Krzysztof Solawa

 I am so thankful for the guys here at Newman who I am proud to call them my brothers. I am more involved with my Catholic faith than I have ever been in my life.

It all started from a simple search on Google Maps of “Catholic Churches near me.” My parents and I recently moved to Arizona from Chicago to start a new chapter in my life. I left all my friends and family back in Chicago. No one from my high school went to GCU, so I didn’t know anyone. When I first started attending GCU as a freshman, I didn’t know much about the Newman Center. I thought it would be the place where I could attend Mass and that would be all. For being a good faithful Catholic, I thought you just have to attend Mass on Sundays and a monthly confession. However, the Holy Spirit Newman Center made me realize there’s way more than that. As mentioned before, I would only go to Holy Mass on Sundays for most of my first semester. I wasn’t involved with all the other events that were happening. I wasn’t keen on going to the retreat. I thought it would be a waste of time and I wanted to pull the “I have a lot of homework” excuse. But despite that, it changed the way I practiced my faith. There’s way more to just attending Mass and monthly confession. My heart began to feel full and realized that there was a larger path to get closer to God.
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​I am so grateful for everyone that pushes each other to be stronger within the faith. We are like a second family to each other, all striving for the greater glory of God. If one person falls, we pick them up. We do not leave anyone behind. I am so thankful for the guys here at Newman who I am proud to call them my brothers. I am more involved with my Catholic faith than I have ever been in my life. I aim to be at Newman multiple times a week whether it be Holy Hour, Duc in Altum, Daily Mass, and Newman Nights. For those who are new to the Newman Center, do not be afraid. “For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7). Feel free to come up to any one of us, and we’ll be glad to show you around our second home. On the outside, it may look like a small house with a purple door, but on the inside, it is an opening towards the heart of the Father.