My name is Ceara Curry, and I am a St. Joseph Worker 2018-2019 in St. Paul, volunteering at Cretin-Derham Hall High School. I am also a recent graduate of Nazareth College in Rochester, NY and grew up in North Syracuse, NY.

In choosing the St. Joseph Worker Program and spending my year volunteering in Campus Ministry at Cretin-Derham Hall (CDH) High School, I am reminded every single day why I have made the right decision. Working with the staff and students at CDH, I feel so welcomed. Living and learning with my fellow St. Joseph Workers, I feel so loved. Being part of the wider CSJ Community, I feel so inspired. I am where I am meant to be.

Although I may have dealt with homesickness more than I ever thought I would and that I am deeply longing to be with my communities at home, I know that I have found yet another community that I can call home here in the Twin Cities. As I have learned throughout the years, God has a beautiful, mysterious way of making sure that I am taken care of wherever I am and that I have great potential to thrive and be my best self, always. I am eager now more than ever to move forward and take the next steps in my life. I am so happy and excited and blessed to be where I am. I find joy and delight living within this “both/and” paradox. I am where I am meant to be.

I encourage all of us as we make our way through this Advent season – this time of waiting and watching, this time of hope and new beginnings, this time of anticipation and surrender – to enter into the flow, to continue to open ourselves up to see: What are the signs that I am on the right path, the path that God has so graciously paved for me? I have found that once you open up your eyes and start noticing, once you open up your heart to gratitude for being right where you are…I am going to bet that you’re likely to see that God has been winking at you all along. I really do have faith that you and I are right where we are meant to be.