting me pursue this crazy dream of mine.

Happy Turkey Day,

Rosie <3

I’d Be Surprised and Comforted By How Much I’ve Grown and Changed

Dominican Volunteer Sydney Boyer serves as a teacher at the Opening Word, a support center for immigrant women in Amityville New York. In this post, she shares a letter to her senior-year self.

Dear Me,

     Recently I was asked to give advice to the graduating seniors of Xavier University through a 30 second video. It was hard for me to limit myself to a mere 30 seconds when I felt that I could write an entire book on post-graduate transition. I don’t think any amount of advice can totally prepare you for the changes that come once you graduate. However, I think if senior year me could see post-graduate me now, I’d be surprised and comforted by how much I’ve grown and changed. If I were to talk to myself last year, I think these are some of the things she would need to here. These are only some of the lessons I have learned, and I will continue to gain more as the year progresses.

1.    Believe in yourself

     For the last four years, Xavier University built me in up in so much love from the community around me. Through retreats, like Approach, I learned about how much God loves me through the people he’s put into my life. I don’t think that I could have made it through some of the hard moments without this love to fall back on. However, amidst all the retreats and service trips, I forgot how to rely just on myself.

     This year of service has been challenging and at times lonely. Upon arriving in New York, I was blinded by the excitement of change. Once the excitement wore off, I was lost and felt alone because no one from my Xavier community was right next to me. These moments gave me time to develop a relationship with myself rather than just the people around me. They gave me time to learn to trust my own opinions and my own instincts. These moments are still helping me learn to love myself.

2.    Love the little moments

     This year, it has been harder to find God through traditional prayer and scripture readings. Every morning I wake up at 7:00 AM to be at prayer by 7:15 AM. During this time we traditionally read from the Dominican Praise book and the bible. While some may find God through these daily routines, I have found them more monotonous than fruitful. After leaving Xavier, it has been hard to find a faith community and where I see God in my every day. It wasn’t until I started to slow down that I truly found God in the small moments.

     Throughout the year I have learned that God can present himself to us in small ways everyday if we learn to take time to stop and observe the world around us. What may seem like a challenging moment can quite easily turn into a God moment. For me these moments may look beautiful and radiant while others may just be happy coincidences. A few weeks ago I flew to San Francisco with my fellow volunteer for a mid-year retreat. We didn’t realize how long the flight was and that we wouldn’t be offered any food on the flight. Needless to say, we were very hungry. However, my thoughts of hunger were calmed by the sunset. The sun hadn’t looked so beautiful since my time in New York. As we started flying, I had the privilege of watching that sunset for 3 hours. For me, God was so clearly presenting himself in that moment. It’s moments like these that I have learned to love and found prayer and meditation in.

3.    Explore the full story

     For those of you who don’t know, I come from a very small town in Ohio. In this small town diversity is a rare thing to find. Therefore, much of my information came from what I saw on television and from the people around me. This barrier was broken once I went to college, because I was discussing issues based around race, privilege and status.

     This year I have continued to explore what these issues mean and what I can do with my privilege to positively affect change. I have learned the importance of exploring both sides of the story, because truth only comes when you listen to all the facts and opinions. Not only that, but I have learned the privilege I have as an American citizen to seek out truth, to advocate to my representative for change and to vote for what I believe will be the best for everyone in our country. We have a long way to go, but progress starts with exploring the full story.

4.    Embrace your roots

     Throughout high school all I thought about was leaving small town Ohio. I wanted to get away and start new in a big city with big ideas and opportunities. When I moved away to Cincinnati I was relieved to be away from my small town, and I was able to reinvent myself. As I was faced with moving again, I was excited at the chance to live in one of the biggest cities in the world and embrace being a New Yorker.

     From this experience, I have realized that I am not a very good New Yorker, let alone a very good East Coaster. Ohio is in my blood, and there is nothing I can do to change that. Instead of running from where I come from, I learned that it’s important to embrace your roots. Ultimately they are the basis of who you are. Use these roots to define your future, and ultimately you’ll find more pride telling people about the journey you made to get to where you are.

