After having run a consistently successful season, and led by three seniors Kayley Delay, Maddie Ghazarian and Zoe Nuechterlein, the Yale Women’s Cross-Country Team earned a fifth-place finish in the NCAA Regional Championships. Two days before, our Cathletes gathered in the Riggs Study for a talk given by Yale College alum Kelli Reagan Hickey ꞌ18. Hickey, who currently works as a Research Associate at the Center for Social Concerns at the University of Notre Dame, spoke that evening in a way that was honest, warm and candid, about her experience as a student-athlete at Yale and rediscovering her Catholic faith.

Her perspective was one which I believe most of our students certainly relate with – running a million miles an hour, being pulled in a lot of different directions and the trying to find order in their life. Just when they figure one thing out, there’s another life question demanding their attention. She acknowledged the reality that sometimes it feels like there just isn’t room for the deeper questions, those things that provide for a deeper life – How do we find God? How do we find meaning in life and self-worth in an achievement-driven culture while chasing perfection in a culture of individualism?

In her junior year, right at a time when it felt like everything was in place, Kelli suffered the sudden and tragic loss of a friend and teammate. This shook up her whole worldview. Suddenly, it felt like all that gave her life meaning and focus was called into question.

At the time she was also enrolled in a class with David Brooks, then a Senior Fellow in the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs. The class focused around the question: “What does it mean to live a committed life?” Kelli learned that the most important part of one’s twenties is figuring out one’s philosophy in life. This can be done by identifying four major commitments and living them out. It was at that time that Kelli experienced a bit of a wake-up call, realizing that her faith had to be one of those major commitments. She said that for her it meant “taking the practice of her faith off ‘the safe shelf’ and experiencing Christianity for what it truly is: transforming the world through costly commitments – deep, unbelievably beautiful and shattering.”

Just a small section from Kelli’s personal Credo shows that she is clearly and intentionally striving to live out her philosophy of life. Her commitment to her faith is significantly foundational in her intentions:

“I believe in early mornings and in honest self-reflection. I believe in lofty goals, open roads, and tireless, worthy pursuits. I believe strength is amplified in humility and kindness. I believe that prioritizing consistent action and intentional living can and will improve this world.” 

With all that you have on your plate, with all that demands your attention and with all those moments when you’re running in a million different directions – what gives your life meaning? To what – or to whom – are you committed? Sometimes the answer to these questions mean taking our own practice of the faith “off the safe shelf,” to be beautifully and unbelievably shattered, in order to be transformed – and so transform the world.