2022 graduates Julia Eschbach, Adam Ferrero, and Anne Heisler all left Christendom with a similar goal: to educate, evangelize, and help restore all things in Christ. While in college, each recognized the increasing need for passionate, well-educated teachers to help the next generation be well-versed in the faith. They are all answering that need this fall as Seton Teaching Fellows, helping to share the truths of the Catholic Faith with students in the Bronx.
As teachers, they are following a great tradition of alumni who have joined the educational field after graduation. According to Eschbach, the reason so many alumni decide to go into education comes down to the college’s impact on students.
“I owe a great deal to my Christendom education and community, which formed me intellectually and spiritually in ways I could have never imagined,” says Eschbach, who majored in English language and literature. “Thanks to my professors and friends, I now have a much more well-rounded education, zeal for the faith, and the confidence and support I need to carry out my teaching vocation.”
Eschbach first learned about the Seton Teaching Fellows program through alumni of the college. Quickly, she fell in love with the program, which serves a largely Latino neighborhood in the South Bronx, where over half of the families live below the poverty line. After speaking with alumni who had taken part in the program, Eschbach applied and interviewed to be a Fellow following graduation. With interview help from Director of Career and Professional Development Kristin Stephens, Eschbach landed the position, which will involve serving as a Teacher’s Aid during the daytime classes at a charter school and teaching faith formation classes at the end of the day.
“I believe that the mission to help form the hearts, minds, and souls of children into the saints of this generation is one of the greatest ways to restore the world in Christ,” says Eschbach. “Seton Teaching Fellows will give me an opportunity to meet Christ in these little ones and help prepare them for success in this life and the next, and I am beyond excited to be part of their mission. I know I have a lot of growing to do myself, as well, and I can’t wait for the challenges it will bring that will shape me into a better teacher and evangelist.”
Ferrero, who majored in philosophy and minored in history, echoes Eschbach’s thoughts. The opportunity to serve others in a low-income area where otherwise they might not receive much of an education about God inspired Ferrero and he is looking forward to the opportunities to share the Catholic faith he strengthened at Christendom with his students.
“I am excited for Seton Teaching Fellows because it will allow me to teach others about many of the things I learned in my classes at Christendom, like theology and history,” says Ferrero, who plans on applying to seminary following his time teaching. “I believe my Christendom education has prepared me for this position by teaching me a lot of information, such as in classes like Theology, Philosophy, and History, that I will be able to teach to the students in the Bronx. Christendom also taught me to have courage in evangelizing, trusting that the Lord will give me the grace to have the strength to bring Christ to others.”
For Heisler, becoming a Seton Teaching Fellow is the fulfillment of a dream. As she headed into her senior year, Heisler discerned a teaching career, seeing the impact that her own teachers had on so many people at the college. The opportunity to share the Catholic Faith with young people further excited her, and, after speaking with a recruiter for Seton in the spring of her senior year, she knew the program was exactly what she was looking for.
In the Bronx, Heisler will work to evangelize to her students through her work as an assistant teacher and by leading a catechesis class as well. The teachings of the faith she learned at Christendom will be especially beneficial to her as she engages in this important work with her students.
“In order to evangelize the faith, I believe you must put yourself into situations where you are able to reach people and I think teaching is a prime setting for evangelizing,” says Heisler. “My Christendom education and the relationships I have built with my teachers has inspired me to make an impact on someone else’s. As an English language and literature major, I have learned in my classes how to perceive various outlooks on life, and it has prepared me to be able to go into the world and connect with the people I will be serving. Being a Seton Teaching Fellow will greatly aid in the fostering of my teaching career and I will be able to make a difference in children’s lives and evangelize to the youth.”
As secularism continues to grip the culture, influencing the next generation for the worst, well-educated teachers are needed to educate and evangelize to others the truths of the Catholic Faith. Eschbach, Ferrero, and Heisler will be directly impacting the hearts and minds of the next generation, sharing with them the same truths they learned in the classrooms at Christendom College.