Author: Jamie Kralovec

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Vocation, Discernment, and Decision-Making with the Summer College Immersion Program

This week’s post is about the Summer College Immersion Program. During their three weeks on Georgetown’s Hilltop, students experience a range of courses and experiential learning opportunities, including a four-session program entitled “Reflection in the Jesuit Tradition.” 

“I want to help people be proud of their smile, especially people who are embarrassed by their teeth.” 

I heard this during a mock college admissions interview with one of the students in the Summer College Immersion Program (SCIP), an intensive three-week residential experience on campus for rising high school seniors from the Cristo Rey Network and KIPP Foundation school systems around the country. Mission in Motion has previously covered this highly mission-aligned SCS program (“Summer College Immersion Students Enter Into Silence,” “Students in Summer college Immersion Program Experience Reflection in the Jesuit Tradition,” “Summer College Immersion Program Expands Access to Transformative Georgetown Education,” and “Making an Impact Along the Way: An Interview with Caitlin Cochran, SCS Associate Dean, Summer and Special Programs”), which comprehensively introduces high-achieving students to an experience of college life through academic coursework, community building, and experiential learning. The mock college interview is one of the final steps in the three weeks, presenting a practice opportunity for the real college application experience that these promising students will undergo in their senior years. 

The quoted student’s deep commitment to the service of others through a hoped-for college education in dentistry epitomizes the transformative potential of these students to use their gifts and talents for good in the world. I had asked in the interview for the student to share more about their hopes for the college search process and how they would like college to inform and shape their passions. This response stopped me in my tracks and I found myself in a profound pause before asking another question. I was relishing in the calm confidence expressed by this rising high school senior. I was amazed by the bold practicality of her vision: to fix smiles because too many people, especially families in the low-income community in which she lives, do not have proper access to affordable dental care. To join together an educational interest in dentistry with a mission commitment to serve others is to realize what animates the heart of the Spirit of Georgetown. 

SCS Dean Kelly Otter welcomes everyone to the final banquet of the Summer College Immersion Program. SCIP is a program that involves the dedication and generosity of many hands, including administrators, faculty, staff, and donors. 

This year I offered a four-session program entitled “Reflection in the Jesuit Tradition.” In the first session we explored the mission of the University and how it relates to the larger mission and purpose of Jesuit education. In the following session, we discussed and then practiced several forms of meditation, including the Ignatian-inspired examen of consciousness. This was a revealing session because it illuminated the various ways that these students experience silence. Like all the sessions, a mindfulness body and breath scan began our time together and a short examen meditation ended it. These bookends were restorative as I could see the students appreciating the opportunity at the end of a busy day to quiet their minds and push aside, however briefly, their daily distractions. In the final two sessions, we discussed discernment and decision-making in the Jesuit tradition, offering a set of resources and practices for how to engage in spiritual discernment related to a significant decision. The presentation became more real as students formed small groups and shared with each other an example of a decision in their own lives that they will contemplate in the coming year. 

I left this year’s program with a profound gratitude for SCIP and the amazing network of staff, faculty, and donors that make it possible. Several students asked me in their interview to reflect on my time at Georgetown and without hesitation I shared that this program is one that makes me especially proud to work at SCS.

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This Summer: Learn to Pray, Read Slowly and Spiritually, and/or Explore Nature

This week’s Mission in Motion responds to Rabbi Rachel Gartner’s invitation to reflect in the summer by suggesting three spiritual practices that put reflection into action. 

A few weeks ago, Rabbi Rachel Gartner, SCS Senior Advisor for Pastoral Care, invited us into the summer months with a spiritual challenge for how we can spend this season of the year. Rabbi invited all of us to ponder the deeper significance of the summer by cooperating with the season’s unique rhythms and opportunities for rest. She wrote: “Now, as the summer arrives, and time opens and slows, perhaps you too might slow down and open up. We wonder whether returning to some of these ideas might help you do so. We humbly and prayerfully hope they might.” Rabbi Rachel’s post ended with some reflective questions that might help us take advantage of the summer’s opportunities for uniquely long, loving, looks at the real. 

