Youths from Davenport and North Liberty attend Notre Dame Vision earlier this summer at the University of Notre Dame campus in Indiana.
By Kelly Bush and Barb Arland-Fye
The Catholic Messenger
A group of five teens from the Davenport Diocese joined hundreds of other high school students at Notre Dame Vision, a five-day experience designed to help participants discover and renew God’s call in their lives. The experience took place this past summer on the University of Notre Dame campus in Indiana.
The five, four from Assumption High School in Davenport and one from Liberty High School in North Liberty, had a fantastic time connecting with their peers from around the country, learning from the witness of the saints and developing practices to live their faith. They had the opportunity to sharpen their spiritual vision and to recognize God’s grace at work in their lives.
Sam Boche, Jack Day, Joseph Ngo and Emilia Slesicki — students at Assumption High School in Davenport — and Taylor Knight, a student at Liberty High School in North Liberty, gained insights from nationally known speakers. They also benefited from the mentoring of college students and participating in large-group sessions and small faith-sharing peer groups.
Notre Dame Vision gave these students the space and community to ask big questions about how God is calling them to use their talents in service to the Church and world. A generous donor gave Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport funding to make this experience possible for the students.
All of them gave ND Vision incredibly high marks, rating the experience at least 7 to 11 on a scale of 1-10! Emilia described it as the best conference she had attended. Jack said that while he liked some of the speeches better at the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC), the people and relationships he built at ND Vision made that experience even more powerful.
Sam Boche commented that his favorite parts were going to adoration and confession and seeing Notre Dame’s beautiful campus. He also hopes it helps his faith by letting him shine Christ’s light onto others. Taylor gave rave reviews. Here is a bit of her experience:
“I chose to attend ND Vision because I went to NCYC two years ago and loved it! I continue to look for ways to strengthen my relationship with Christ. Also, both of my older brothers went (to ND Vision) different years. Each said it truly was a life-changing experience! The past few years, I always had busy summers but this year, I knew I was available.”
“One of my favorite parts was meeting so many new people! At first, it was scary knowing I’d have to spend most of my time with kids I’d never met, but by the end of the first night my small group had such a good relationship with each other. There were many laughs but we also had vulnerable moments together. We still keep in touch even though we all live far away from each other!”
“Another one of my favorite parts was growing a deeper connection with God. The Talks of Grace gave me a real-life example of how God works in other people’s lives, which helped me to see how he’s working in mine. I learned different ways to pray, whether it was alone or in my group. I also felt closer to God when I stepped out of my comfort zone and volunteered to share first or play the full-session games.”
“Going forward, I hope that I continue to share my faith the way I did at Vision. I hope to continue praying and talking with God, especially when times are tough. Vision taught me how to be a better leader and faithful role model. I look forward to applying everything I learned to my daily life.”
