We asked a number of students to reflect on their #JourneytoSTM through a unique path. Since no path is ever the same, we decided to share three individuals who came to the CSTM right after undergrad to briefly share their story.
Noah Passinault, M.T.S ’23
“It was in my first Bible seminar freshman year that I found myself drawn to the field of theology. The class was the first time I had encountered theology as an academic discipline and, although I had entered college as a math major, theology was the academic discipline that I felt called to pursue. When it came time to decide what path I wanted to take after graduation, I knew that I was not done studying theology. When looking for graduate programs, I knew I wanted a program that gave me the ability to expand on my undergraduate education while still providing the resources for rigorous academic study, and I found that at the School of Theology and Ministry. At the CSTM, I was learning in the classroom not only from the incredible faculty but also from the wide variety of students from all different backgrounds: educational, professional, geographical, and spiritual. I was initially worried that my lack of experience outside of the academic world meant that I would be unable to contribute to the in-class discussions on a pastoral level. However, in entering graduate school right from undergrad, I have a sense of what the future of the Church desires and what areas of theology need exploring. As I finish my studies at the CSTM, I continue to recognize the great gift that studying theology in an environment like Boston College has provided.”
Rileigh Armstrong, M.A. ’23
“Listen with the ear of your heart. This phrase is one that I heard repeatedly over the course of my time at Saint Anselm College. As a first year student, these words were simply a nice, quiet, sentiment. As the years passed, the quiet subtlety of this phrase grew into something that I relied on as a stable foundation in most aspects of my life. Learning how to listen well to myself, my support system of friends and family, God, people I met through service encounters, and many other people in my life proved to be an immense challenge. In moments of desolation, indecisiveness, joy, pain, and hope, the necessity of listening became something I wanted to cultivate. I decided to pursue a masters degree in Theology and Ministry after graduating from Saint Anselm as a result of listening with the ear of my heart. During my college experience, I encountered individuals who taught me about the injustices faced in the world around me, learned more about the human person through my academic studies and campus ministry and service involvement, and saw how all of these things could and did involve my own understanding of faith. I realized that I feel called to be someone who listens to and journey’s with others along their faith and life journey’s. I want to be able to truly meet people where they are, try to understand the complexities of life, and work to discover how God plays a role in this. I decided to attend the CSTM to become a better educated, informed, and open-hearted minister. Now looking back on my first year as I enter into the second half of my program, I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to study and learn at the CSTM. My journey to the CSTM was not something that I was certain of right away, but is something now that I am certain is where I was called to be.”
Tarah Valin, MDiv ’24
“Quarantine really put life into perspective for me. Amidst racial injustice, political discord, and rampant polarization around every corner, I really began to ask myself: “what brings me joy?”. And the only obvious answer was hope. Hope that things do and will get better, hope that there are as many, if not more, reasons to laugh as there are to cry, and hope that with a little bit of love, the youth of today will build a beautiful future. So sitting in my living room, submitting assignments for my Senior Seminar, I decided that I wanted to lean into that hope. I want to serve as a beacon of light for all the wary youths who society has convinced that they have nothing to say, nothing to contribute, and nothing to become. I applied to the CSTM right out of undergrad, and right out of the pandemic, with the hope that I could come learn and grow into the minister that the youth so desperately need. Prayerfully my time at the CSTM will increase my own hope and joy so that all who may come to know me will maybe, just maybe, see the light of God shining through me.”
Andrew Lukas, M.T.S ’23
“Most of my undergraduate experience fell under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic. Add to that the experience of transferring universities and graduating in three years and you have a recipe for a restless and weary student. So when the opportunity to continue my theological education at the CSTM presented itself when I was finishing up my bachelor’s degree, I leaped at the chance. Amidst all of the uncertainty I was experiencing I knew I could benefit from the stability that the CSTM would offer: two years to continue the exploration into the Church’s two-thousand year tradition that I began as an undergrad, a tradition defined by its saints and sinners, preachers and prophets, mystics and theological masters. The great minds at Boston College who studied these sources attracted me. The flexibility of the M.T.S. would allow me to turn wherever my interests would take me, from the Christology of Maximus the Confessor to the ressourcement movement championed by Henri de Lubac. Yes, Karl Rahner and Hans Urs von Balthasar were every bit as challenging to read as people say (and no, they are not known for their brevity). I have spent many hours in the library researching and writing papers, but my life of faith has been transformed, having experienced some of the Christian tradition’s greatest thinkers, products of a Church called to proclaim the true, the good, and the beautiful. I can’t think of spending the two years after I graduated college in any other place doing anything else. The CSTM gave me the opportunity to catch my breath and find my footing. Wherever I next land (only God knows at the moment), I remain confident knowing that this small community of faith has prepared me well to answer Christ’s call to go out into the deep.”