In this week’s post, I would like to revisit some older posts on the Mission in Motion blog that might help you put Rabbi’s invitation into spiritual practices that meet your desires. I would like to focus on three past posts and their three distinctive practices as a set of suggestions for how to make your own long, loving, look at the real come to life in the next few months. I draw your attention to these three suggestions: “This Summer: Learning to Pray,” “This Summer: Read Slowly, Spiritually,” and “Exploring Nature: A Healthy (and Holy) Response to Zoom Fatigue.” 

Learning to Pray: Inspired by the recent book of the Jesuit Fr. James Martin, S.J., Learning to Pray: A Guide for Everyone, I encourage you to commit to some set of interior prayer practices. Fr. Martin’s book recognizes and affirms a diversity of spirituality and religious understandings of prayer that can all offer insights into this interior practice. One particular suggestion is to try out the Ignatian Examen, a method of daily self-examination and reflection that can help a person live out their deeper calling. If you’re interested in the Examen, consider signing up for the SCS Daily Digital Meditations which take place Monday-Friday at 12 p.m. ET. The final weekly meditation every Friday is reserved for an Examen. 

Reading Spiritually: We often assume that spiritually significant texts are limited to the holiest books of religious traditions. And while texts like the New Testament, the Torah, the Quran, etc. carry special meaning, it is possible to read other texts in spiritually meaningful ways. I suggest that you find something to read this summer that enables you to read more with your heart than with your head. Read in ways that allow you to be moved and stirred by the words, facilitating potential transformation of your mind and heart. 

Exploring Nature: One way to read the world is to read the natural environment that surrounds you. I invite you to take some time this summer to simply sit in awe and wonder of the natural world. Grow your awareness and attentiveness to the majesty of the world around us. This habit of attentiveness can both grow our gratitude for the gifts of nature and motivate us to protect it from the threats it faces. 

I hope this manageable list of spiritual practices, inclusively presented in a way that can register across our diverse community, adds some depth to the rest and relaxation that summer often affords.

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SCS Students Receive Fellowship Awards, Affirming the Value of Academic Excellence

This week’s post highlights Academic Excellence as a mission commitment deriving from the history of Jesuit education. Recently, SCS students have received prestigious scholarships and fellowships that affirm these values. 

Georgetown’s status as a top university in the world is not in doubt. Students apply to the University because of its heritage as one of the globe’s most accomplished educational institutions. The academic quality of Georgetown’s schools and programs, including those at SCS, is not necessarily the first thing that comes to mind, however, when considering the University’s Jesuit values. Some might wonder how a commitment to excellence in teaching and research can live alongside other values that emphasize social justice, environmental sustainability, and a community in diversity. But academic excellence is one of the core values of the Spirit of Georgetown and has been a guiding principle since Jesuits started running schools in the mid-16th century. 

To commit to academic excellence is to commit to the life of the mind as a means of uncovering truth, discovering meaning, and serving the common good. The reflection document “Characteristics of Jesuit Higher Education” by the Association of Jesuit Colleges & Universities describes the Academic Life as the second characteristic of Jesuit schools. According to the document, Jesuit education is distinctive because of its “emphasis on developing the whole person” who “relies not only on the communication of content, but also on the quality of relationships among a wide community of educators and co-learners.” And in their document “A Distinctive Education: Reflections by Georgetown Jesuits on Education at Georgetown,” Georgetown’s Jesuit community affirms the social impact of a high-quality education: 

“Academic endeavors can contribute to the project for the common good in a variety of ways: sensitizing students to the challenges facing various communities (our own but also those facing the national and global communities); helping students to see connections between esoteric learning and practical responses; challenging students to develop balanced and sophisticated understandings of these issues; providing students with the resources to discover real life responses to these challenges. The Jesuit educational tradition places great value on how knowledge can contribute to the common good.” 

