Our #MyMagisMessage for the week comes from Erin Kipp, a sophomore Peace Justice and Human Rights major and Leadership Development minor from Holliston, MA!
At which service sites / community partners have you served or been a student liaison?
I have served with Cuyahoga Hills Juvenile Correctional Facility, Roxboro Elementary School, and Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry. I am also currently serving (virtually of course!) at Boys Hope Girls Hope and Building Hope in the City
If you had to state your life mission off the top of your head, in one sentence, what would it be?
To love unconditionally, change the world in small ways every day, and to do it with gratitude and a smile :)
As I reflect upon this time in particular, I think it is easy to get bogged down by the weight of everything happening in our society. There is so much that is begging to drive us apart both physically and emotionally. I have certainly had days where it all gets to be overwhelming and feels too big a hurdle to jump. But when I think about the term magis, "for the greater good", and think about it in terms of our JCU community, I have been both inspired and humbled with the task of finding the great glory of what we can accomplish while apart.
Service has always been one of the biggest parts of my life, and so to be able to have it as a constant in a time of so many uncertainties has been a blessing. Getting the opportunity to connect with students at places like BHGH and BHITC, even if we just end up talking for an hour, has been a really great reminder that service doesn't always need to be a huge extravagant or unattainable thing. It can be as simple as writing a letter to a neighbor who's having a tough time, talking with some kids who can't see their classmates anymore, or even going out and voting!
I always tell people that I chose John Carroll for the community, and this holds true now more than ever, as I am able to meet with people who share my passions and do so with a smile, behind a mask of course!