Walking into the Campus Ministry Team office, senior Mikey Hanson says “hello” to CMT director Bill Creach and asks assistant Nancy Miller for the question of the day, with the reward of Smarties as an incentive.
Hanson, like several seniors, finds himself in CMT at least every other day, as a TA or just to say hi to whoever is there. CMT is almost always occupied by students, and according to Creach, seniors make up the majority of students in CMT, other than lunch.
The most busy time of the day in CMT is lunch, as every chair at the table in the room is filled. Creach is typically seen sitting at the table with the students joining in the conversations. For many people, such as senior Lola Rios, CMT is a place they find themselves in almost every day of the week during lunch — just one of the examples of community found there.
“Everyone’s always really friendly, open to talking to new people and welcoming,” Rios said. “You always know it’s a place you can go to if you need anything.”
Although lunches in CMT are busy, there are still many students who do not take advantage of its benefits, something Rios advises to do.
“If you’re wanting to check it out, just go one day and see, because before this year I didn’t really know much about it either, but then it turned out to be a good thing to go to,” Rios said.
Like Rios, senior Lizzy Perez found herself using CMT her senior year, and now is in there at least once or twice every day.
“I started this year when I started to TA for [Creach] first semester,” Perez said. “But I wish I had known about it since freshman year, because I would have probably been in there the majority of the time during my four years.”
According to Perez, she is drawn to CMT because of its calm and collected atmosphere that gets her through the school day.
“It’s just a place to escape if I’m stressed or something and I just need a second to escape reality and take a second to regather myself,” Perez said. “CMT is the place to do [that]”
Whether it’s grabbing a bottle of water, answering the question of the day or taking a moment to rest, Perez encourages students to visit CMT if they haven’t already.
“It’s definitely not everyone’s scene, not everybody likes it in there,” Perez said, “But definitely check it out because for the people that are like me it can really be a helpful place.”
Another aspect that Perez said is impactful is the example Creach sets. According to Perez, the way he puts everyone before him is inspiring. Perez is one of Creach’s several TAs, who assist him in making the birthday signs for lockers, delivering passes, setting up for Mass and other odd jobs that Creach needs help with.
Hanson is one such TA, and has been for all of senior year. He said he has been using CMT throughout all of his time in high school, stopping in to take a break and greet Creach, who is a family friend of his.
Hanson said his favorite part about CMT is seeing all the people who come in to say hi and talking to everyone at lunch or during his TA period.
“CMT is just a place where you can let loose and take a break for the day if you’re really stressed,” Hanson said. “You can go into CMT and Mr. Creach will be there to help you and probably the TAs also.”
In the school, CMT has revealed that faith and community are connected, which is seen in the small, brightly lit room labeled Campus Ministry.
“CMT has helped me see faith in a different way because I used to think that the only way to be faithful was by going to Mass,” Hanson said. “CMT helped me see [faith] by just being with a community that cares for you and for everyone.”