5.    Change is ok

     For a long time, I wanted to be a part of the United Nations. I wanted to sit amongst some of the most powerful people in the world and have the chance to influence their ideas. In college, I realized that I may not want to do this anymore, but I was scared of changed. I was scared to let go of the dream of 12 year old me.

     This year has really taught me though that change is alright. It’s ok to change your dreams, because something bigger may be waiting for you at the end. No matter what, there will always be someone to encourage you in this transition and to tell you that it will all be ok in the end. Thankfully I have found that person in my fellow volunteer, Sean, in my family, and still in my Xavier friends. I am confident in my new decision to become a social worker and the future that lies ahead.

The Start of Something Great

Dominican Volunteer Henry Moller serves as a teacher at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Atlanta Georgia .

For the 2017-2018 volunteer year, I am living in the Penn community in Atlanta, Ga and working at Cristo Rey Atlanta Jesuit High School. While there has been an adjustment period to living in community, especially as the only volunteer, I have felt welcomed from the beginning. Besides staying in touch with DVs across the country, sharing meals, prayers, stories, struggles, and humor with the community all help to keep life in perspective and provide support during challenging times. Our community is very focused on social justice issues, particularly immigration reform. I try live this out daily in my ministry work at Cristo Rey Atlanta Jesuit.

                Cristo Rey Jesuit is one of many Cristo Rey model schools across the country that is designed to serve students of limited financial means to gain access to a top tier, college prep, Catholic education rooted in developing the whole individual and preparing them for life and to break the cycle of economic uncertainty. The model of the school is unique in that students attend class 4 days a week from 7:30-4:00 and one day a week they are stationed at a corporate sponsor learning about how the professional world works, developing skills, and contributing to their placement site. In return these corporations assist with the tuition for these students, many of whom would be unable to afford a private education otherwise. The corporate partners range from small nonprofits, to law firms, to multinational corporations such as Coca Cola and Turner Sports. In fact, during the “Draft Day”, an over the top celebration held in the Hilton Ball room complete with streamers, balloons, music, cheerleaders, etc. students are placed with a corporation. This year, Ernie Johnson, one of the better known NBA broadcasters and an employee of Turner Sports, gave a speech and personally welcomed each Cristo Rey student that was placed with Turner Sports. One could not help but be filled with enthusiasm and joy as the students proceeded to the main stage to meet their sponsors, receive company “swag”, and celebrate the beginning of a fantastic opportunity. I found myself wishing I was a Cristo Rey student as their college resumes, aside from being academically successful, would reflect 4 years of professional experience.

I should mention that this was the first year Cristo Rey Jesuit inhabited their new building in the heart of Midtown, Atlanta. Donors and sponsors contributed upwards of $30 million to renovate a vacant building which had been donated (and valued at around $5 million) by a real estate developer. In fact, the last task of the final exams from the previous year was to turn in the exam and carry one’s desk to the moving van. It was truly a community effort and this sense of pride shows when one visits the school. The seniors this year will be the first group from Cristo Rey Atlanta to graduate in the Spring. Many are already receiving acceptance letters from colleges and scholarship offers. For many students they will be the first in their family to have a change to attend college and it is my goal, as well as every other Cristo Rey employee, from the President to the night security guard, to make sure these students have the tools to succeed when they attend college. The school is majority, minority in its makeup. It is roughly 65% Latino, 25% African American and 10% other. For a good portion of the Latino students, they are first generation Americans. During student teacher conferences students translated between the teachers and parents. In addition, almost all students at Cristo Rey come from families with limited economic means. The average family, which can range from 1 child to multiple children, earns around $30,000 annually. This means almost all families are forced to live in distant towns as real estate in Atlanta is very expensive. Almost all students take public transportation to school. Many of the students work secondary jobs after school or on weekends. Others are the primary care giver for younger siblings. Several of the students in my classes leave for school at 4 a.m., do not get home until 9 p.m., and must watch siblings until their parents get off work sometimes past midnight. They do all this and still manage to do homework and study. The sheer will power and dedication these students show leaves me in awe every day. It has created a burning passion inside me to fight for social justice so that these students, and their parents (some of whom may or may not be undocumented) can live in peace and simply pursue their honest goal of raising a family, contributing to society, and enriching our country’s culture. One take away from this year I will always hold on to is my desire to fight for the dignity, humanity, and equality of all people regardless of ethnicity, immigration status, socioeconomic status, or religious beliefs. 2 years ago, I would simply brush these issues aside as something that is not my problem. Now I realize not only is it a problem for me personally, but it is a moral responsibility to act and break through ignorance, regardless of any uncomfortableness or opposition.

