My four years at Wyoming Catholic College felt like an entire lifetime, and yet they weren’t long enough. To be matriculated into the college is to give yourself over to be made anew (matrix meaning “womb”), to be molded by the Great Books and the outdoors the way wind and water shape a canyon.

My professors taught me how to read and write with care and attention; to uphold certain principles; to strive for the good, the true, and the beautiful. These goals are shared by the publication I now work at, First Things, a New-York based magazine on religion and public life. Now in my second year of the two-year Junior Fellowship program, I am very grateful to find myself in the good company of excellent thinkers and writers who are dedicated to the preservation of our country and its churches. Their dedication has encouraged me to pursue a graduate degree after my fellowship ends, so that my mind might measure up to theirs. Until then, I am honored and glad to be able to contribute to the magazine and its cause in whatever way I can, and look forward to what lies ahead.