I discovered my vocation to priesthood (God-willing) as a college student at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Though I was born and raised in a good Catholic family and attended Catholic school from K-12, the priesthood was not on my radar until around the age of 19. During my freshman year of college, a FOCUS missionary encouraged me to reconsider my priorities in life, especially by making Jesus the center of everything. I took his encouragement to heart, and shortly after, I started to make frequent use of the Sacraments and developed a more consistent life of prayer. As I came to internalize the beauty of Holy Mass and the power of confession--combined with getting to know the priests at the Newman Center--the call to the priesthood started to take root in my heart.

I spent the next three years at college working in earnest on my accounting degree, growing in my faith, and developing virtuous friendships. As I continued through college, the desire to be a priest never wavered, and so I made the decision to enter the seminary upon graduation from the University of Nebraska in 2024. I have come to recognize my college experience as an incredible sign of God's love for me. The seminary was certainly not what I envisioned when I entered college, but I'm eternally grateful that Jesus led me there when I didn't expect it.