HDS communications reached out to our 2022 graduating students to hear from them in their own words about their experiences at HDS, the people who've helped and inspired them along their grad school journeys, and their plans for the future.
How I've Changed
The changes that have happened for me over these last three years (through the program and the pandemic) feel like those that happen to a riverbank during a big flood. It recreates the landscape in ways both dramatic and hardly noticeable. I’m glad to move with more ease and embody more gentleness these days.
Memorable Moment
It’s impossible to pick only one, but there has been a constellation of beautiful happenings around tarot, astrology, and rituals rooted in the Earth. Some of these were one-on-one conversations I don’t think I’ll ever forget, and others were big, collective experiments. Getting to do a tarot gathering in person, once right before the start of the pandemic lockdown and again at a recent Noon Service, are lovely and memorable bookends.
Favorite Class or Professor
I’m grateful to have learned from all the professors I had, but especially Professor Stephanie Paulsell for her wisdom about contemplative prayer and pilgrimage, and Professor Kimberley Patton for her classes on angels and ancient healing journeys—these experiences have helped me uncover and find so much beauty in the creative and imaginative aspects of my education.
I also have to thank all my classmates in our "Decolonization and Buddhist Studies" class, and our advisor Dean Melissa Bartholomew. This co-created space brought forth some of my most resonant and transformative learning at HDS, and I can’t say enough how meaningful it was to do it in community with you all.
Message of Thanks
It’s overwhelming to think about the web of people who have made this journey possible and whose energy kept me going. There is not thanks enough for my partners Andrew and Michelle, our cats Yoda and Scully, and my chosen family, most especially Kass, Nathalie, Theo, Hannah MA, Becka, Hannah K, and Danielle. I’m grateful to my dear friends at HDS—especially Lóre, Katie, Eva, Prince, Diana, and Heather—beyond all words. I’m grateful to all the teachers, bosses, editors, colleagues, and comrades who supported me along the way, and for all of the queer elders who have gifted me the treasure of their insight and friendship. And I’m grateful for several dear humans who have died over the past few years and whose memories keep me dedicated to living a life of transformation, healing, justice, and bliss: for myself and for all of us.
What I Hope to Be Remembered By
I would love to be remembered for making a little more space and breathing room for the weirder dimensions of our spiritualities, which are, incidentally, the most luminous. And for being one of the most loving cat dads.
Future Plans
In the next few years, I’ll be doing more chaplaincy training, publishing a deck of contemplative oracle cards, and hopefully returning to the Southwest.