With this larger context of the purpose of Jesuit education in mind, I turn to the recent news of several SCS students winning prestigious national and global fellowships and scholarships. Gabriel Antuna-Rivera, who graduated in May with a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies degree, was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to teach abroad in Mongolia. Gabriel will teach English to vocational and university-level students, helping him realize his mission-oriented goal to become a public educator. In addition to this Fulbright, two incoming SCS students, Courtney Souter and Lisa Guagliano, were recently awarded the Foreign Affairs Information Technology (FAIT) Fellowship. The FAIT fellowship involves two years of academic funding for IT-related master’s degree programs along with internships, professional development, and mentorship in preparation for work in the U.S. Foreign Service. Courtney is pursuing a Master’s in Information Technology Management and Lisa is pursuing a Master’s in Cybersecurity Risk Management. 

These SCS students exemplify the value of Academic Excellence and make the University’s Jesuit mission and values come to life with their mission commitment to serving others and the common good. SCS is proud to advance the mission of Georgetown in this way. 

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A Reflection on the “Why” of Professional & Continuing Education at the SCS Summer Open House

This week’s post reflects on the SCS summer open house for prospective students with the help of Rabbi Rachel’s invitation to consider the deeper meaning of summer.

In last week’s post, Rabbi Rachel Gartner invited the community into a deeper consideration of the meaning of summer. Rabbi Rachel ended with a list of open-ended questions. The final question in the group stood out to me: “What insights into the ‘why’ of your work and of your life does summer uniquely offer up to you?” I pondered this question during this week’s SCS Summer Open House for prospective students.

Throughout the calendar year, SCS opens the doors of its beautiful downtown campus to prospective students. The event is structured to encourage spontaneous conversation between those inquiring about the Georgetown experience and the dedicated SCS faculty and staff who are on hand to answer questions. Hospitably organized around delicious food and drink, the open house showcases how the SCS community lives out the Spirit of Georgetown and embraces the values of Jesuit education. In higher education, we often talk about the “lifecycle” of student experience – from the very first inquiry online through to study and program completion to becoming a committed alum. The open house offers a unique glimpse into how prospective students experience Georgetown culture at the earliest stages of their journey.

Rabbi Rachel’s final question was on my mind while I walked around the open house. I delighted in what I noticed: staff and faculty enthusiastically making the case to interested visitors about what makes a Georgetown SCS education stand apart in the field of professional and continuing education. I observed prospective students entering the building unsure of what to expect and leaving the campus with a stack of program handouts and their lunch hungers satisfied. All in all, it was an energetic event throughout and the sounds of spirited conversation and interaction confirmed the event’s success.


I am reflective about how this summer open house helped these guests get in touch with the “why” of their interest in continuing their journey at Georgetown. Earlier in the year, Mission in Motion highlighted the theme of the SCS biennial marketing campaign: Be Continued. SCS has made an intentional decision to market around this question of how the journey of continuing education at Georgetown satisfies a deeper “why” of professional life. This blog tells some of the story about how SCS is committed to forming discerning and generous lifelong learners who want to continue their learning journeys consistent with the University’s mission. During the open house, I considered how each visitor to the campus and potential future SCS student reflected on their open house experience as part of their continuing story of meaning and purpose in work. I imagined these prospective students gaining some valuable insights into the “why” of their interest in Georgetown during their time in the 640 Massachusetts Avenue campus.

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Why Does the Core Ethics Course in the SCS Master of Professional Studies Matter?

This week’s post reflects on the recent environmental crisis by affirming the required MPS course in professional Ethics. The University recently announced that its downtown residential building at 55 H St. NW achieved a major sustainability milestone. 

This was a week that made me especially grateful that all SCS Master of Professional Studies (MPS) programs have a required course in Ethics. This common feature of the MPS degree programs is a distinguishing characteristic of the commitment at SCS to integrating Georgetown’s Jesuit and Catholic mission and values within the curriculum. While each program designs its own course that reflects the unique discourses and practices of that particular professional discipline, all the offerings in Ethics challenge students to consider the personal formation of professional ethics in light of the University’s mission to form graduates who are “lifelong learners” and “responsible and active participants in civic life” who “live generously in service to others.”

