Sacred Heart Summit

Carrollton students came together on September 29 for the Sacred Heart Summit in Chicago. The summit provided an opportunity to learn and gave a call to action to everyone in the Sacred Heart family, including educators, students, Religious of the Sacred Heart, and alumni. Ten Carrollton students and twenty-five faculty and staff attended. 

As a new student this year, I thought I would have had a hard time adjusting to the environment and student life at Carrollton, and the thought of attending the Summit truly intimidated me. However, the summit was not only a transformative experience for me, but it also showed me that I am part of this bigger, worldwide network of Sacred Heart Schools. This experience allowed me to grow closer to my sisters and brothers not only at Carrollton, but around the globe. What a great introduction to Sacred Heart life this was to see firsthand the path that I am privileged to walk.

During the summit, many speakers from a variety of backgrounds talked about the theme, “Hearts Rooted in Change: How Reflection, Analysis, and Transformative Action are Critical to Our Future.” One speaker in particular stood out to me, Betty Ogiel, an alumna from Nigeria. Betty Ogiel is an inspirational speaker, an author, and an award-winning human resource professional. She spoke about how every pain has a meaning or a purpose, and how it revealed her inner strength and the power she gained to overcome the many hardships she has had to endure in her life. She said, “We do not transfer our pain to each other, that is not the Sacred Heart way. We transform our pain into purpose.” As members of the Sacred Heart community, we are called to transform our pain into a purpose that can change our communities and the world.

At the summit, I realized that by embracing our shared values and goals, we can work together to make our Sacred Heart Network speak to the world. And I now understand this journey isn’t just mine, it’s ours. It’s about helping each other find our purpose to make a difference in the world. We are all called to search for our purpose, even if it is born from pain, and to transform that purpose into change. Together, with our combined Sacred Hearts rooted in change, we can create a community that shows the world the beauty in our hearts, our minds, and our spirits. Together, united in love, our desire to make the world a better place will be transformative.

Getting to know the people I met at the Summit made me feel like a Sacred Heart girl. Moreover, working with them allowed me to come to the realization that change happens in small steps, but when people fight together, it happens just a little faster.