Service by Presence First Meeting

Hello once more! It is Allie Again and in our group meeting last week we discussed the ideas of the service of presence, because in L`arche that will be our primary focus.

The meeting started with a self-expression exercise, which we did not know the meaning to at the beginning, but we used the time to come together and share how our lives have been over the past few weeks and ultimately grow closer as a team. The exercise revealed we all have common anxieties about the next couple of weeks, with finals and the holidays approaching quickly. We also decided our meetings will be our time to escape and decompress from these everyday stressors.

 The self-expression excise eventually tied into our overall goal for the week, because we viewed a video, about the people of L’ache and their wants, needs, and goals, which seemed to be very similar to most of ours. (The video can be found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj6GceipXmM&list=PL-6tfmk27t8dmx23j6sJx_LbzzU1dYtEt ,if you would like to view it) the basic human wants of the people with disabilities, were the same as the wants we all share. Many of our self-expression drawings showed our goals over the next couple weeks and how we all had them in common, and the life goals we have in common with the core members of L`arche.

                One of the topics we discusses, was how to incorporate our new knowledge into our acts of service. The one focus we want to have is a focus on the individual human being and the idea of understanding. Most of the people in L’arche said they did not like being misunderstood. The group discussed how we can all related to the feeling of being misunderstood, and how though our service, it was important to sit and listen to the core members of L`arche and give them the understanding they need.

                The main goal of out understanding, would be to focus on the mental and emotional needs of the people of L`arche. Unlike many other ABSTs we will be focusing on getting to know and understand the people while communicating with them and helping them fulfill their needs which cannot be done physically.

We also discussed how the trip not only aids the people of L`Arche, but will help us all grow in a better understanding of who we are and what we want to do. Maureen shared with us her experience at L`Arche in past years and how she grew throughout the trip. The growth will make us all more holistic human beings, and help us to create friendship bonds that will last. We are all very excited after our first group meeting and cannot wait to embark on our journey to L`Arche.

Welcome to Our Journey of Discovery and Growth

Hello, I am Allie Leng. I am a member of the Alternate Break Service Trip team going to L’Arche, Toronto. Our group learned today, life is about discovery, discovering yourself, life, and others. We took one of the fundamental steps on the road to our ABST, today, while discovering things about ourselves and the people we will spend the next few months getting to know and understand. We formed a bond that will help make our trip to L’Arche Toronto a successful experience. We want to welcome you into our experience and family, as we take this journey. Our journey consist of many amazing individuals including our fantastic student leaders Maureen Piccirilli and Laura Masiker and our accompanier the always wonderful Katherine Frazier, as well as a group of highly devoted young men and women, Brandon Feikles, Megan Davis, Leigh Tischler, Lily Peterson, and myself, who are ready to open their eyes to the possibilities that await in Toronto and share their experience with you and others in the community.

            During the group meeting today we participated in an activity that aided the discovery of ourselves and others, while helping to break the ice. As we all answered questions about our lives and beliefs, we came to realize that we all were not as different as we believe, and the differences that do exist make us stronger as a team. We all bring different experiences to the table and these different experience will help us to better understand the people we will work with in L’Arche. In addition, we contemplated how our differences affected our thoughts and actions and how the thought and actions of the members of our group differed from those of Gannon University and society as a whole. We came to understand that some of the beliefs we hold may not be the same as society and because our work will deal with the emotional support rather than physical labor, we must learn to accept these difference. Along with our contemplation of different ideals, we discussed the dignity of human life and how because of differences in culture or ability, society has a tendency to ostracize those who are different, when we need to embrace the differences and learn from them, because they help to grow our understanding of the world, and help us find out who we are as an individual. During our discussion on differences, we realized that we all faced challenges because of our differences and they varied in degree, based upon the situation and circumstances, but these challenges did not make anyone any less of a person, these challenges just make the life of each person different. By the end of our discussion, we seemed to have an understanding that each individual, not only in our group but in our Gannon society and in our Global society, had their own problems and differences, but when we use what we know as individuals and combine it to make a whole team, we can accomplish much more.      

            We are all very enthusiastic after our meeting as a whole team to grow more and learn together to bring the best possible experience to the people in L’Arche and we hope to continue to grow as a group and discover more about ourselves and the others involved!

