Merry Christmas to All! (emails from abroad)

Well, this is probably going to be the first of many group emails in the near future. As most of you know, I am going to be in Spain this next semester, and I am leaving for this grand adventure in 5 days. Wow. This last semester flew by faster than I ever could have imagined, and now I am just decompressing a little before I start my trip.

So this was my Junior Semester. I kicked butt academically, and made some good money, working three jobs most of the semester, trying to save for Spain. I was waiting, bartending, and of course Tour Guiding. I learned a lot, and a lot about myself. I was part of a planning team for a weekend long service retreat for Sophmores, and it really couldnt have gone better. We had a tremendous team, and a lot of fun (learned a little too). I also received a generous scholarship from the Cream City Foundation for my journalism work in the field of gay/lesbian issues. That is always nice. I had to then say goodbye to many wonderful friends and a University that I now consider a true home, so I packed my van to the brim (Thank God for Justine!!!) and with tears in my eyes, left my little Milwaukee apartment for a while.

Now I am at home in Michigan for precious little time, trying to squeeze in moments with Carey (who is now swim team captain) and my father (who will be completing his masters in July). We have had a wonderful Christmas so far, and at mass tonight the priest reminded us to see Christmas "through the wonder of a child's eyes," and really take in the awesomeness of Christ's birth. It was a powerful message.

I fly out of Chicago on Jan. 1 to Amsterdam, arriving the next day. I have a hostel there for a couple of days, and dont need to be in Madrid until the 10th, so who knows? I am just gonna let the spirit guide me. I will be studying there until May 31, and then hopefully I will intern with the State Dept. in either Madrid, London or France until August. That's all kinda up in the air though.

I will be updating every once in awhile about my adventures through these mass emails. I apologize if they seem impersonal, but I suck at emailing, so please dont feel you ever need to respond to these emails, because I likely wont get back to you for months. Do keep me in your thoughts and prayers, and for those of you at Marquette, make sure to watch over MY university for me while I am gone. ;-) I miss you and love you all,

Merry Christmas

Welcome to Sophomore Service Project!!!

Welcome all you wonderful, talented, service-oriented Sophomores!Our team is extremely excited to announce all the members of the project, and welcome you to the incredible weekend that is to come. We know that most of you are going full-on with projects, papers and tests, so remember that this weekend is an excellent way to focus on that which is really important in this life: service to others.A few things we need to run through:Please let us know if any of the following applies to you:---are you under 18?---if so, please call OSD (8-1412) and ask for Dave, so that we can get your parent's permission for this weekend---do you have any dietary restrictions?---if so, please respond to this email, so that meals can be planned accordingly---decided that you can't make it?---if so, we understand and will miss you, but please let us know ASAP so that arrangments can be made to include others in this project (call 8-1412 and leave a message for Dave)Additionally, we wanted to make you aware of a few things:---Friday night dinner--- may be served rather late, depending on your service site. Our program will begin at 4pm in the AMU (more info will be sent later), but dinner may not be until 7-8pm. Please be aware. We are asking you to bring a snack to share, so hopefully, you can make it through to dinner.---Return on Saturday--- return is tenatively scheduled for around 8pm on the 22nd. If this is a problem for you, let us know, and we will do our best to accommodate.---Clothing--- please be prepared to wear ratty clothes for much of the weekend, but know that there is one site where you will be required to wear dressy black pants and a dressy white shirt. See if you can scrounge something up between now and next weekend.---Donation--- one of the sites is asking that we also bring some canned goods for a Thanksgiving meal it is putting on. If you can get your hands on anything for donating, be it a bag or a single can, it would be great.---Lastly--- For anyone who would like to sleep (who are we kidding?) you should bring your own sleeping bag, pillow and please, for the love of Pete, bring a toothbrush. (and any other neccessary toiletries)We will be sending out another email between now and next weekend, but if you have any questions give us a call or shoot us an email. We are SO stoked about this experience, and look forward to getting to know all of you.Sincerely,Your 2003 Planning Team,--Tom Sivak--Annmarie Hansen--Lori Brichler--Christian

start of an important relationship

Dear Christian,

My name is XXXXXXX and I’m a freshman here at Marquette. I read the article a few weeks ago in the Tribune that kind of told your life story and what it’s like to be gay. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since I read it, and decided I had to try and contact you. The reason being I’m gay. I’ve known it for as long as I can remember. But I can’t come out. My family, my friends, and especially my church keep my sexuality a secret.

I know they have clergy, counseling, and support groups available at Marquette, but I’m just not ready for that right now. What I’m asking for I guess, is someone to talk with about things I can’t seem to talk to anybody else about. And I think you might be able to help me do just that. If I’m asking too much, or you’re just not interested, that’s okay too. I know I’m not in this alone: “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you,’ so we say with confidence, The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.”

I think it goes without saying, but I also wanted to ask you not to tell anyone else about this just yet.

I am living this life that’s happy and normal, and let me be the first to say I’m as happy and normal as they come, but there’s a big part of my life that I’m not able to show anyone and it would mean the world to me if you want to help me out. I understand you’re a junior and probably an incredibly busy person, as I am, so I realize time is something you may not have a lot of, but I just thought if anyone here would know exactly what I’m going through, you would.

Please let me know what you think, and thanks in advance.
God Bless, XXXX

__________________________________________________________________

Hey there XXXX--

I would absolutely have no problem finding some time to talk to you whenever you want. I am actually pretty free the mornings of this week, but I also have a fairly open weekend. So just let me know when would work for you.

Please know that everything that you say or write will be kept in strictest confidence. I am not new to this sort of situation, so I understand just how precious privacy is. No worries there, okay?

Anyway, let me know when you would like to meet up, and I hope you have a wonderful week,

Christian