Recent Events

There is a saying which reads, "March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb." I wouldn't know about the going out part yet, but it certainly came in with a bang. To begin with, the new chapel on campus here at TAC, which had been under construction for around 3 years and in the planning process for many more years prior, was at long last dedicated on March 7. Cardinal Mahoney came up from L.A. to preside at the Dedication Mass, and several hundred benefactors and alumni were in attendance. Due to the large numbers of said benefactors and alumni, the students were not able to attend the Dedication Mass, with the exception of those singing in the choir, of which, fortunately, I was one. The Mass was very long, as was to be expected, but really beautiful. The altar and tabernacle were incensed and sprinkled with holy water, and the altar was anointed with oil. A first-class relic of St. Thomas Aquinas, our college's patron and namesake, was also interred in the altar. The choir (I thought) sounded gorgeous, and we were accompanied by organ and three trumpets on several of the hymns. The whole thing went off very well, and all the students are enormously happy to finally have such a beautiful chapel, as well as thankful to all the people who donated so much money toward its construction.

The weekend after the dedication, my parents came to visit me! I'd been wanting them to come for a while so that I could show them the campus and have them meet some of my friends, and they finally decided that March 13-15 was a good weekend. So they arrived on Friday afternoon, and I gave them the grand tour of campus, which included the commons building, the classroom buildings, the faculty building, the chapel, the library, and (for my Mom, anyway) my dormitory (men aren't allowed into the women's dorms). They had dinner on campus Friday evening, at which I introduced them to a number of my friends, and after dinner came to a lecture on history that was being given. Hopefully they enjoyed it... :) On Saturday we went out to Ventura and I showed them all of my haunts and places where I go with friends to have fun, which included Trader Joe's, the bookstore, and the Ventura Pier. We also saw Mission San Buenaventura. Dinner was had at Ojai Pizza of wide and infamous renown, after which we picked up a couple of my friends and went out for ice cream. On Sunday they came up to the campus for Mass, came to brunch with me, and then had to leave a little after noon. But it was a lot of fun, and accomplished a very useful purpose which I will now relate.

Ever since the second semester of my freshman year, I'd been becoming closer and closer to a certain young man in my class, by the name of Anthony. We weren't dating, just close friends, although everyone knew that it was probably headed in the dating direction eventually. Well, things had been going on like that for about a year, and I was beginning to wonder when or if they actually would go farther, as I was definitely attached to him. And then one day during the second semester of my sophomore year, he related some very shocking news to me: prior to coming to TAC, he had wanted to be a priest after graduation and in fact had chosen to come to TAC based partially on that reason (a large percentage of TAC grads, relative to other Catholic colleges, go on to the seminary). But then he had met me, and suddenly wondered if he had been right about his vocation. So he'd been praying and trying to figure out what God wanted him to do, and was, at that point in time, really torn between the two options - neither had the upperhand at the moment. Naturally, this wasn't the most pleasant thing I could have heard; although the priesthood is an amazing vocation, it would mean I couldn't have him. So...now that we were in that quandary, I settled down to wait for him to discern, praying that God would show him what to do, and that everything would work out for the best. It took about a year for him to decide (and believe me, it was probably the most stressful, frustrating, anxiety-filled year of my life so far), but as of the beginning of second semester junior year, he was feeling drawn to me much more strongly. We went out a few times on what my friends jokingly referred to as "platonic non-dates," and everything went pretty well. It was about this time that my parents came down to visit me. They got to meet him, and really liked him, which information I communicated to him. The evening of the very Sunday that they left, Anthony informed me that my parents' approval was really what he'd been waiting for since shortly after semester began, as he was almost sure he had decided in my favor. So he said that if I wanted, we could, as they say, "go official" now. And of course I wanted, so he took off my claddagh ring (which symbolizes 'single' or 'taken' depending on which way it's facing on your finger), turned it round, and put it back on again. *sigh* It was really very cute. So as of three days ago, Anthony and I are dating, and I am very happy to have finally made it to this stage. Now we will have to keep being friends and doing things together and see if this relationship is one that God wants us to take further.

Anyway, it's getting late, and I have to get up early tomorrow, so I will end this post. God Bless!