Fr Vaughan Leslie
For a really good time, I likely wouldn’t join a room full of psychologists.
They might ask me open-ended questions and repeat my answers to verify. Who knows what might be happening behind those wire-rimmed glasses?
So imagine my surprise when I enjoyed meeting a room full of folks who are graduating tomorrow from the Divine Mercy University, Institute for the Psychological Sciences Masters in Psychology program.
These almost graduates were excited to meet each other – in person. They had met before, but only in the digital world. This program is conducted entirely online, which means it can reach people who want to study and serve but could never go off to a far-off campus for a couple years.
People full of hope
Jeannine Backstrom
Divine Mercy University is in Arlington, VA – but its online students can be, well, anywhere. A wife and mom from North Dakota. A priest from Kenya who works with the elderly in California. A former investment banker from Venezuela, who moved to the United States, explaining, “investment bankers don’t do so well under communist regimes.”
Jeannine Backstrom, a Regnum Christi leader from Minnesota, and says her degree with enable her to help people in a serious way. Fr John Doyle LC echoes her thought, saying the program is practical and will help him put virtue into practice.
Luanne Griffin was looking for better ways to deal with our cultural challenges when her daughter was in her teens. She is a “local” student and saw the sign outside the university when she drove by on the way home one day. She googled the school, liked what she found and signed up.
Fr Vaughan Leslie from New Zealand just finished a five-year tour as chaplain at a jail. He sought his psychology degree to help him better help the prisoners, who he found often came to him for help when they didn’t find solace from the secular psychologists.
This is just a sample of people I’ve been honored to meet – so far. This will be DMU’s largest graduating class, with 62 degrees being presented, some masters and some doctorates. That’s 62 more dedicated souls to help bring the Catholic view of the human person to those in need.
I call it hope.
