Sr. Jane, a HESA alumna who graduated from Marywood University in 2016, explains how the program has improved her professional life and enabled her to take on several leadership roles.
All that is impossible to man is possible to God. In my lifetime I never dreamt of joining a higher institution of studies but God showed me that man’s thoughts are not His thoughts. My religious congregation had supported me up to the diploma level in Early Childhood Education. Through ASEC’s Higher Education for Sisters in Africa (HESA) online program, I was introduced to online learning through Marywood University in Scranton, PA, USA. This was an opening to the rest of my educational life. From the 26th Nov 2012 until Dec 2016, I was a regular student at the Catholic University. The outcome of this education and its effect on both my professional and congregational life is what I would like to share now.
My professional life has improved very much because of my education. I can now carry out my duties with a lot of confidence and conviction. I work as a deputy principal in our school where I take care of student discipline, organizing both the curriculum timetable and the exam schedule. I also organize and plan for meetings in the school. These duties help me to feel focused and responsible in order to achieve the objectives. This calls me to be more open to the happenings of the day.
Many skills I have learned such as teamwork, conflict resolution, stress management and public speaking are very applicable to my daily work. I feel that there is no responsibility that I would fear to embrace if given to me.
This conviction and confidence brings a lot of creativity and openness of mind in everything that I encounter.
My congregation has also given me a leadership training responsibility in the community so I apply the skills, knowledge and values that I attained at the University to this work. Learning about grant-writing adds to the skills I can share in my congregation. The improvements in my life because of my new education made me to feel holistically empowered by raising my self-esteem. The effects of this are what I strive to model for those congregation members in my charge.
ASEC’s HESA program has changed my entire life from a life of doubts to a life of possibilities. This has even strengthened my faith as well as confidence in life. May ASEC live long to keep transforming the lives of religious so that we may be able to reach out to many in our different missions. I write this with a lot of thanks and appreciation. To each and every one who plays a part, whether it is big or small, I ask God’s blessing on you!
Be a Ray of Hope
Communities across Africa are counting on Catholic Sisters, but 48 lack the education needed to carry out their important mission work. You can be a Ray of Hope for a Sister who needs you by donating to her education today.
