Gabrielle Koval has a great story of how she chose Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas.
Actually, she says it’s a great story about how Benedictine College chose her.
Gabby is a senior Theology major from Atlanta, Ga. She described how she met the college’s president, Stephen D. Minnis a few years ago:
“I was dropping my youngest brother off for Athlete Move-In Day, and you know how President Minnis comes out and waits to greet everyone in line? He comes over to us and we lower the window, and he’s like ‘Hey! Okay, who’s going to school here?’ And I say, ‘Oh my brother Ted, he’s moving in!’ and he goes, ‘Well why don’t you go to school here?’ and I said, ‘Uhh, I go to Georgia State.’ And he puts his hand on the window and looks at me as the church bells start to ring, and he goes, ‘Go home, pack up your things, and come back.’ And I was like, “Okay .. definitely… yeah!’ And I think he could tell I was kind of put off by it, and he looks at me and says, ‘Go home, grab your stuff, start your classes. This is where you’re meant to be.’
“So as I dropped Ted off, I was just watching all these priests walk around, talking to students, and everyone just looked so nice and people that I didn’t even know were saying hi to me. And I went home and called Admissions and was like, ‘Random question, President Minnis said if I called, I could come back and start classes on Monday.’
“Long story short, I packed up all my stuff, came home, started classes, and switched my major. “Best decision of my life.”
Ever since that day, she said, the college’s mission of community, faith, and scholarship, changed her life. Koval had been a leader at Georgia State, heading up a campus civics group. Now she is a leader at Benedictine College, getting ready for a trip to a conference about ethics and culture at Notre Dame University.
“It’s funny because I think about who I would have been if I would’ve stayed at Georgia State. I was a practicing Catholic, but being here has absolutely transformed my life, spiritually, the friendships I’m in, how I view God, how accessible Adoration is, and how amazing it is to be surrounded by like-minded people who push you further to Christ – it is a chosen place in a lot of ways.”
