January 8, 2025

College students from diocese grow in faith at SEEK 2025

REGIONAL
By Carolee McGrath

Thirty-six students from UMass in Amherst attended the SEEK conference in Washington, D.C., Jan. 2-5. (IObserve photo/Courtesty of Joe Austin)

SPRINGFIELD – More than 40 college students from across the Diocese of Springfield attended SEEK 2025, put on by the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) Jan. 1-5. For the first time, the conference was held in two locations. The main conference, with more than 17,000 young people in attendance was held in Salt Lake City, Utah. A satellite conference was held in Washington, D.C. The diocese sent a group to each location.

“We are grateful to the many donors, especially the Knights of Columbus who made this trip possible. With the bishop’s permission, we began efforts to build a hub for campus ministry in the Springfield area in the fall of 2024,” said Joe Austin, the director of the Office of Missionary Discipleship. He led a group of college students from the Springfield area who are part of the new ministry, Western Mass College Catholics.

“After only meeting a few months, it was amazing to be able to bring a group to SEEK in Salt Lake City. It was an incredible experience and so many hearts were transformed through prayerful encounters with Christ and his church,” Austin said.

One of Austin’s goals in the Office of Missionary Discipleship has been to build a bridge between youth ministry and young adult ministry. He said the college years are critical and can be difficult.

“College students are at a moment in their lives when they are discovering who they are and deciding who they want to become. Giving them an opportunity to discover their true identity in Christ is life changing. For myself, it was only after attending a SEEK conference in 2013 at Boston University as a senior that I realized I was on the wrong track. My ambitions to be a medical doctor were not God’s plan. He was calling me to be a missionary and to build up his kingdom,” he said.

Students from Springfield area colleges attended the SEEK conference in Salt Lake City. (IObserve photo/Courtesy of Joe Austin)

Among the big-name speakers were Father Mike Schmitz, a well known social media evangelist and host of the podcast, “The Bible in a Year”; author and Catholic speaker Sister Josephine Garret of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth;  and author, speaker and podcaster Sister Miriam James Heidland, of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity.

“I really enjoyed praying the Rosary before Mass that one time. It was my first time praying it while understanding it,” said Derek Escribano, a freshman at Western New England University (WNE), who attended the Salt Lake City conference.

“Although I prayed it before, I didn’t really understand it. But this really showed me the power of the Rosary and I am grateful for SEEK,” he said.

Eight students from Western Mass College Catholics attended the Salt Lake City conference.

“My intentions for going to SEEK were to build a deeper relationship with God and just to get closer to him. God greatly exceeded those expectations; not only did I feel his immense love and presence within me, which is something I’ve never felt before, but he brought me closer to a group of people that I didn’t realize I needed,” said Kayla Wickham, a junior at WNE.

Three dozen students from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst traveled to Washington, D.C. for SEEK 2025.

“SEEK was a transformative experience that these 36 students won’t soon forget,” said Marco Magpantay, FOCUS missionary at UMass in Amherst.

SEEK 2026 will have three locations: Columbus, Ohio; Fort Worth, Texas,; and Denver, Colo.

To learn more go to seek.focus.org