A look back...
Former students share the impact of the Newman Center.
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The LSSU Catholic Newman Center helped form me into the man I am today. It was here that I learned to push myself out of my comfort zone by running on-campus programs, leading music, and having real, deep, and consequential conversations. At the same time, I’ve never felt safer and more comforted than with the community of lifelong friends I found here. It was at the LSSU Newman Center that my Catholic Faith truly became my own because it both allowed me to see the beauty of our living Church in my friends and enabled me to share it with my peers. |
Throughout my life, I have always struggled with making friends. Good friends, to be exact. Friends who lift me up instead of bringing me down, and who help me to be a better person, rather than using me to make them feel better about themselves. When I first got to Lake State, my biggest fear was not making good friends. The second I stepped foot into the Newman Center, I felt so welcomed and included and was amazed that people who barely knew me could care more about me than people I was “friends” with in high school. I knew from that moment that I would be spending all the spare time I had at the Newman Center, and I did. I immediately became as involved as I could at the Center, and when I found out I could apply to live there, I filled out the application immediately. I moved into the Newman Center in August of 2020, right before my junior year, and had the opportunity to live there the summer before my senior year. That summer was one of the best summers of my life. I got to experience a summer in the Soo and became closer friends with the other students living there. I was a Newman Center resident for 2 years, and I don’t regret a single thing about it. I have made so many good friends, friends that I know I will have for life, and none of that would have been possible if I had decided not to attend the Newman Center. |
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"The Newman Center changed my life in a way that I never thought it could. I came to college sealed and confused then I found the center and it helped me find 
I came to lake state not knowing what to expect from college, and did not have a direction of what I truly wanted out of my time in school. I ended up coming to the Newman center, and it gave me direction and ultimately defined my time at Lake State. It offered me a great community of people who shared my values, opened my mind, and became my closest friends. The Newman center was key in my faith formation, but was also a haven and home away from home for me throughout a busy student schedule. I am grateful I had a chance to serve and be served by a beautiful student ministry community. I left LSSU knowing I had a full and fruitful college experience thanks the the Newman Center. |
"It is hard to put into words just how much the Newman Center has shaped my life, often in ways I could never have expected, but now realize I could never live without. I was only just taking an interest in my faith when I first came to LSSU, and it was at the Newman Center that I found the people and the atmosphere that truly allowed it to flourish. I credit each and every day I spent in that building with fostering me into the man I am today, and I cannot express my gratitude enough for the people that allowed this to happen. These people, those who have both come and gone over the last four years, have influenced me in more ways than they'll ever know, and my life is profoundly better for having them in it. 
The Newman Center is a place that the students of LSSU can come to find a community of incredibly caring and genuine people. I have found lifelong friends through the Newman Center. I am able 
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Community service events offered by the center allow students to take part and have an impact in the community. It allows us to connect with the parish and interact with members of Sault Sainte Marie that we may otherwise may not have otherwise met. Volunteering also gets us to spread our time, talents and mission of the Newman Center. |
Social events are an awesome opportunity to grow in fellowship. It is supportive and open environment where everyone can speak freely and be themselves! It is a chance for everyone to relax, get closer to one another and overall have a fun time after the hectic school week. It also lets people who cannot join us for weekly program connect up with fellow Catholics. |
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Retreats have been a regular part of my college career here at LSSU. They help me refocus on God in the middle of the semester when I really need it. I am thankful for the relationships I have made with students Northern Michigan University and Michigan Tech University as well as the opportunity to grow closer to those from the Newman Center without the stressors and distractions of school. Those who host the retreats do a great job, and help me grow in faith and see God from a different perspective. |