I am beginning an exciting and new adventure in Phnom Penh, Cambodia as and English teacher with the Salesian sisters. It has been suggested, asked, and instructed that I create a blog to chronicle this experience, and I have promised to do my best. But before I can begin to tell you where I am going, I think it is important you know where I have been.

Most importantly I was born into a family that did not see the necessity for family limits. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. From the time that I was born to now, as a 23 year old, my family increased from 5 children to 12, the most recent installment having been adopted only 3 years ago. I cannot express how many times I have been asked, after the declaration of my family’s immense number of members, “Is your family Catholic?” The funny thing is that they are in fact right. Jim Gaffigan got it right—“[12] kids. Catholic.” I was, in fact, born and raised Catholic. I had my moments of less certainty than others regarding the strength of my faith, but I also have had very high moments in my faith. I am proud and blessed to say that to this day I am still a practicing Catholic and I am increasing in appreciation and understanding in my faith every day. A large part of my decision to join a missioner group was to discover how to grow in faith and develop a stronger love for God.

I went to Catholic school all through high school and only stopped when I went to the University of Evansville, a small United Methodist school in southern Indiana, so that I could pursue Archaeology. In my 4th semester there, after having been very involved in the Catholic Newman Club and a Christian service fraternity called Kappa Chi, I found myself desiring something greater. I discovered a burning desire to focus my energy on justice, longing to make lasting change for the vulnerable, marginalized and forgotten individuals in this world. Therefore, I left UE and after some soul-searching and some help from my family, I arrived at Cabrini College, a small Catholic college with a very special justice-focused curriculum and a Bachelors in Social Work. While at Cabrini I became very involved in Catholic Relief Services Ambassadors, institutional and student interfaith initiatives, putting justice into action through civic actions like lobbying, and gaining international experience, particularly in Guatemala and Ecuador.

When I was weighing my post-grad options I came to the conclusion that what I nee