I grew up in Augusta, GA, and was Christian (Seventh-Day Adventist). I moved up to Virginia in high school, and there I converted to Catholicism due to the influence of various factors, with my step-mom being a large factor as she would bring my dad and I to Mass every Sunday. 

I mostly spend my free time hanging out with friends and just getting out of my own house, although I love weight lifting, playing games (board, card, video, etc.), playing sports (recently into volleyball!), and I love all types of music, though I generally listen to indie/alternative music (a lot of Noah Kahan). 

There are many parts of Scripture that stick out to me, though one favorite as of late is from the Song of Songs: “You are all fair, my love; there is no flaw in you” (Song 4:7, RSV-2CE).

This line is the bridegroom speaking to the bride, and so is Christ speaking to us. “There is no flaw in you.” Christ reminds me in this line that there is nothing I can do or can’t do, nothing anyone else can or can’t do, that can increase or decrease his love for me: he loves me simply because I exist. I don’t need to prove myself or earn his love. He simply loves me, and that is enough. 

I’d have to say St. Brigid of Kildare (Patroness of Ireland). While many saints have inspired me, such as John Paul II, John of the Cross, Augustine, and so on, Brigid is my Confirmation saint, and I know she’s walked with me closely ever since. Her intercession has been so great and constant along my journey to sainthood and my calling to the priesthood. She is my sister and friend. 

In eleventh grade, while on a youth retreat known as Mount 2000 (held at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary), I received an extraordinary call from the Lord to the priesthood. All-in-all, the Lord revealed this desire for the priesthood that he had put in my heart (even though I didn’t know what a priest did, except for Mass, and I didn’t know what a vocation was!).

After high school, I entered seminary with the Diocese of Arlington and studied at the Catholic University of America for a year (while at St. John Paul II Seminary). I moved down to Georgia, afterward, and took a gap year, working during that time, and then I continued my studies online with Holy Apostles this past year, and have now entered seminary with the Archdiocese of Atlanta, studying at St. Joseph Seminary College in Louisiana. 

For me, seminary life is prayer, fraternity, and study. I pray, and I’m formed, and I draw close to the Lord. Otherwise, I think it’s just the life of a Christian disciple. I want to know God, to know myself (and, so, my heart), and do what I was made for. 

I look forward to fatherhood, and my fatherhood being fulfilled in the Mass and further lived out through the people of God. 

Listen to the Lord. While it may seem cliché, you should consistently pray and just conversate with the Lord. The more you come to listen to the Lord and know his voice, the more you’ll know where he is calling you: “And suddenly looking around they no longer saw any one with them but Jesus only” (Mk 9:8, RSV-2CE, emphasis added). And, at the end of the day, entering seminary for one year doesn’t hurt. In fact, it’d be one of the most formative years of your life, and you’d be all the better for it.