“Everyone is broken except mine is visible” A Closing Reflection on our Journey

September 27^th 2013- The day I found out I would be leading a trip to L’Arche with Annie; I had very little knowledge what L’Arche actually was

October 11^th 2013- The day Jen Kline, aka Mama Bear, was announced as our accompanier and the dream team started to come to life; I still had little idea on what L’Arche was but was starting to do more research

October 25^th 2013-The day the dream team was finalized and I found out who we were taking along with us on this unknown journey to the great white north; I started to understand L’Arche, but had no idea what we were going to encounter along this journey.

March 1^st 2014- The dream team departs for L’Arche; the day my life would be changed forever

Marh 8^th 2014- The day we departed from the most beautiful experience I could ask for, without a dry eye in the group we said our goodbyes and departed for Erie.

With all of these unknowns and new beginnings of friendship forming, through all the meetings, through all the planning, I wasn’t expecting or ready for what I was about to experience.  In a single week at L’Arche, I learned more about who I am as an individual, and more about life as a whole than I have in my 20 years of living.  This trip put my entire life and my entire being into perspective and I realized what I was taking for granted in life.

Starting this week I led a meditation about us being the light of the world and sharing our light with others throughout the week.  Little did I know that I would be the one having the light shined upon me.  I was expecting to give the talents and love that I had to offer, when in reality all I could do was receive the love, happiness and joy that every single member of L’Arche had to offer.  All that needs to be said is celebration.  This trip was a pure celebration of life itself. 

What I learned throughout this week is that we all have our disabilities and are broken in some sort of way, however the difference between us and the core members is theirs is visible.  You can see what struggles they have encountered, it is all on the surface, but with us we hide ours to appear “normal” in the public eye.  What I learned this week is that we are all the same; we are all beautiful children of God.  I saw the beautiful gifts that the core members had to offer through their high spirits, open hearts, and compassionate beautiful souls.  They have the gift to share everything they have and to shine the light of the world on everyone they encounter.

As we depart for the final time, all I can say is thank you.  Thank you to L’Arche for welcoming a goofy group of Gannon University students into their world.  A thank you to my beautiful dream team for being the best group I could ever ask for.  I went on this trip expecting to make a difference in a core member’s life.  I leave this trip a changed man because of everyone I have encountered. I thank them for always having a smile, for breaking my shell to find out who I really am, and showing me what really matters in life.  It isn’t the new phone, car or money; it’s the relationships you make and the love that you share with everyone that you encounter.

Signing off for the last time,

Chris and the Rest of the Toronto Dream Team 

Fun Facts Friday

Hey Everyone,

                This is David writing today. For those of you who don’t know me, I am full of useless information that I usually share and after I say the snippet I follow through by stating “Fun Fact!” This week on the trip the Gannon group has heard many of these fun facts such as the leading cause of lower back pain in males and many others. From this experience, we have also learned many useful and interesting facts about L’Arche and incorporate them into our daily reflection. So if you see the phrase fun fact pop up from any of the other members in this group, it was probably my doing.

                Yesterday we went to the L’arche community in downtown Toronto and had dinner with them. At my house, we had an excellent dinner and community prayer. At this house there were four Core Members and three assistants who were all readily accepting and welcoming of us into their community. That is one of the fun facts that we have come to realize on this ABST. After dinner we were cleaning up and taking the plates out to the kitchen and there was one Core Member who was nonverbal who really made this experience of L’Arche so touching. I was standing in the kitchen with my arms at my side and my hands in my pockets and he came up beside me and looped his arm into the space between mine. I took this as him welcoming and accepting us into the house. Before the prayer, another one of the Core Members took the time to describe what was going on in each of the pictures and again the nonverbal Core Member stood up and made his voice heard when he took a picture off of another shelf and showed it to us. It was of him and another Core Member walking down the street holding hands.

 

                Today we had a reflection with Chris Jarvis who works in L’Arche Daybreak and while we were in the chapel for reflection we were able to have some really awesome experiences. Fun fact L’Arche has a program called the Spirit Movers which is a group of Core Members who use dance and music to express themselves and have performed for the public many times and are well known throughout the community. They were practicing in the room that we usually have reflection in hence why we were in the chapel. Towards the end of the reflection we were joined by one of the Core Members who plays the wooden spoons in the group and has performed publically for large groups. Fun fact, this performance touched each of us because it was so beautiful to see this happen before us. As we do our final reflection, we are talking about the different experiences we have had that challenged us, pushed us forward, and those that have touched us this week.

