From January 3 to the 7, twenty-plus SRU students attended the SEEK conference through Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) in Indianapolis.
The SEEK Conference consisted of Mass every day, adoration, confession, music, keynote speakers and various other speakers that held sessions on different topics: such as vocation, love in Christ and theology. This conference is held every other year through FOCUS.
FOCUS is a Catholic outreach whose mission is to share the gospel with the world.
Brianna Dillon, junior, public health pre-PA major and gerontology minor said, “All of the speakers talked about very pertinent issues in today’s culture that blur our definition of “being happy”.
Maura Trabold, freshman, early childhood and special education dual major with a minor in professional spanish, said that there are four FOCUS missionaries on Slippery Rock’s campus that sponsor the event and take college students to the conference over a week in January.
“You can go if you’re Catholic, non-Catholic, it doesn’t matter, it’s just a big conference to further your faith,” Trabold said.
The SEEK Conference hosted 17,000 registrants, with representation from Ireland, the United Kingdom and Australia.
“One of the most important things that I learned was how to make missionary disciples through spiritual multiplication,” Dillon said. “It only takes one person to invest in others, and that one person can change the world.”
“[My favorite part was] just seeing everyone come together for one common goal basically and see everyone’s love for each other and for the Lord especially,” Trabold said.
The next SEEK Conference will be held in 2021 but the date and location will not be announced until the prior year.
The SEEK Conference in Indianapolis was the first conference that Trabold and Dillon attended.
“I would highly encourage anyone to attend this conference, no matter your religion,” Dillon said. “Not only did the speakers talk about religious topics, but they spoke about so many other issues that come up in today’s culture that sometimes we don’t know how to handle.”
“If you were unsure of going, I would say it doesn’t hurt to go once and take that leap of faith,” Trabold said. “Just go and see what it’s about and if you don’t like it that’s fine, but you might discover something that you never knew or something that sparked in your life.”
The FOCUS missionaries in coordination with Slippery Rock are on campus at least once a week in order to familiarize students with their mission. The missionaries are also involved with outreach to students, leading bible studies, providing rides to mass, Rock Catholic and are around to just hang out with students.
