I was raised Catholic, went to CCD and received all my sacraments. But after being confirmed, I went back to my public school life and did not pursue my faith further. I went through high school as a lukewarm Catholic.
I arrived at George Mason University in Fairfax intent on going to Mass on Sundays purely out of routine and nothing more. Before classes began, I was bored in my freshman dorm room and went on a walk with my roommate. We saw some chalk writings on the ground advertising what is now the Block Party, without knowing it was from the Catholic Campus Ministry. We had nothing better to do, so we stopped by, had some free barbecue, and most likely went back to playing games in our dorm. But it was there that I unwittingly signed up for a Bible study, and after two years of convincing, I began to attend events regularly at the CCM and pursue my faith independently.
Now I am working to give the incoming freshmen the same gift of faith that I unknowingly received and took a long time to appreciate. This year, I am co-leading our Campus Engagement team with Monica De Micoli. The mission is to bring GMU students to the chapel and our events, but ultimately back to the church, or to the church for the first time.
Our biggest event of the year is the annual Block Party, which is to welcome students before the school year begins with free food, an ice cream truck, a petting zoo and even a mechanical bull. A CCM tradition is to advertise the Block Party in the days leading up to it while wearing pig costumes around campus. Everybody at Mason loves it, especially the new students.
Since I got involved last year, this period of time has been my favorite. There’s something special about running around in a pig costume with other like-minded pigs. With the help of our Social Media Manager Keris Mathwin, Student Campus Minister and videographer Thomas Loesel, and our chaplain, Father Joseph W. Farrell and his remarkable ideas, we executed a very successful campaign to advertise Block Party. More than 1,100 students attended.
But even after Block Party, our outreach efforts aren’t over. CCM volunteers have been on campus handing out flyers for our Thursday Night Suppers and bringing more students to the chapel. I have met lots of students who are Catholic and never knew there was a Catholic Campus Ministry at Mason until one of us talked to them. It is also wonderful to see new faces at Mass or at the chapel recently, knowing that our outreach is working.
Part of the fun has been brainstorming funny Instagram Reel ideas with our team. Father Farrell has been a driving force behind that and has had some very influential ideas to advertise our Thursday Night Suppers. It has been a joy to work on bringing more students to our community and to the chapel. This ministry allows me to offer new and old students a community built on faith; the same I received years ago.
Carballosa, a student at George Mason University in Fairfax is involved with the Catholic Campus Ministry.