And finally, fun fact, in Canada tourniquet is pronounced without the final “t” (so you would say it “turn-a-key) as is Toronto (so you would say it Tor-on-oh) and they also have milk in bags! This has been “Fun Facts by David *tooth glint* “(when you see one of us back in the states, be sure to ask us to sing the theme song for you J)

One more sleep till home!

“You are my sunshine…"

Welcome back friends! 

This is Annie.  Our group had an awesome Thursday!  This was our final morning in the programs.  Molly and I were in the Club which functions as a community center for the Daybreak community.  It was such a fun morning making masks, finishing the celebration around Mardi Gras.  We then had lunch with Father George and a woman named Elizabeth.  She now lives as a hermit on the Daybreak community property.  We all had a very emotional morning taking in all the love and care that this community has shown us.  We sat with Elizabeth at lunch listening to the story of her experience, both living in and starting L’Arche communities.  As we sit here now we are all sharing our experiences of this week with various core members.  Sharing the times and moments when we have experienced both joy and heart ache. 

Last night we all separately went on the journey of cooking dinner for each of our homes.  I am happy to inform you that we all did well!  One of the dinner guests at my home was a man who has been in the L’Arche Daybreak community for many years, since almost the very beginning.  He and another woman in the community played music for us.  Her on the piano, and he played the spoons.  I was so moved by this experience.  Sitting there listening to “You are my sunshine” and the rhythm of the spoons I realized how special this experience was, it contained the feelings of both comfort and fun, it felt like home.  Here was one of the many times this week when I have seen the home that L’Arche is.  This feeling of home is something that is so present in all the L’Arche communities.  We have been with the Hamilton and the Richmond Hill communities and will be going to Toronto tonight.  In all of our experiences throughout this week I have recognized this need for home that is in all of us.  As we are getting to the end of this week my hope for myself and all of us is that we take that need for home, recognize it in ourselves, and become people who offer that experience to every person we meet from here on out.     

Wednesday Workday!

Hi friends, this is Molly blogging today.  We spent the morning in the various day programs.  Annie and I were at the Club, unfortunately there was only one core member, Helen, but we were able to relax and enjoy spending time with her.  Wednesday’s are usually their “tech” days, so they had IPads that we were able to play some games with.  We were goofing around a bit with some musical apps and a pottery app.  Spending time with Helen and the other core members have really made me reflect on the way that I live my life.  Helen kept saying how she had a “leisurely breakfast” and there was no need to rush.  This made me realize how much I spend my life rushing and I never take the time to just reflect.  I think that is one of the main things that I have been able to gain from this weekend, the importance of slowing down and really enjoying the things in life. 

This evening we are all going back to our houses to cook dinner for the core members.  There are definitely mixed feelings of excitement and anxiety about cooking, but we are all looking forward to this opportunity to cook and spend time eating dinner with the communities that have so graciously welcomed us.  Please stay tuned for more stories about our adventures with L’Arche Daybreak. 

JK note: We also had the privilege of celebrating Ash Wednesday at the Dayspring this morning. And sure enough, a familiar face was presiding over the mass with us. I suppose he did ok :)

The Exciting Conclusion!!

- ñata. Father George joined us there as well. It was an incredible experience to see how the L’Arche Hamilton community connected, not only to each other, but to the local church members as well. After we ate dinner, we cleaned the kitchen (I was very excited about the Hobart industrial dishwasher). Before we could go back to Daybreak, though, we needed to stop and get gas. This was a notable event because Jen Kline went into the store to pay while still wearing her Mardi Gras mask, which was shaped like a cat.

Cloudy With a Chance of Pancakes

Hi everybody! This is Leah. We had a very full, fun-packed day of service today. In case you were unaware, today is sometimes known as Fat Tuesday, and is traditionally celebrated with pancakes. We were welcomed into the Hamilton L’Arche community just as warmly as we were welcomed to Daybreak. We started out our day at the Welcome Inn Community Centre, serving a lunch of pancakes to senior citizens. They were very excited, and a bit confused as to why we had traveled all the way from Erie to serve them pancakes. The Welcome Inn provides many other services as well, such as an emergency food bank, financial literacy classes, and a tutoring program for school-aged children. After cleaning up from lunch, the seniors went to play BINGO, and we went to visit a different program associated with the Community Centre, the New Horizons Thrift Store. This second-hand store provides not only affordable goods to those in the community, but a place to build relationships and hone skills. While we were there, we took a few minutes to assist in organizing the children’s toys that were on sale. From there, we took a tour of not only L’Arche Hamilton, but of the surrounding city as well. We paused for a minute during our sightseeing to visit the first Tim Horton’s store. It is quite the landmark, and as always, provided unrivaled coffee. We didn’t stay long, though, and we went to a local church to start setting up for a pancake dinner put on for the L’Arche community. We helped with setting up and cooking the food, and soon after we got there, the core members and assistants began to arrive as well. The festivities were very authentic, with Mardi Gras masks, dancing, and even a pi <- This is where JK's computer died on our van ride home from Hamilton. Stay tuned for the rest of the story!!

