Day retreat helps girls as they prepare for college

The adjustment to college can be difficult, a sophomore at Kansas State University told a room full of girls just two years younger than she is.

But Cristina Law said what keeps her focused and on track is the parable of the sower, from Matthew 13.

“I want to be the seed in rich soil,” she told the 20 girls from the Sacred Heart High School senior class who spent the day at the Nazareth Motherhouse Thursday.

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Every spring the Sisters of St. Joseph host the senior girls from the Catholic High School in Salina. This year the program was organized by Sisters Beverly Carlin and Julie Christensen, with assistance from Sisters Pauline Kukula and Anna Marie Broxterman. Also on hand to help was volunteer Kathleen Norman. The theme for the day was “Taking Jesus With You as You Go.”

In addition to prayer, meditation and games, the girls also attended Mass in the Motherhouse chapel and then joined the sisters who live at the Motherhouse for lunch.

Cristina Law, who is originally from Houston, Texas, and is now in her second year as a bakery science major at K-State, said she came across the parable of the sower as she was preparing for college.

The message that seeds can either die or flourish depending on the quality of the soil appealed to her, she said, because it encouraged her to take her faith and belief in who she is with her to college.

“You can be a part of college and still have your integrity,” she told the young women who all expect to continue their education next fall.

The annual visit by the girls getting ready to graduate from Sacred Heart is designed to be a fun day out of the classroom while encouraging them to think about challenges they may face as they leave high school.

Further on in Matthew 13, Jesus explains the parable of the sower, saying, “… The seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”

“That’s about college to me,” Law said. “My ‘yield’ from this experience can be like that.”