Kendra Bradner is a graduate of Boston College with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and International Studies. She served as part of the Bronx community this year, teaching ESL at St. Rita’s Immigration Center, helping at the after school program at St. Nicholas of Tolentine School, and as the Youth Liaison with the Augustinian NGO office.

I think my faith might be most concisely expressed in the idea that there is always more, more to know of a person, story, or situation, always another side of an argument, always more perspective to be gained, and certainly always something more to be sought in our understanding of God. I have come to find my most sure path to reaching that more is through friendship with those around me, those who may seem similar to or vastly different from myself. It is that friendship, that relationship, which calls me beyond myself to living for others, which can bring me closer to understanding my place in God’s plans, and to greater fulfillment of our common human vocation of loving our brothers and sisters.

This year has been an experience of Community, of living for others, both within our small community of Volunteers, as well as in the larger community of Augustinian friars, those in our workplaces, and in our neighborhood. When I reflect on this, what most comes to mind is the Romero prayer, which reminds us that “the kingdom is always beyond us,” that we are only small threads in God’s large tapestry… and that this liberates us to do our small thing, and to do it well. This freedom of being able to concretely impact the lives of a small group of people, to walk with them for a time in true friendship, learning their stories, sharing my own, and just having a good time, has been invaluable. It has granted me a privileged position, to be invited into many lives, many perspectives, that I would never have had otherwise, and to better understand how my own life and the lives of others are interconnected.

I have seen the beauty and dignity of each of my ESL students, and the hardships they face, both for themselves and for the sake of their families and children. I think of the potential within each after school kid, and also the barriers to realizing that potential, whether it be language barriers, troubling home lives, lack of good role models, or just needing someone to tell them they are worth it.

It can be easy to be overwhelmed by the problems of the world, even by the cyclical nature of problems in a place like the Bronx, but yet I can return to that small piece that I can do. I hope that I’ve done my piece well, but I’m certain that this “piece,” all my students and new friends, have really been my best teachers, and they have taught me amply and well for my steps ahead. Because the Bronx is no longer just a place on the map for me, and my students are no longer statistics on “immigrant families,” the after school kids not just “disadvantaged children.” They are Tolentine parish and Andrews Ave; Benedicta, Juan, Ajdin, and Dau; Yuet, Alvin, Christina and Lizmarie - and that makes all the difference.