Jennifer Campos
Being a cradle catholic really helped set a foundation for the relationship I have with God today. Growing up I always knew the importance of attending mass and having a relationship with God but it wasn't until my 20s that I truly started diving deeper into my relationship with God. I started reading and learning more about the Saints and the lives that they had lived and it immediately inspired me. In specific, Mother Teresa always stood out to me. Her work with the sick and the poor really inspired me to help others that were in a situation in which perhaps they did not ask to be in.
For a couple of years I struggled with the idea that perhaps I was being called to do the same work that Mother Teresa did or that I was being called to religious life. I realized that the best way of finding out, besides prayer, as to where God was calling me was to put myself in that environment. I started researching local retreats and convents that I could visit. After much prayer, I made an appointment to go visit a local convent in Miami, Florida. This was a cloistered convent and albeit, inspiring and amazing to see how these nuns lived their life, it was quite intimidating. Upon much discussion with the superior of this convent, I realized that perhaps this type of convent was not for me. I then started researching other local convents but nothing really stood out. I soon came across the daughters of Saint Paul and saw that they were having a retreat in Toronto, Canada. I booked the flight and I was there within a couple of months. My time there was absolutely wonderful and I learned so much about myself and about my relationship with God. I was also able to experience what it was like to live like a nun and to dedicate my life and days to Christ and Christ only. It was a beautiful experience and I truly feel had I not done this it would have not been clear to me as to where God was leading me. After much prayer and discernment I felt God was truly calling me to medicine.
I started studying for all my prerequisites and filing the necessary paperwork to get accepted into nursing school. During the time in which I was doing my prerequisites for nursing school I spent a lot of time volunteering with the Missionaries of Charity, Respect Life Ministry, and I did Mission work in Little Haiti. Doing missionary work and helping the homeless as well as mothers who found themselves in crisis was very inspiring and helped me really feel closer to God. I was very excited about starting my new journey and soon after I was accepted into nursing school.
Mother Teresa’s work with babies is what inspired me to pursue a career in nursing in which I would be working closely with babies. I knew from the moment I started nursing school that I wanted to work in maternity. After graduation from nursing school I applied for my licensure exam and was soon on my way to becoming an official registered nurse. Today I am so happy and consider myself very blessed to be able to work alongside mothers and their newborns.
When the pandemic hit us all, I was very overwhelmed working on the front lines. I took to Instagram and started to realize that a lot of people that were posting in the Catholic Community had lots of wonderful things to share. Some of these accounts were incredibly inspiring and it is what led me to start opening up more about my faith on my Instagram. At first it was intimidating But as time passed by and I felt more comfortable being more vocal about my faith I truly felt that it was a wonderful platform to connect others and to evangelize. Soon after I also started writing for @catholicmatch, which has been a wonderful experience in itself. I have always had a love for writing and journaling my thoughts, and being able to express that on a platform
such as catholicmatch is truly a blessing.
I hope to continue to use this platform to evangelize and connect other Catholic’s together and bring some positivity into this world.