So now that I’ve explained what Cristo Rey has done for me, what do I provide to Cristo Rey as a Dominican Volunteer? My background is in History and Secondary Education, so the natural fit would be to teach Social Studies, but I was told my first day that flexibility is a mandatory quality at Cristo Rey. After weeks of shuffling between classes I now teach sections of Human Geography, a section of Biology, a metacognition workshop, and 2 writing labs. I also advise seniors through the college application process and coach basketball. Needless to say, I have been extremely busy, and the work can be exhausting but I leave every day fulfilled with at least one positive mental note I carry home with me. I think the workload is manageable for me because of the structure and atmosphere at Cristo Rey. When I did my student teaching last year in a large suburban public school I had to follow a formulaic curriculum focusing on the end of year state test, and many of the students did not care to be there and there was little support from parents. There was also little that could be done in the way of discipline. In fact, I almost declined the Dominican Volunteers position because I was nearly convinced teaching just was not for me. Cristo Rey has rekindled my fire for connecting with students in their formative years and guiding them to be men and women for and with others as best I can. I am still not sure if classroom teaching is my vocation, but I can honestly say I go to work with a sense of possibility and optimism each day. Part of this is the freedom to teach in the style I have developed that is natural for me. While I hold my students to a high standard and cover necessary material to prepare them for college, it is not uncommon for me to start my class with a 10-minute meditation reflection, journal time, or other mindfulness activities. Some days I’ll play music with a positive message while we work on projects. Other days I will throw out a controversial, off topic question to spark debate and help develop critical thinking and public speaking skills. My best days at Cristo Rey so far were before Thanksgiving break when I had students answer a series of optional questions about their hopes, dreams, challenges, goals, inspirations, and gratitude. The trust the students showed in sharing truly personal, sometimes extremely painful and disturbing experiences made me feel like I had truly formed a bond with my students, and created a bond between fellow students. One reflection/poem a student who had experienced extreme hardships in life wrote brought many students to tears and moved me deeply. He had the courage to stand up and read the following:

 “I’m stronger because I have to be, I’m smarter because of my mistakes, I’m happier because of the sadness I’ve known, and now wiser because I have learned”

For a fourteen-year-old freshman, who learned English as a second language and still struggles at times with language, to have such profound thoughts and a perspective many full-grown adults never achieve inspires me to continue to work for my students every day. With his permission I have laminated the poem and it will be displayed in my office to serve as a reminder of how special these students are to me.

I have a lot of growing to do as a teacher and mentor of young adults. I am learning day by day, making mistakes, and trying to improve just a bit every day by embracing as many opportunities as I can. I have truly forced myself out of my comfort zone and it has paid great dividends in my professional, personal, and spiritual life. Before becoming a Dominican Volunteer, I was what one may consider a “Creaster” Catholic (Christmas and Easter). While my faith journey is far from complete I have at least embraced the challenge of putting in the work and dedicating time to really explore my spirituality. While I am not big on reading scripture or various theological writings, I have come to know God through my experiences with people and the good works I see being done daily. That is more than I could say a couple years ago.

I started this post off with the title “The Start of Something Great”. I believe that title applies both to myself and to Cristo Rey Jesuit High School. The school is still very young, and I am very new to the profession. Who knows what the future brings but I have a sense of peace and optimism that great things are in store for Cristo Rey, myself, and Dominican Volunteers USA.