My own gratitude for this feature of academic life at SCS is related to this week’s current events. The distressing smoke billowing throughout much of the United States, including Washington, D.C., due to accelerating forest fires in Canada should awaken our collective conscience to the need for significant changes in human behavior toward the environment. Mission in Motion has previously called attention to the Spirit of Georgetown value, “Care for Our Common Home,” and the mission-critical work of environmental sustainability and climate adaptation during an unusually warm week earlier in the year. The increasing recognition that status quo policies and actions are not satisfactory to address the global crisis of a warming planet makes it all the more important that professional students reflect on the ethical and moral imperative of cooling down a warming planet. 

You might still be asking: How does this week’s disruptive weather event relate to the MPS course in Ethics? My reflection on this question consists of three points. 

First, the Ethics course invites students to move beyond a rules-based or legalistic framework approach to what is ethically necessary in professional life. While knowing professional codes of conduct and policies that govern particular communities of practice is important, simple compliance with prescribed requirements is not enough to address threats to the common good. I teach the core ethics course in MPS Urban & Regional Planning and students meaningfully engage with the American Institute of Certified Planners Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. But the discussions, the assignments, and the applications move well beyond the text of the professional code to a deeper consideration of how ethical skills and habits depend on more than following external rules. Ethics is more than how we behave at work and includes the ways that we form personal values that guide our actions in the world. 

Second, the MPS course in ethics invites students to challenge their preconceptions and existing worldviews by adopting the perspectives of others. As a Jesuit institution, Georgetown invites students to consider the ethical significance of a wide range of topics from the view of marginalized persons and communities. Considering the ethical implications of real-world events like this week’s spike in air pollution from the viewpoint of the most socially, economically, and politically disempowered is a primary orientation of Jesuit education, which is emphasized in the religious order’s Universal Apostolic Preferences that include “Walking with the Excluded” and “Caring for Our Common Home.” Fr. Daniel Hendrickson, S.J., in his recent book “Jesuit Higher Education in a Secular Age” captures the “solidarity” commitment in Jesuit schools and argues that students need to develop an awareness of others that leads to personalized commitments to realizing social change. 

Third, the class in ethics reveals that all professional disciplines have a common stake in universal challenges. This invites greater interdisciplinarity and cross-silo thinking about how the various professional communities can assist one another in addressing global problems. Students can leave the class appreciating their common interests with related and allied disciplines. For instance, Georgetown recently announced that its newly built downtown residential building at 55 H St. NW achieved LEED Platinum from the U.S. Green Building Council. Achieving the highest possible LEED certification reflects the University’s priority of environmental sustainability in its strategy and operations. This achievement also reflects a very real-world example of how professionals from various disciplines had to come together in order to make this project a reality. The journey toward a more just and healthy climate future will require that students trained in the knowledge and skills of particular professional industries actively seek out collaborations with others. 

Forming professional students in ethical thinking and practice is one of the many ways that SCS lives out the Spirit of Georgetown and contributes to a healthier and more just world.

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SCS Student Retreat Steps Outside of the Ordinary into Rest and Reflection

 This week’s Mission in Motion highlights the 2023 SCS Student retreat, “Stepping Outside of the Ordinary.” 

With the 2023 Commencement in the books, Mission in Motion turns this week to another celebrated annual SCS milestone, the overnight student retreat. In early May, over 20 SCS students from more than 13 different degree and non-degree programs ventured out to Georgetown’s Calcagnini Contemplative Center for an overnight experience entitled “Stepping Outside of the Ordinary.” Rabbi Rachel Gartner, SCS Senior Advisor for Pastoral Care, and I led the retreat and journeyed alongside the students as they nourished themselves spiritually and developed strong community bonds. 

The SCS student retreat featured talks, small and large group conversation, meditation, and relaxation in the outdoors. 

Two talks framed the 24-hour experience. I gave the first one, which encouraged participants to take a Long, Loving Look at the Real in their lives by using the Ignatian contemplative practice of the Examen. Invited to slow down and notice more closely the nitty gritty details of daily life, retreatants had the opportunity for both personal reflection and larger group conversation. Modeled on the dynamics of Ignatian spirituality, the ideas and practices of the talk anchored the experience in the University’s Jesuit heritage. Small groups met in the cozy spaces of the picturesque natural setting at Calcagnini. Unlike last year’s spring retreat that took place in the snow of early March, this year’s retreat fell on a sunny and breezy early May weekend. The weather conditions encouraged more outdoor enjoyment and relaxation. 

