Leadership Opportunities Made Benedictine ‘The Best Decision I Could Have Made’

With more leadership opportunities than peer schools, Benedictine is perfect for Octavia Gomez.

The junior from Littleton, Colorado, is studying criminology and psychology at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, and has made the most of what the school has to offer.

In the next year, “I will organize program events, host various worldwide speakers, connect members through our mentorship program, and run the Gregorian Fellows Instagram page,” she said. “I am grateful for my mentors and friends at Benedictine who have made this achievement possible.”

Gomez was attracted to Benedictine College early on.

“I’m a first-generation immigrant from Amatitlán, Guatemala. I was adopted when I was three months old after spending time in the foster care system with a wonderful foster mother,” she said. “My aunt and uncle both attended Benedictine back in the ’70s, so I’ve known about the college my whole life and always had a sense that this is where I would end up,” she said.

The mission of Benedictine College — educating leaders within a community of faith and scholarship.

First, Gomez has been very involved in the community life at Benedictine, as a Freedom Fellow and a Gregorian Fellow.

“My favorite part of Benedictine is definitely the community,” she said. “I had a challenging first year as I was going through a period of self-discovery and learning who I was apart from my family, but since then I’ve really grown and come to embrace the community.”

It has changed her life now — and for decades to come. “I’ve made lifelong friends and feel incredibly blessed to experience college in this way,” she said. “I love the people here and make it a priority to spend time building relationships.”

The faith life at Benedictine College “has been especially impactful,” Gomez said.

It is the classes, and not just the faith opportunities on campus that changed her, she said.

“I can’t say enough good things about the theology professors — their classes truly changed my life and helped me understand what it means to live out my faith in a secular world. This college prepares you not only to evangelize, but to set an example of what it means to be a good Christian person.”

But scholarship has been her focus — and the biggest payoff for her.

Octavia’s GPA has been recognized on the dean’s list at Benedictine for two and a half years. She is the president of the Psi Chi International Honor Society and executive fundraising cochair of the Mortar Board Honor Society Chapter at Benedictine.

Psychology fascinates her and she is a lifelong fan of true crime stories, so she became a criminology and psychology double major.

“It was the best decision I could have made,” she said. “Now, I hope to become a forensic psychologist or attend law school.”

She said that rigorous academics have formed her as a person.

“What I’ve learned most is how much human behavior follows patterns. We are truly creatures of habit, and studying these disciplines has helped me recognize behavioral patterns in everyday life,” she said.

“At the same time, it’s deepened my appreciation for the dignity and uniqueness of each person. Even though we are individuals, we are all part of something greater, and that perspective has been incredibly meaningful to me.”

Isabel Wilcox contributed to this report.

By Editorial Staff