I am on my second trip for work since my daughter Ellen was born. She travels with me. Today our adventures take us to Twin Falls, Idaho. I hold all six weeks of her in my arms as we share a seat on Delta, responding to work emails and texts. I shut down my iPhone and think of my remarkable husband, Eric, and our little precious son Charlie (now two years old). I close my eyes. Then, I pray. I simply recite prayers over and over again as I gently bounce Ellie. That’s my peace.
With kids in the picture now, I have been reflecting a lot on my time at Boston College. In the past, I’ve written extensively about how the University’s relentless commitments to social justice, the greater good, and the plights of the less fortunate in the U.S. and globally have influenced my career path. My time at BC was spent in the Shaw Leadership Program, UGBC, Perspectives, Political Science Honors Program, the C21 Initiative, Ignacio Volunteers and more –the ultimate “joiner,” as my friends would say, most of whom thought I was insane trying to cram so much into four years.
It’s no surprise to anyone who knows me well that I took a leadership position at a progressive company that’s committed to refugees, America’s working class, and changing the food industry in our country. The day-to-day linkages between my professional life and my liberal arts and faith-based Jesuit education are profound. The company found me, but God made that happen, or luck, or a beautiful combination of the two. Everything has fallen into place, at least for now. I owe tremendous gratitude to BC not only for my early successes but also for pushing me to seek purpose in my professional life, and putting me on the path to find it.
There is a bigger gift from Boston College, however. As I look at my babies and – like any young mother – think about everything that could possibly go wrong in a single day, what gives me comfort is my faith: those prayers I recite peacefully and quietly as I take on the everyday activities of life.
Absent prayer I am fearful, lost and preoccupied by worry. Absent prayer I am selfish and ungrateful – and I believe gratitude is the essential ingredient to one’s happiness.
During these past 12 years post-BC, I’ve come to realize what the college gave me that’s most essential to my adult life is a life of prayer, and the strength to continue it in a society that’s constantly challenging belief in anything bigger than ourselves.
Prayer gives me the gift of an ongoing connection to Jesus, to Mary, and to the Triune God. It’s my greatest daily blessing, with the realization that my prayer life will carry me through the most difficult and overwhelming periods of life – and through the most beautiful, precious and empowering times.
In today’s society, I believe there is no gift more valuable or necessary than the practice of prayer. I’m forever grateful to BC for nurturing me as a pray-er.
That’s the gift I want to give my children too. They have 18 years or so before applying to BC, of course. But a world that will make them doubt more often than accept the enormous blessing of God requires the antidote of a personal prayer life. I am ready to share with them what I learned well at BC. Not only on my own behalf but on theirs, I say thank you, Boston College.
GRACE SIMMONS ZUNCIC won Boston College’s 2005 Edward H. Finnegan, S.J., Award as the senior who best exemplified BC’s motto “Ever to Excel” and is currently senior vice president at Chobani yogurt company.
PHOTO CREDIT: Hamdi Ulukaya, founder and CEO of Chobani Yogurt, is committed to the Syrian refugee crisis. Photo courtesy of Refugees Aid BCN IndieGoGo. Source: Anon galactic News