SCS students made the most of their time on retreat by exploring the natural surroundings of the Calcagnini Contemplative Center. 

The retreat’s second talk explored in depth the Jewish tradition of Shabbat. Rabbi Rachel presented rest from work as a spiritually significant commitment arising from religious tradition. Retreatants engaged contemplatively with Rabbi’s reflections and also interacted with Jewish texts as part of their exploration. Presenting from Judaism’s teaching tradition as a launching point for deeper personal and communal reflection is a hallmark strength of Georgetown’s Mission and Ministry approach. Students interiorized the lessons of the talk as they were being invited in the second day of the retreat to consider how they wanted to take their weekend experience back with them as they returned to campus. In addition to actively listening to these short talks, retreatants had the opportunity to take individual and group reflective walks in nature, eat delicious meals in community, and enjoy unstructured time for play and rest. 

Like past SCS student retreats, I marvel at the ways that students so quickly adjust themselves to this unique experience. Most students begin the adventure as strangers and end up as friends. I hear the delightful chatter of the newly formed network of Georgetown friends as the bus makes the journey back to the SCS campus after a remarkably short 24 hours. I also observe students making new commitments to more regular habits of reflection, prayer, and meditation that can remind themselves of what they learned on retreat. 

More than any other indicator, retreatant reflections on the experience provide the best evidence that formal retreats are effective. Georgetown’s Campus Ministry is committed to helping students “lead lives of deeper meaning, belonging, and purpose.” The following sample of student testimonies about the 2023 SCS student retreat affirm that this objective is being realized through this yearly event:

  • “I feel that I have resources now to help take a step back in my day-to-day routine to ground myself in my life.” 
  • “I am returning home more connected to the Spirit of Georgetown and thankful I could strengthen my own path through the diversity of others.” 
  • “I feel called to continue my spiritual journey at Georgetown.” 
  • “I am returning more grounded and I take away with me healing, conversation, and diversity.” 
  • “I feel peace and happiness as I return and I desire to share this experience with others.”
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SCS 2023 Commencement Emphasizes Celebration, Care for Self, Commitment to Others

This week’s post is a reflection of the 2023 SCS Commencement, which can be viewed on the University’s Facebook page. 

Commencement is a time of unique festivity. The graduation exercises (you can watch a recording of the SCS Commencement ceremony) bring together the entire SCS learning community for a public event of immense joy. At this event, SCS welcomes into its community the friends and families of graduates as well as distinguished guests who spend a little time getting to know this unique school at Georgetown. This is not only a party, however, as the occasion of Commencement provides an invaluable opportunity to reflect on our shared purpose as a Georgetown community and to renew our commitment to serving the University’s mission. For the proud graduates, this invitation to deeper mission commitment will be realized through the activities of life post-SCS. For the faculty, staff, and continuing students, the Commencement serves as a springboard back to the continuous cycle of teaching, learning, and service. 

Many details stand out from the week of Commencement. Recently, Mission in Motion shared a feature about this year’s SCS Spirit of Georgetown winner, Courtney Eury, who was honored at Tropaia (you can watch a recording of the SCS Tropaia ceremony). Courtney’s story of discovering personal and professional purpose through the experience of adversity and loss resurfaced in the messages that were communicated in the Commencement ceremony.

 Jason Kander, who received an honorary degree during the ceremony, centered his commencement speech on the transformative possibilities of actively pursuing self-care, particularly when self-care means relying on the support of mental health professionals. A military veteran and accomplished politician, Kander surprised many observers when he decided to pause his political career in order to receive needed mental health treatment for the persisting symptoms of his post-traumatic stress disorder. He intentionally flipped the script in the speech by inviting graduates not to serve others but to serve their own needs first. Seemingly counterintuitive, this advice actually encourages more generous service in the world.

