On the first day of attending my new elementary school, my mother said to me, “Just bloom where you’re planted!” I had recently moved across the country with my family in the middle of first grade, and my mother’s words did nothing to stop my Barbie backpack from shivering. How was I supposed to make new friends at a new school in a new city? I was not a daisy nor a rose, so there was no way I could ever “bloom.” Thankfully, I soon discovered that my mother’s adage was incredibly useful advice during a time of unforeseen change.

Vincentian Volunteers of Cincinnati 2020-2021

With all of the changes that 2020 has brought us, I have found myself in another series of new beginnings. I recently graduated from college and began a service year with the Vincentian Volunteers of Cincinnati, basically flipping my old routines upside down. Not only am I in a new stage of life, but I am in a new job, a new city, and in a new house with new roommates. With all of these changes, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed, disheartened, and even anxious.

However, my experience with my Vincentian volunteer program thus far has prepared me to face these changes with strength. My community members and I trade childhood stories, and we make meals together almost every night. Our group leader has created a space in which we can share our life experiences with each other and engage with the emotions produced by our work. I have even been able to safely engage in the Cincinnati community by visiting parks and outdoor art galleries. I’m slowly but surely learning to bloom where I’ve been planted.

I come into this program and into Vincentian spirituality with a new sense of wonder. This opportunity calls for me to humble myself before others and to keep my spirit open to new possibilities and new growth. Like the flowers my mother so loved, I can look to my faith and to my peers to find a home in new soil. When I think back on that young girl with the Barbie backpack, I see someone who is about to open their heart to change. My hope today is to keep that open heart and to allow myself to grow in God’s love.