At the end of my first year at Loyola, I took on a leadership role with the Catholic Students' Organization (CSO) as the treasurer. As a part of the executive board, I helped plan and execute the CSO's Dive In Retreat at the beginning of my second year. The retreat focused on building community among Catholic students and inspiring students to live out their Catholic identity. We did this through community building activities, talks, small groups and prayer services. I gave a talk on the first night centered around developing faith-centered relationships. It was my first experience giving a talk to my peers, but getting past the initial fear and anxiety, I realized that I enjoyed my experience. Thus, my leadership with CSO propelled me to consider Theology as a major and look into ministry as a future career. This retreat was one of the most time demanding, exhausting experiences, but our hard work paid off and we put on a successful retreat.

In addition to the retreat, the rest of the executive board and I worked throughout the year to plan biweekly meetings for the CSO community. We also edited the constitution and expanded our social media reach in order to grow the organization. This experience taught me communication and leadership skills that I look to apply to my future.