Name: Mara Brandli

Age: 19
College: Arts & Sciences
Major: International Affairs
Minors: Philosophy, Spanish

Campus Activities:

There are two types of activities in my life. One type is the kind that can be written on a piece of paper. The other is the activity of life. I find that the reasons my campus or “paper” activities appear as they do is because they are the frameworks for my life activity.
At Marquette, I find myself enjoying several different corners. My home corner is my resident assistant position in Carpenter Tower where

I have the opportunity to live in a community of energy and curiosity. Another area is Campus Ministry, where I am blessed to be able to walk the path of life with my position as a retreat leader. I am also part of the Manresa Student Advisory Board. Recently I have been given the chance to be a participant on the Global Medical Brigade to Honduras, where for the first time I will have insight into a world I have been waiting to meet for a long time. Finally, as a part of Partners in Ministry, I spend a fulfilling amount of time as the youth program coordinator at the Casa Romero renewal center, where I am both spiritually and culturally inspired on a regular basis.

My life activity is to experience constant curiosity while staying grounded in the previously mentioned campus activities. At one time or another, I have said that my favorite thing in life is to meet new people — it is an endless joy. So as long as I am surrounded by humanity’s diversity, my activities are constantly growing.

My Journey
My journey is one of love and dignity. It all begins with my family. From day one, I have known nothing but unconditional love from my parents and brother. From the years of wanting to try out every after-school activity to the mornings when I did nothing but sleep in until 1 p.m. knowing I had to be wide-awake for a busy night as a carhop at Gilles’ Frozen Custard Drive-in in my hometown of Fond du Lac, Wis. Going hand-in-hand with this, they showed me the true meaning of self-dignity. Although a guiding hand was always present, they allowed me to live my life as my own without imposing a single sense of dissatisfaction or embarrassment. By having the respect and trust that my heart was strong enough to make a path of my own, my family has become the foundation for my life mission and journey to show the world that it, too, can feel peace despite overwhelming challenges.

My journey has had its fair share of challenges. Trying to live a life out of one’s heart is a bit of a struggle at first. Living in an environment of expectations and guidelines, reality can get the best of the heart’s energy. However, one day this journey of the heart vividly became the one and only way for me to be happy. As the senior class president in a high school of 2,600 students, my last task of the year was to write and present the graduation speech. My principal’s emotional reaction to the speech left me in tears of joy. After apologizing for her emotions, she said something to me that I will never forget: “People like us bring our hearts into the professional world, and there is nothing wrong with that.” Finally, I found the fuel I needed to escape a world of expectations and guidelines and journey toward a world of pure bliss.

The Roads I Took To Get There
This journey on the highway of the heart required and will continue to require three things: passion, intent and patience. These are precisely the three roads that allow me to just be happy every single day of the week.

Passion is what gets me out of bed. I am passionate about a few things in particular: the colors and movements of nature, huts in El Salvador and language. Few things make my soul more content than a bike ride through the leaves, so I do it as often as possible. My family and I have been avid tent campers since my first year on the planet, and I have been drawn to the love of the Hispanic culture for as long as I can remember. So, a hut and El Salvador seem like a good two-in-one combination. Finally, the boundless capacity of language makes the world an endless discovery.

Intent is what allows me to make choices based off of my deepest feelings. When I feel captivated or trapped, I know something needs to change. Rarely do I find myself on a road of expectations, and that is simply because life is too short to conform.

Patience lets me breathe. Life does not happen overnight, so keeping myself grounded within the realm of the world’s mysteries is essential. One step, one smile, one person at a time.

Continuing the Journey
My journey will continue until the world feels peace in each person’s dignity. Right now, I plan to continue by working closely with the community at Casa Romero. I find that sometimes the best way people can help others is to walk the journey together. Working with middle-schoolers and high-schoolers, I am able to show this beautiful community the power of self-inspiration and trust. Although the struggles of one’s past can be disheartening, I try to remind people that every day is a fresh start.

But in general, we do not need anything extraordinary to continue or make a journey. Find the wholeness in the ordinary and life becomes extraordinary. As long as I live with passion, intent and patience for the days to come, my journey will continue. But for now, how I can predict something that has a new start every day?