“I am not here today to inspire you to think of others. I’m actually here today to inspire you to think of yourself,” said Kander.“My message to you today is one that I learned the hard way: that there is nothing selfish about self-care, because if you don’t take care of yourself, you won’t change the world. But if you do, you just might.”

For Kander, self-care is not selfish. This might seem like an obvious message, but the truth of it is so easily lost when social and economic pressures send a different message. Mission in Motion has previously reflected on the “long, loving, look at the real,” a stance of appreciation and gratitude that reflects this same idea. A stance of appreciation and love for one’s self, one’s entire reality as an authentic whole person, occasionally requires taking a contemplative pause and appreciating that life is about more than our activities. The temptation to measure ourselves by the objective standards of productivity and what we do can actually erode our healthiest sense of who we are. Our worth as human beings is unrelated to what we accomplish in the world but intimately connected to our status as people of inherent dignity worthy of love. 

Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia closed the ceremony with the long tradition of Jesuit education. 

Georgetown University President, John J. DeGioia, picked up on this idea in his closing reflections as he reminded listeners of the University’s Jesuit heritage and tradition of education. The Jesuit tradition invites self-care through a felt experience of love. The bedrock experience of love is a love that flows within the self, between the self and others, and between the self and the immanent and transcendent Other. President DeGioia attempted to thread the last 50 years in Jesuit history to the present moment by relying on the wisdom of the much-honored Fr. Pedro Arrupe, S.J., Superior General of the Jesuits during the tumultuous 1960s, 70s, and early 80s. President DeGioia selected from Fr. Arrupe’s famous (or infamous – depending on one’s perspective) 1973 speech to a group of Jesuit alumni in which he enforced the centrality of love and service in the Jesuit way of proceeding. For Arrupe, graduates of Jesuit schools are called to use their gifts of “conscience, intelligence, and powers” in order to “go out of” themselves and give themselves “In love,” which is the “all-embracing dimension,” which gives mean to all other dimensions. This reminder of the longer arc of Georgetown’s educational endeavor was a welcome message, especially considering how much a world in need of healing will be served generously by the graduates of SCS. 

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2023 Spirit of Georgetown Winner Reflects on Friendship, Professional Journeys, and Shaping the Next Generation

Each year, Georgetown SCS honors outstanding students, faculty, staff, and alumni at the annual Tropaia Awards in Gaston Hall. This is a treasured occasion to publicly celebrate the ways that SCS community members bring the Spirit of Georgetown, the Jesuit mission and values that animate this entire learning community, to life in their study and work. The SCS Spirit of Georgetown award is selected by a committee of faculty and staff through a rigorous process of reviewing peer nominations. 

This year’s winner is Courtney Eury, a 2018 graduate of the Master of Professional Studies in Project Management. Courtney exemplifies the core values at the heart of the Spirit of Georgetown in her ongoing commitment to the service of others. She has transformed profound personal grief into service for the common good. She founded the Craven Apiary Foundation, which supports young women in their pursuit of advanced education in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (S.T.E.A.M.). The foundation offers resume and scholarship essay review along with interview preparation and a scholarship fund for students seeking to pursue further study in S.T.E.A.M. fields.

This week’s post is an interview with Courtney Eury, a 2018 SCS graduate who has committed her life to the service of others, inspired by her Georgetown education and her transformative response to personal loss.  
  1. Tell us a bit about your story. What led you to Georgetown SCS and where is your journey heading a few years after your graduation? 

Since 2008, I have worked in government and technology, living in D.C., California, and North Carolina. When transitioning from government to corporate America, I knew that I wanted to pursue an advanced degree. After extensive research, Georgetown SCS became my top choice, as I have always aligned closely with the values at Georgetown and the education that it provides. Since graduating, I have continued to work in technology, currently at Splunk as a Customer Success Manager, as well as recently founded The Craven Apiary Foundation in January 2023 to honor my late sister. The Foundation’s mission is to provide scholarships and support to young women pursuing advanced studies in S.T.E.A.M. This year, we have been able to provide six local women with scholarships for their 2023–2024 academic year. My time at Georgetown provided me with the tools to succeed, enabling me to help others pursue their own dreams.