 

TO BE CONTINUED...

Old friends and new friends

Hello Friends! 

This is Maureen from the Toronto Dream Team!  This morning the group spent the morning in an orientation and touring the different programs that the core members spend time in during the day.  The places we saw were the club, art studio, woodery, and day program.  In the woodery, we saw a core member who I spent a fair amount of time with in my last experience here at L’Arche.  I was so excited to see that not only did he remember me but my name as well.  This experience really made me feel excited to be back here in this community that is so warm (not in temperature!) and welcoming.  I am feeling excited to continue in our journey and experience the wonderful things that L’Arche has to offer.

 

Also, we felt a little left out from all the other ABST blogs posting pictures of their sunny, gorgeous scenery, so we decided to include a picture of Chris and Annie enjoying the view of our water-front property!

 

 

Sunday Funday in Toronto

Hello friends,
We have been having a blast being in the presence of each other the past two days.  Last night we had a great opening meditation followed by a great game night filled with loads of laughter.  This morning we went to a beautiful mass that was very diverse in culture.  There was tons of adorable children including one who was baptized and another little boy who ran across the altar and was fed the free breakfast by the priest who was making his announcements at the end of mass.  We wish we could have taken one home with us.  Also, Jen and Chris have been fascinated by the amazing grocery store named Longo's that you can make your own juice in the store!!! It puts Wegman's to shame which we all know is hard to do.  We even took a second trip back to visit today!

Now we are getting to the bulk of our trip as we enter our homes for the very first time.  We are all excited and anxious to meet who we will be living with for the next week.  The trip is splendid so far, and we pray that it continues for the rest of the week.

With love,
Chris & The rest of the Toronto Dream Team

Jen Kline being very dedicated to last night's bonding game of Quelf (yes, that is a belt on her head)

We have arrived!

      Canada has acquired 8 new residents for the next week! We arrived safely to our destination at the Cedars and are working our way into settling in and dinner plans for the evening.  To brighten up the overcast gloom , we broke this ice with the an energy building game called the "WA," and a hide and seek type game called sardines. 
       As we relax together in the Cedars, we are slowly building our own community before tomorrow evening when we arrive and have dinner in each of the houses we will live in for the week.  Our journey has just begun, but we are excited for you to stay with us as we share our insights and reflections throughout the week.      

Here is our group as Father George sent us off from Erie for the week. We look forward to seeing him during our travels around the L'Arche communities.

 

From left to right.  Jen (Accompanier), Alexa, Maureen, Molly, Chris, David,

and (front row) Leah, and Annie.

 

Talk to you all soon!  Thank you for supporting our journey and sharing this experience with us!!!

                                                                           

                                                                             - L'Arche Canada ABST group 2014

 

It's Almost Here

Wow, we are only a week away from our lovely adventure! It is unbelievable how fast this trip has come upon us. I feel as if it was only yesterday that Annie and myself found out we were leading this trip together. The anticipation is truly building for all of us involved. I once had a high school psychology teacher say that the anticpation can only be exceed by the actual event, and I hope and believe that all of our lovely group members are feeling this way. I have a little story to let you in on how our group was feeling.

Yesterday, at our final group meeting, you could definetly tell that we were all ready to embark on this lovely journey together. The anticipation, the nerves, the excitment, and the fear was very evident in the group. Due to these vast aray of emotions, we participated in a mingle with each other to get it all out there. The mingle was simple: 3 minutes, 3 rotations, 3 questions. Question 1, what are you most anxious for? Question 2, what are you most excited about? Question 3, to mix it up and throw a lot randomness in there, what is your mothers maiden name? The mingle went great! The energy in the room shot right up, and everyone was able to connect through common emotions. It was evident that most of us had similiar emotions of anxiety for not knowing what to expect or our heads being so busy that we weren't being able to fully divulge into this experience. When it came to the excited part of it though, everyone was excited to get away and step back from our stressful and busy lifes here at school and truly open their hearts and be able to be loved and to give love on this trip.

