[A Passion for Words]

Moving can be a sad and frustrating affair but undoubtedly refreshing and often necessary. It forces you to clean out the cobwebs and clutter you've been holding onto so that you can approach life with a fresh perspective.

While I'm not moving across the country, or to another country as I've done before... I rediscovered this speech while moving offices. That's, honestly, my favorite part of moving. The rediscovery of inspiration from the past. The interview for my position in undergraduate admissions involved a phone interview and a 3-5 minute speech about something I'm passionate about. I was fortunate enough to present it in front of a daunting committee of 10 colleagues from directors to deans and yet, it was the best interview I've ever had. It doesn't pertain to fashion, but it does relate to writing. Enjoy.

The challenge for today is to present something we're passionate about. I say challenge because the word "passion" can be broad, encompassing entire lifestyles. And yet, it is also that very specific push from good to great.

In order to speak on passion, I took a moment to deconstruct the word. To me, passion is an intense emotion encompassing enthusiasm, fervor, and love. It's important in carrying us to the next level of understanding a topic, hobby, job...it goes beyond knowing facts. Passion leads us to root out their impact upon history and what they mean for society.

I'm passionate about so many things...the development of our upcoming generations, ethics, multicultural affairs...but why lecture the experts? I figured you'd heard about these topics from several candidates so I wanted to share with you a personal interest.

I love things that make me think. This makes me passionate about literature. The very idea that we can transfer the influx of thoughts and dreams onto a two dimensional medium is amazing. There is so much power behind words.
There is the power to escape, in which authors transport their readers through time, space and the brink of fact and fiction. We can teleport to the mechanized 31st century or Heathcliff's brooding moors of England all in the same day.

Words have the power to stretch our minds to not only empathize with a character or culture so different from our own, but to encompass their experiences in our views on a global society to make educated and informed decisions about our future. This leads to the power of change. Words can enlighten our minds to the struggles of invisible voices in our society--as well as the more prominent ones. They can shape and mold young minds to understand how invaluable their decisions are to their future and our future. Words change lives.

Thus, I am passionate about how we can continue to use words to enrich the lives of others. And I'm not only referring to the written word now, but spoken word as well. The work done in admissions is so important in helping students realize how invaluable a Jesuit education is and that is exactly why I applied for this position, and how it relates to my passion.