Happy Loyola Week!
This week’s theme is “Seek Joy!” As we consider our Jesuit identity and how it molds our community, I hope you can reflect on where you find your joy. We each possess talents and gifts that contribute to our own joy and those around us, but what is your definition of joy?
Everyday on campus, I observe how many of us soak up the sunshine in the quad or have extra pep in their step knowing it’s Cheese Day in the dining hall. Joy isn’t limited to our successes; it's also rooted in the obstacles we overcome. One of the things I find pure delight in is getting to witness people find their passions and develop them. To whomever needs to hear this, I’m proud of you for the battles you’ve fought in silence, and I hope you can celebrate every victory on your journey. We may be students primarily, but we’re also artists, scientists, future lawyers and people with feelings, relationships, jobs and grief.
One of the Jesuit values that I carry with me is “magis,” which translates to “more.” However, this doesn’t mean to spread ourselves thin until we exhaust ourselves. And it’s not only about excellence. Magis is tied to the Ignatian value of acting and being “for the common good.” It’s holistic. Magis is to be present and enjoy the small moments of laughter with our friends; it is to find comfort in those safe spaces and joyful times that can easily be lost in the fast pace of our daily lives. It’s to be “for and with” one another. I encourage us all to ponder how we can seek magis in our daily lives, to be intentional about it.
So, Seek Joy! Joy in our gifts and talents. Joy in those we choose to surround ourselves with, and joy in the finish line that may be graduation or the LSAT score we’ve worked so hard for. Joy in being for and with others, walking with our peers through the low moments and also to the finish line where we can celebrate with them.
Stephanie Oblena
Student Government President
P.S. Don’t forget about today’s Loyola Week event – Loyola’s Got Talent! With Prizes! (Open Mic/Karaoke/Saints Game Watch at 7 p.m. in Satchmo’s Lounge downstairs in the Danna Center.) And here’s the website with all this week’s events. See you there!