So, our meeting was lovely and we truly connected as a group yesterday, it made me even more excited for all the great things to come next week. As part of the logistics and reflection next week pertaining to the blog, every memeber of our group will be blogging at least once to share their experiences with all of you at home. This allows us to connect with each and everyone of our loved ones but also gives you various perspectives on our experiences. The blog will be open for anyone to post whenever they have a moving experience, so I am sure there will be tons of posts. I will check back in later this week along with Annie to fill you in on some more details of our trip, but until then we share with you the three facebook pages of the three L'Arche communities we will be visiting throughout the week, with us spending most of our time at L'Arche Daybreak. http://www.facebook.com/larchedaybreak  http://www.facebook.com/larchehamilton  http://facebook.com/larchetoronto

Also here is the L'Arche Daybreak Website as well. This is where we will be staying throughout the week. http://www.larchedaybreak.com

Until our next post, with Love,
Chris

Checking Back In

Hey friends,
We are checking back in with another blog on the progress our group has been making.  With our trip moving closer and closer the anticipation is building and so are the nerves!!!  Annie, Chris, Jen, and Jessie have been meeting via conference calls with L'Arche on a monthly basis to organize our itinerary and make sure our trip goes great! All of the group members have been getting in the right mindset for the trip and were extremely excited in our last meeting.

Since we have last checked in, Father George has come and talked to our group as a whole.  Father George inspired us by talking about all of the great things that L'Arche, and Jean Vanier have done for him.  He also provided us with some idea of what we might expect or encounter during our trip.  This was truly insightful and very moving for our group.  The most exciting news however, is that Father George will be in attendance for part of the trip and will preside over the Ash Wednesday mass at L'Arche Daybreak.  It will be awesome to see such a friendly face from here at Gannon.

For our trip this year, we will be spending the majoity of our time at L'Arche Daybreak like years past, but will also venture off for a full day at L'Arche Hamilton and half a day at L'Arche Toronto.  These are exciting new places for our group memebers to encounter and will make our experience of these communities broader and even more fantastic.  One thing that we have done in preparation with L'Arche is each of us wrote a bio about ourselves to send in to the community before arriving.  This allows everyone to get to know us as a group better.  Attached is our group memebers bio pages if you would like to get to know us better as well.

With Peace and Love,
L'Arche ABST

P.S. Throughout our trip a differnent group member will be posting their experience of that day so stay tuned!

The Gannon University Alternative Spring Break Trip Group

                                                                                                                                           

 Leah Johnson is a 19 year old, Social Work Major, from Jamestown, New York.  She has a family heritage that consists of German, Polish, Irish, and Swedish decent.  After she completes her degree at Gannon University she plans to go on the Graduate school to earn her Master’s degree in Social Work.  With her Master’s degree she hopes to work internationally as a social worker.   Her strengths and assets include being organized, a good listener, and a good communicator.   From this experience she hopes “to gain insight into this unique community, and also a broader view of what it is like to truly live in community with others.”  Her Hobbies include music, theatre, art, reading, building snowmen, and sailing.

 

Molly Longis a 22 year old, Physician Assistant Major, from Bergen New York. She has a family heritage of English decent. With her degree from Gannon she hope to take her skills as a Physician Assistant and help provide medical care in medically underserved areas both in the United States and internationally. Her strengths and assets include leadership, organization, hard work, compassion, being caring, a good listener, and open-minded. From this experience she hopes “to gain an open mind and a better appreciation for the L’Arche community. I would also like to be able to spend the time talking with and learning from the core members at the community.” Her hobbies include reading, music, nature, hiking, camping, geocaching, exploring, and playing games with family and friends.

 
 
 
 
 

Maureen Piccirili is a 20 year old, Early Childhood/Special Education major from Cleveland, Ohio. Her family heritage is Irish and Italian decent.  With her degree from Gannon she wants to be a special edcation teacher in wither second or third grade.  Her strenghts and assets include beingn a good leader and great with children.  She love people in general as well connecting by taking the time to listen and hear their life experiences and stories. Maureen is a returning participant on this trip.  Last year she stayed at New House.  She feels she has grown and changed as person in the last year since being in the L’Arche community.  From this experience she hopes to learn to put all judgemet aside and learn to love people.  Her hobbies include running competitively and for leisure, especially outside. She loves doing crafts and artistic activities, being with her friends and family, and going to school at Gannon and learning new things everyday.  

