Class of 2000
Trial Attorney
United States Department of Justice
My wife and I moved our family to the Washington, DC, area in August 2005 so I could start my new job at the Department of Justice. Within days of arriving, we started meeting Franciscan University graduates who are working in different facets of the government and the political arena. Even our parish priest is a Franciscan grad.
What I’ve seen here, and what I think you can see in a lot of different parts of the country, is Franciscan alumni forming a critical mass that has this transforming effect on the Church and the culture. Many of them are priests or working for the Church, but many others are just lay professionals or stay-at-home moms, living out their faith in ordinary ways.
As for me, I feel like Franciscan University not only formed me intellectually and prepared me for a career in the law, but it helped me understand that a job is more than a career; it’s a vocation. That means I try to see everything I’m doing in terms of building up the kingdom and being a force for good. It also means that I try to give glory to God by doing the job as well as I possibly can. I think it’s that attitude, more than anything else, that has the potential to set me and other Franciscan graduates apart from our peers.