Roadtrip 2k18

This past week, while many of our friends ventured to warmer places down south, Nicole, Janae, Rose, and I decided to go to O-H-I-O, OHIO!!! It was an alternative spring break of sorts, with a Catholic spin on it (what else did you expect from your Ladies of Lisieux?). Getting there wasn’t easy, which you would know if you saw us tretching through a snow storm trying to make it on time to our bus with Janae furiously crutching behind, standing in line for that bus just to get told that it was no longer running, and scrambling to figure out how we were going to get ourselves to Ohio with every bus, train, and plane out of the city cancelled. But, by the grace of God, we ran into a friend whose uncle could lend all of us a car, and within two hours we were on our way to the promise land.

The rough start to our trip was not indicative of how the rest of the week would go. Each day brought something new, whether it was new people, new places, new food, or new experiences. Throughout the week we traveled between Nicole’s home and Ohio Sta- excuse me- THE Ohio State University, where we immersed ourselves into the Catholic community that Nicole so frequently talks about at school. Since all of us live in household at Penn, for part of the week we stayed in a women’s household at OSU in order to experience their community and fellowship, which included getting up at 6am for morning prayer (yes, I really said 6 A-M), spending hours at the dinner table talking over delicious homecooked meals (zoodles with avocado cream sauce, anyone?), and getting to know the women as they came and went throughout the day.

We also attended different events through the Newman Center, such as BCAT (short for Buckeye Catholic) and formation. During every praise and worship we lifted our eyes, voices, and hands up as we and the Ohio State students sang in unison of God’s great glory, which manifested a truly spiritual experience. I told Nicole after one of the praise and worship nights that I felt the Holy Spirit moving in me and drawing me closer to Him, much of this feeling I attributed to the fearless and powerful faith of each student present that night.

How beautiful it is that we can travel to an unfamiliar state, an unfamiliar city, an unfamiliar school and be able to feel the universal love and desire for our Lord.

Each day we spent at Ohio State further revealed the amazing work that God is doing through the students and missionaries. We were fortunate to participate in “evangelization on the oval,” a weekly event where students and missionaries get lunch at the student union then sit down and have conversations with complete strangers. While we all had different experiences with the students we sat with, all parties involved walked away with smiles on their faces and new friends in their lives.

Given it was Spring Break, we also did some “normal” activities throughout the week- movies, bowling, and hiking, oh my! Additionally, we frequented many coffee shops which made Rose a happy camper, and no day at Ohio State was complete without a trip to Raising Cane’s where Janae filled her cravings for the infamous chicken, toast, and sauce. All in all it was an incredibly fruitful and fun trip, and although we are all physically exhausted at the end of this week, we are returning to Philly with a renewed spirit and excitement for what it means to be a Catholic college student and a woman living in household. Until next time, Ohio!