  1. What does the Spirit of Georgetown mean to you? 

Opportunity, inclusiveness, and connection are the top three words that come to mind when I think of what the Spirit of Georgetown means to me. Opportunity to challenge myself professionally and academically, learning from those around me. Inclusiveness to allow for me to be my truest self, share ideas and see other perspectives. Connection to others, even after our time at Georgetown, building a network of individuals that support and encourage me through my professional journey. Both during and after my time at Georgetown, I have been able to connect with faculty and other graduates, offering growth and friendship that would not have been possible otherwise. These individuals have inspired me to provide others with the same, therefore allowing me to give back to my community and network. 

  1. As you reflect back on your time at SCS, what advice or inspiration would you like to share with the soon-to-be graduates? 

There are two pieces of advice that a mentor/colleague has shared with me over the years that have helped guide me through difficult situations or decisions. 

  • “Create your pull, not a push.”

When you meet others, whether personally or professionally, be authentic, make an impact, and create connections. Don’t try to push or force yourself into a situation, a job, etc. If you try too hard to make it happen, it most likely isn’t meant for you.

  • “If you ask permission to be great, you will remain mediocre.” 

Be authentically you. Don’t allow others to tell you how bright you should shine or what your true potential is. Only you know that. If you wait for validation from outside sources or worry about what others may be perceiving you as, you may miss out on some of your greatest opportunities. 

  1. Anything else to share?  

I am so humbled to be selected for this award and all that it represents. I look forward to many years of sharing the Spirit of Georgetown with others, providing a safe space for people to be their most authentic selves, as well as creating opportunity whenever possible. I urge others to live a life of kindness and compassion, allowing those around them to be their most authentic selves.

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Recent SCS Alum Shares Inspiration About Personal Struggle and Guidance for Soon-to-Be SCS Graduates

In May 2022, Malak Badeer graduated from the Master’s in Human Resources Management program. That same month, she shared publicly with the SCS community her brave story of overcoming the tragic loss of her husband, Hamza, who passed away months after the birth of their first child, Omar. Four months into the pregnancy, Malak and Hamza suffered a severe car accident that led to hospitalization and intensive rehabilitation. Malak persisted in her studies, however, and achieved her dream of graduating from Georgetown. In the next several weeks, Mission in Motion will dedicate attention to the season of Commencement and its milestone events and celebrations, including the Spirit of Georgetown award at the Tropaia ceremony. In preparation for Commencement, a time of “sending forth,” we sat down with Malak for an interview that explored her transformative personal story, the meaning of her Georgetown education, and the advice she would like to give to this year’s graduating class. 

This week’s post is an interview with Malak Badeer, a 2022 SCS graduate with an inspiring story of persisting through tragic loss and finding noble purpose. 
  1. Last year, you shared with the SCS community your own story of personal loss and adversity. What inspired you to do that? 

Sharing my story with the SCS community wasn’t easy. The inspiration to share my loss and adversity came after an immense amount of thinking and resentment toward the idea. Initially, I was very hesitant because I did not want to receive pity for my story. I did not want people to feel bad for me or sorry for anything I had to endure. I wanted to share my story with the only intent of shedding light on the reality that life will hit us so hard at times, and it’s up to us to keep moving forward. I want students like me who may be between the decision of giving up or finding the internal strength within yourself to continue moving forward. I invite you to continue moving forward by seeking the support of others, including all the resources in your community.** For instance, for students at Georgetown, the Every Hoya Cares microsite is a good place to start in terms of the supportive resources available.  We all have our struggles and obstacles throughout our lives, and some just come a lot sooner than later, and at times we expect them to happen the least. It’s what we do when we’re facing those struggles that matter. I am sharing my story in this public way because I want others to know that seeking help from others is what helped me keep going and move forward. 

  1. In preparation for Commencement, what are your reflections on this season of graduation? What stands out for you one year after your own graduation? 

