Q: Which Priest or Religious Brother or Sister Has Most Influenced You and How?

Sister Michael Marie, the principal of St. James School, has influenced me in ways almost indescribable. Throughout my ten years attending St. James, I have realized how much Sister Michael Marie does for her teachers, parish staff and most of all, her students.

While running one school, Sister Michael Marie has recently directed the planning, building and moving of our previous two-building campus to our new campus with grades ranging from Pre-K through 8 in a single building. She has done everything possible to make the move simple, and at the same time she has tried to keep the school running smoothly. Throughout this process, I have observed a sense of leadership in our principle that has influenced me to take an interest in leadership myself.

After taking this interest, I developed a drive to do more. What do you suppose I mean by this? I currently participate in four academic teams, three sports teams and I maintain an A average. Now that we have moved into the building, it continues to run as smooth as ever, thanks to Sister Michael Marie. I have come to realize the values she has instilled in me throughout my ten years at St. James will carry and follow me throughout my life as a teenager and as an adult.

These are just some of the ways Sister Michael Marie has influenced and inspired me, and I know now that this influenced and inspiration cannot be implanted into so many people by one, sole person, unless that is their true vocation in life. That is the truly special part of any vocation if we can come to understand it. This part being that it takes a distinct person to recognize “their call within the call,” as Mother Theresa would say. I have realized now that many others see the exact same thing that I see in Sister Michael Marie.
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Today's blog is the 2nd place winning essay in the Vocation Awareness Essay Contest, co-sponsored by the Serra Club and the Archdiocese of Louisville Vocation Office.  Our author is Kyle Landis.  Kyle is in the 7th grade at St. James School in Elizabethtown.  He is the son of Tim and Karen Landis.  His home parish is St. James.  Congratulations, Kyle!