 

David McCartney is 20 years old, studying Biology/pre-Medicine from Fryburg, Pennsylvania.  His family heritage is of Irish, Dutch, and German decent.  After his studies at Gannon David plans to attend medical school and go on to become an Oncological surgeon.  He describes his strengths & assets stating “I am dedicated to whatever I choose to do. I see the end goal in sight and never lose sight of that goal. Motivation is an asset that I believe to hold because even when something doesn’t go my way, I’m able to learn and still continue to push forward. I’m a personable person, meaning that I can get along with most people at any given time. I’m also a bit of an introverted extrovert in which it takes me a little bit of time to be comfortable, but once I’m comfortable, I never stop being me.” Things he hopes to gain from this experience are “a better understanding of how this type of community is self-sustaining. I would like to be able to take the experience and information I learn in this week to be used in my everyday life or conversations with people, especially those who choose to share their discrimination against people living with IDDs.” His hobbies and interests include reading, studying, watching movies, baking, being outdoors, and running.   

 

Alexa Snyder is an 18 year old, Occupational Therapy Major, from Erie, Pennsylvania.  With her degree from Gannon she hopes to go on to use her Occupation Therapy education and license as she travels through a travel therapy program.  Ultimately though her goal her goal is to work with and aid in the rehabilitation of United States veterans.  Her strengths and assets include being good with team work, being a good listener, and being good at giving advice.  From this experience she hopes to gain new friends and to play an important part in someone’s life.  Her hobbies include working with veteran organizations, being around/working with children, hanging out with friends, and dancing.

Chris Pike is a student co-leader for this year’s trip to the L’Arche communities in the Toronto area.   He is a 20 year old, Sport and Exercise Science/Pre-Physical Therapy Major from Oswego, New York.  His family heritage is mainly Italian decent but also includes Lithuanian, Irish, and Scottish heritage.  After receiving his bachelor’s degree, Chris plans to pursue and receive his doctorate degree in Physical Therapy.  His strengths include that he is a vocal and passionate individual who will voice his feelings in order to connect with others around him.  Also being a very loving and kind individual, he loves much more than he gets angry.  “Out of this trip I hope to be both spiritually moved and moved as an individual. I have only heard great things about it and by researching L’Arche I am already in love with it. I am looking forward to experiencing all of the joy that all of core members have to offer. I am also looking forward to the ability to take the joy and happiness out of every little experience and applying it to my own life.”  He loves sports, playing them, talking about them, and watching them.  “They (Sports) are a big part of who I am. I also love anything to do with physical training or nutrition as well. One of my main interests as well is rehabilitation when it comes to the field of science and medicine.”

Annie Sadowski is a student co-leader for this year’s trip to the L’Arche communities in the Toronto area.   Annie is a returning participant on this trip.  Last year she stayed in the Brookwood house.  She is a 21 year old Nursing major from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Her family heritage is of Irish and Polish decent.  After receiving her degree from Gannon, Annie plans to return to her home city of Pittsburgh and initially work in the area of Obstetrics.  Her strengths include being compassionate, understanding, and always appreciating a good laugh.  She is looking forward to gaining hands on leadership experience from this trip.  Annie also is looking forward to a closer connection to the L’Arche community and a deeper understanding of how much honesty and human beauty living in community has to offer.  Her hobbies and interests include listening to music, dancing, enjoying the company of new and old friends, and laughing.

Jen Kline is our staff accompanier for the trip this year to your L’Arche communities.  She is a 25 year old, campus minister (a wonderful one I will add!) from Bedford, Pennsylvania.  Jen has her degree in Biology Education.  Her family decent includes a little bit of everything with stronger connections to Polish and German heritage.  Her current plans are to remain a minister at Gannon as she works on her Master’s degree in Public Administration.  Looking to the future she is “very excited to one day be a homemaker and possibly return to teaching and/or Higher Education.”  Her strengths include positivity, empathy, developing students to their full potential, adaptability, and listening skills.  Jen hopes to gain from this trip a greater sense of what it really means to invite people into both community living and into really sharing daily life with one another.  Her hobbies include reading, Zumba, music (both producing and listening to), and chatting with friends.