This is our last submission for our summer newsletter articles and art from Highrock MetroWest students. Averie Lee volunteered as our newsletter intern for the summer and asked various students to submit pieces – THANK YOU to Averie for her editorial work. We are always open to considering pieces from other youth and adults alike to run in the newsletter. Send your work or comments to Pastor George.
Today’s article is from rising high school junior Rachel Lee. Rachel attends the Ursuline Academy in Dedham. She enjoys playing the viola (New England Conservatory Orchestra), rocking a serve on the tennis court, and is into Robotics.
Building Bridges Within the Highrock Internship
For the past two summers, I served as a Highrock intern, which is a program where high school and college students are given the opportunity to help the Church in events such as Summer Blast, the Middle School Service Trip, and facilitating Sunday service, as well as an opportunity to strengthen one’s faith through various retreats and bible studies. As the Internship is done in conjunction with Highrock Arington, it has allowed Metrowest interns the opportunity to make connections with other high schoolers and leaders we otherwise would not have met.
It is incredible how close the interns from Metrowest and Arlington have become over the past few years, despite the fact we only see each other over the summer and occasionally throughout the school year. I believe this is because every time we do see each other, we are in a setting where we answer deeply personal questions about ourselves and our faith and are each fully invested in strengthening their faiths and connecting with others who share the same goal. Another component is the effort that the Interns put into finding time in the summer to hang out outside of scheduled activities. Whether it be staying up until the early hours of the morning after retreats or setting up movie nights, the interns put in the work to build and maintain the bridges that the Internship set foundations for.
Without the connection built with Arlington through the internship, I would not have been able to talk to Arlington’s college interns about my worries surrounding the college process. Discussing my concerns with them helped me better understand that whatever college I get into, state, private, prestigious, or otherwise, God has a path set for me, even if I cannot see the end from where I am now. Additionally, the fellowship I found in the connections built by the interns has been integral in my faith journey as the devotion I see in them to strengthen their faith inspires me to strive to strengthen my own. Moreover, the Internship has reinforced my connections with other Metrowest interns, whom I hope to grow even closer to through Youth Group and Church throughout the year. Consistently going to Church and Youth Group is something I regret not prioritizing last year, as most of my friends at school are not Christian, which can make it difficult to find God during the school year. However, this year, my goal is to manage my work better, make time to go to Youth Group and Church as often as possible, and further strengthen, or at the very least maintain, the growth I’ve experienced in my faith this past summer. — Rachel Lee.
