The Best Thing to do is Breathe

Benedictine Women Service Corps (BWSC), an outreach of Saint Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, Minn., invites College of Saint Benedict alumnae to join the monastic community in deepening relationships that support justice and service in a new location. Volunteers strive to live out the Benedictine Gospel values that were formed during their undergraduate education in a capacity that will challenge them personally, spiritually and professionally.

This week's BLOG is written by Mo Shannon-Thornton

Greetings!

(Bethany Purkapile, Erin Carey and Mo Shannon-Thornton)

Can you believe I have two more months left in the program? While I’m excited to go home and see my friends, family and fiancé, I’m not excited to be leaving my students. As many of you may know, I began the BWSC program at BARN. BARN is a transitional housing facility started by the Benedictine Sisters of Bristow. I thought I would enjoy working at BARN more than I would at BEACON. However, I’ve come to love teaching English to my students. There is honestly never a dull moment in my classroom. There is always laughter, jokes and chocolate. It never fails, but my students seem to always laugh at me. Mainly because I go on long rants about how I hate the English language and how I wish it wasn’t so complicated. Keep in mind the only reason why I go on these long rants is because I get frustrated because I find myself not being able to give a proper definition of words such as “things”.

While there are many days where I feel burnt out in life, my students seem to always teach me important lessons about living. Many of my students have children and grandchildren. Their life is far busier and more hectic than mine. Yet, they find time in their busy schedule to learn English. One of my students reads fairy tales to her daughter to practice English. While she admits that she does not always understand the words she is reading, she feels proud of herself for even trying. Witnessing things like this truly inspires me. And helps me put things into perspective. There are many days where I find myself complaining and stressing about EVERYTHING! Small matters that aren’t even relevant in the grand scheme of things.

It’s ironic because while I’m teaching my students English, they are teaching me something more valuable. They’ve taught me that just because I’m having a bad day, doesn’t mean I have a bad life. So the best thing do is breathe!

God Bless,

-Mo