Tuesday, November 25, 2014 @msureporter
facebook.com/msureporter
Minnesota State University, Mankato
www.msureporter.com
NOVEMBER
25
TUESDAY HIGH: 29 LOW: 21
NOVEMBER
26
WEDNESDAY HIGH: 28 LOW: 5
NOVEMBER
27
THURSDAY HIGH: 14 LOW: 11
What do you SEEK? Catholic Mavs to attend national conference for college students in Nashville. LUKE LARSON Staff Writer The Saint Thomas More Catholic Newman Center is preparing for what Joe Bakken, campus minister at the Newman Center, describes as “the experience of a lifetime.” The Catholic Mavs have already filled two charter buses and are in the process of filling their third bus to go to the biannual SEEK conference, being held this year in Nashville, Tenn. The conference, which is anticipating eight to ten thousand college students from across the country, is being held from Jan. 1 to the 5 and will feature the nation’s
top Catholic musicians and speakers. After celebrating the first mass Dec. 31 at the brand new Newman Center building located on Warren St., they will depart for Nashville. Phil Stone, a Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) missionary at the Newman Center, stresses that the event is for everyone. “SEEK 2015 is going to be a life-changing experience for anybody who decides to go, regardless of their faith background or what they’re seeking,” he says. “This will be the seventh time I’ve had the chance to take other people with me, and again and again I’ve seen it be a powerful and life-giving experiLuke Larson • MSU Reporter From left to right, Phil Stone and Anna Vanyo, the two missionaries at the Newman Center, and Joe Bakkan, the minister of the Newman Center, are featured.
Luke Larson • MSU Reporter Poster for the SEEK conference, which enlightens not only those of the faith, but everyone involved.
INSIDE:
ence for many, many people and I’ve never once had someone say they regretted going.” Stone emphasizes that the conference is the right place to be for anyone pondering deep questions, exploring spirituality, or just generally looking for more in their life. “You don’t have to be Catholic to enjoy this conference,” says Bakken, “it’s literally made for anyone, introducing them to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. That’s really the main goal of the conference.” SEEK offers a great deal of independence to attendees, allowing them to craft an individual schedule for themselves each day to meet their interests and what they’re hoping to get out of it. “It’s definitely a conference that you get from it what you put into it,” says Anna Vanyo, another one of the Newman Center’s FOCUS missionaries. “If you’re going into it looking for a deep experience and you’re open to that and you’re exploring that, you’re going to get something big from it. But if you want to go into it and just test
the waters—it does allow you to explore at your own pace.” Vanyo, whose decision to become a missionary was in part influenced by the SEEK conferences she attended as a college student in 2010 and 2013, met
many new lifelong friends from across the country during her experiences at SEEK. “There’s something unique about a conference that’s specifi-
SEEK • Page 11
Luke Larson • MSU Reporter Whitney Keer, MSU senior, who has attended the SEEK conference and eagerly awaits the upcoming one.
HOCKEY VICTORIOUS - PAGE 15
ED/OP
6
SPORTS
15
A&E
21