I can reflect on this graduation season and say, “I did it.” I overcame those obstacles, and I did it, and I’m so happy that I did. One year later, I began my career in a global organization that feels like home with a manager that I wish for every single one of you. One year later, I was lucky enough to join an organization that embraced me and made me feel at home and wanted to see me flourish alongside a manager who goes above and beyond to ensure it happens. One year later, what stood out the most was that all these difficulties passed, and they finally didn’t weigh as heavy anymore. I hope it reminds all of you that there’s a light at the end of every tunnel. 

  1. What advice would you like to share with students who are preparing to graduate and conclude their time as students at SCS? 

As you conclude your time here at SCS, I want you to know that life will test you in many ways. It will break you and shake you to your core. But I want you to rise above those tests and conquer them with the help of others and understand that your own internal strength in adverse times comes from the community that surrounds you. Do what it takes to be the best version of yourself.  Life is too short. My late husband passed with a dream, a dream to take control of his own life, and as he was reaching that dream, he did not make it. So please, live your life and refuse to have anybody in this world compromise your freedom to live out your true calling. 

  1. How is your Georgetown education shaping the next steps in your professional journey? 

Georgetown began shaping the next steps in my professional journey even before graduation. The quality of knowledge and education I received from my mentors, professors, and educational materials are all quality resources I wouldn’t trade for the world but rather things I would repeatedly go back to for reference over again. If I could take a class every semester for the rest of my life, I would. Knowledge is power, and it’s the building block to shaping our future. I have been able to contribute so much of my knowledge from Georgetown and transform my current business line in many small but effective ways through the power of education that Georgetown University has provided for me, from conducting employee engagement activities within my team and creating a more positive work environment to creating forums to help support colleagues with simplifying team necessities and future goal planning. **Editor’s Note: May is Mental Health Awareness Month and a good reminder to all in our community about Every Hoya Cares, a comprehensive set of resources to assist with mental well-being and connection. You are not alone in your journey at Georgetown.

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Military Veteran and Author Leads Profound Conversation at Georgetown About Faith and Culture

The School of Continuing Studies is proud to serve a student body so connected to the military. The most recent SCS Dean’s Report details this military population, with 250 military-connected students enrolled across SCS programs in the 2021-2022 Academic Year. Georgetown’s commitment to this group is comprehensive with an array of programs and services intended to help veteran students and their families. And Georgetown is also a university, grounded as it is in its Catholic-Jesuit faith heritage, that welcomes and invites conversations about the most significant moral issues facing our world. In this spirit, Georgetown welcomed to campus last week Phil Klay, an award-winning author and veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. As part of the Faith and Culture series organized by the president’s office, Klay presented on his recent works, including his much acclaimed most recent novel Missionaries. 

This week’s Mission in Motion shines a light on a recent conversation at Georgetown with military veteran and noted Catholic author Phil Klay. SCS has a considerable population of military-connected students and this recent conversation illuminates their ongoing journey.  

One of the goals of this Mission in Motion blog is to connect the SCS community with events and resources occurring throughout the university. The intimate conversation with Phil Klay in Riggs Library, moderated by Paul Elie, senior fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs and the director of the American Pilgrimage Project, is an excellent example of how Georgetown engages in critically important moral and ethical conversations in a way that community members across the university can appreciate. I would like to amplify this conversation and encourage you to take a look because I think the 60 minutes of discussion illuminate some of the biggest questions about the moral dimensions of how the United States engages in war in the 21st Century. 

Klay’s writing is motivated by his faith as a Catholic, a journey that has led him to embrace this tradition, leave this tradition, and ultimately return to it. But the meaningfulness of Klay’s insights about what it means to engage in war transcend any particular faith tradition. He is writing about the fundamentally human questions that continue to accompany military action in this time and age. What Klay represents so well in this conversation is the perspective of the person engaged in a war that he or she did not choose but must attend to out of their obligation. What are the lasting impacts of this engagement? How can military and military-connected persons make sense of their experience of war? What does faith have to say about any of this? 

There are no simple or easy answers to any of these questions. But the conversation with Phil Klay demonstrates well that the healthiest and most spiritually mature responses to these conundrums should be openly discussed and considered. I hope that we can all take from this discussion the enormous costs of war, the moral challenges that such war poses for its participants, and the relevance of this conversation for all of us as a university community.