NEWPORT – Four Salve Regina students will be boarding planes in July for a long flight to Sydney, Australia, where they will join thousands of other young people from across the world to celebrate World Youth Day 2008.
The four students – Ian Kerr, Maura O'Toole, Katherine Shaw, and Elissa Slason – each entered an essay contest sponsored by the university and won $2,300 grants to fund their trips.
The grants were made possible by a generous donation from the Board of Trustees.
World Youth Day is an international gathering of Catholic youth held every few years. At the last event, held in Germany in 2005, 1.2-million people attended the final Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul. This year’s event takes place from July 15 to July 20 and focuses on prayer, reflection, and the chance to meet fellow Catholics from around the world.
The Salve students were asked to answer two questions: Why is attending World Youth Day important? And, how will they share their experiences with the university community? Based on their responses, Sister Leona Misto, the vice president of mission integration at Salve, awarded grants to the four students. Initially a fifth student was also awarded a grant but when he changed his mind about the trip, the remaining four grants were increased. Now, the students will be able to afford the very expensive flights to Sydney.
Sister Leona said she was impressed by each of the student essays. “They wrote beautiful things about what it would mean to them to be with other Catholic youth,” she said.
Elissa Slason, a senior, wrote that her experiences in Sydney would help her faith grow. “World Youth Day will allow me to expand on the gifts and knowledge Salve Regina has given and grow as a more responsible citizen of the world rooted in faith.”
Katherine Shaw, a sophomore, is thrilled about the opportunity to travel to Australia and be in the presence of Pope Benedict XVI. “With the Pope being there and people all over the world there's no other way I'd be able to experience something like this without the school offering some grant,” she said. “To have this week that brings people from all over the world together and really to just promote peace.”
Sister Leona said her goal is that “the whole university will have been somehow or other connected to this and feel a part of it. I think this is really powerful for youth.”
The students came up with a variety of ideas to share their experiences, from writing in the school newspaper, to using the school's radio station, to speaking in freshman classes. “I'll be keeping a journal to report on my experiences when I come back,” Shaw said.
Shaw hopes it will be “a real strengthening tool” for her faith, and also help guide her career goals. She is studying to be a nurse and wants to eventually use those skills to help people internationally. She hopes her time in Australia will “strengthen me in any way to do my part.”
