In August 2016, I was fortunate enough to travel to Poland with my church. On that trip, I encountered people who truly changed my life. My roommate, and now best friend, taught me that you don’t need to always be with someone to know them fully. At this time, I went to New Canaan High School, the public school where I lived. While many others from school also attended my parish, I did not have that true Christ-like connection with anyone.
Halfway through the trip in Poland, my roommate and I sat on our windowsill at four o’clock in the morning. The peace of watching the sun rise through those hours calmed me in a way I have never felt before. Fully at peace, and fully aware of everything I needed to be. Later that night, our Bridgeport group attended adoration in an arena of 20,000 English speaking people. When the Blessed Sacrament came near, the power and force that we felt caused us to fall down, clutching each other in our sobs of emotion. In my seventeen years, I had never felt such emotion of ease or calm, or knowing that was loved by a God who was never going to leave my side.
After we came home from the trip, I began to prepare for the new school year, as it was already the end of August: one week until school started. The same feeling from adoration came over me as I realized that I wanted to have Christ with me always. After meeting so many other teenagers from Bridgeport on the trip, I started looking into diocesan private Catholic schools. My heart pulled me towards St. Josephs, where I will graduate in 2018. The experience and emotion of knowing God is something everyone should feel.
By: Clare Wagner
High School Apostle, Parishioner of St. Aloysius Parish, Student of St. Joseph High School
