Maura Eckels-Tuition Fund
Donation protected
The Struggle
The privilege of higher education has not been achieved easily for me. I have been through great financial hardship with my family for many years. My father is unemployed and my mother cannot afford to pay for my tuition along with her own expenses. My family is in the process of trying to sell the house they've been in for over 25 years as they can no longer afford to live there.
Facing the brutal reality of what a lack of money can do to a family has created in me a strong work ethic and personal drive so as to never have to struggle the same way again. I worked incredibly hard in high school to get into an excellent Catholic university with great scholarship opportunity. I reached that goal and now I attend Franciscan University, which has been the biggest blessing and best decision I've ever made.
I am second semester junior theology and human life studies student. I love what I study and I can't wait to see the plans God has for me in the future. I do very well academically and I am a part of the Center for Leadership Program, which fosters and imparts training in virtuous Christian leadership. I've been a member of music ministry, singing for both masses and praise and worship. I was also an officer in Students for Life, which is Franciscan's pro-life student run club.
I've worked to help pay for my tuition, I receive a great deal of academic scholarship money and Franciscan has been more than generous with their financial assistance throughout the years.
However, this semester has taken a toll on my family and me financially. Even with the aid I've received, it's still not enough. I need your help to continue attending college and finish out the semester. The amount I'm raising includes the cost of tuition and living expenses (groceries, gas, laundry, toiletries, etc.)
Your concern
Maybe you're thinking that I'm just one of the many who can't afford college. You'd be correct. Maybe you think there's bigger and more important causes to donate to. That's true too.
But here's the thing.
I can promise you that your donation is worth it because you'd be investing in a person; someone who plans to do great things in this world.
My plan
Post graduation, I hope to be accepted as an English teacher for the Language and Catechetical Institute in Gaming, Austria. If given the opportunity, I would teach the English language to European students so that they may learn orthodox Catholic catechesis from our very own Franciscan University professors. Here, they would be trained for the New Evangelization so as to return to their home countries and preach the Gospel where it’s desperately needed.
I feel called to serve people my age and gain experience in teaching so as to be more equipped to educate others on matters that I'm passionate about such as: theology of the body, Christian marriage and family, morality and bioethics. I may teach in a public setting as I defend life in our nation’s capital. I also may teach morality as a high school theology course where I would be able to instruct and inform youth on chastity, the grave evil of abortion, pornography and the like. I also desire to teach through my gift of public speaking.
After teaching abroad for a year, I plan to get my masters in Theology, specifically in Christian Marriage and Family through the JPII Pontifical Institute in DC. Here, I would perfect the knowledge I’ve already received as an undergraduate student. This would prepare me to teach, speak, write, and possibly work in an archdiocese as their director of marriage preparation. It would also prepare me immensely to be a wife and a mother.
When I become a wife and mother, this will be my primary vocation. My family will be my first school of love. It is here that I will first and foremost bring what I’ve learned thus far in theology and human life studies “out there.” My hope is to model the Holy Family and be a living example of authentic love to the world. Through my primary vocation as bride and mother, staying close to the sacraments, and daily pray, I intend to help save souls and spread the Gospel of Life. I will do this before anything I produce or work I accomplish.
I want and need to be a woman of life and love first. This is priority as I am a daughter of the King. Then and only then will there be any fruits of my labors. So first, I will continue my formation and saying “Yes” to God. I believe the greatest way to change a culture is to be the embodiment of the change you wish to see. I am motivated to be a woman of life, just as the Blessed Mother is.
My intuition is a gift I have received from the Holy Spirit. I feel what others feel. I take on the sufferings of the world with a heart that breaks for what breaks God’s, just like Our Lady who’s heart was pierced at the foot of the cross. The compassion I hold for humanity drives me because I feel a great responsibility for the people around me, which is exactly what JPII calls us to in "Evangelium Vitae." I want a better life for my brothers and sisters in Christ. I am my brother’s keeper.
Just as Mary gave her fiat, I will continue to call on her intercession so that I too may be able to say, “Yes” to God’s will for my life. My plan is to let Him use me to bring Christ into the world just as Mary allowed God to bring Christ into the world through her. I have many opportunities before me and I will let God lead the way. For now, I will give God my fiat and simply trust that He will take care of the rest.
He is a good good Father. He will provide.
Please consider donating. Please consider investing in me and my future. I will be praying for you and your intentions.
Thank you for your generosity.
In Christ,
Maura Avery Eckels
The privilege of higher education has not been achieved easily for me. I have been through great financial hardship with my family for many years. My father is unemployed and my mother cannot afford to pay for my tuition along with her own expenses. My family is in the process of trying to sell the house they've been in for over 25 years as they can no longer afford to live there.
Facing the brutal reality of what a lack of money can do to a family has created in me a strong work ethic and personal drive so as to never have to struggle the same way again. I worked incredibly hard in high school to get into an excellent Catholic university with great scholarship opportunity. I reached that goal and now I attend Franciscan University, which has been the biggest blessing and best decision I've ever made.
I am second semester junior theology and human life studies student. I love what I study and I can't wait to see the plans God has for me in the future. I do very well academically and I am a part of the Center for Leadership Program, which fosters and imparts training in virtuous Christian leadership. I've been a member of music ministry, singing for both masses and praise and worship. I was also an officer in Students for Life, which is Franciscan's pro-life student run club.
I've worked to help pay for my tuition, I receive a great deal of academic scholarship money and Franciscan has been more than generous with their financial assistance throughout the years.
However, this semester has taken a toll on my family and me financially. Even with the aid I've received, it's still not enough. I need your help to continue attending college and finish out the semester. The amount I'm raising includes the cost of tuition and living expenses (groceries, gas, laundry, toiletries, etc.)
Your concern
Maybe you're thinking that I'm just one of the many who can't afford college. You'd be correct. Maybe you think there's bigger and more important causes to donate to. That's true too.
But here's the thing.
I can promise you that your donation is worth it because you'd be investing in a person; someone who plans to do great things in this world.
My plan
Post graduation, I hope to be accepted as an English teacher for the Language and Catechetical Institute in Gaming, Austria. If given the opportunity, I would teach the English language to European students so that they may learn orthodox Catholic catechesis from our very own Franciscan University professors. Here, they would be trained for the New Evangelization so as to return to their home countries and preach the Gospel where it’s desperately needed.
I feel called to serve people my age and gain experience in teaching so as to be more equipped to educate others on matters that I'm passionate about such as: theology of the body, Christian marriage and family, morality and bioethics. I may teach in a public setting as I defend life in our nation’s capital. I also may teach morality as a high school theology course where I would be able to instruct and inform youth on chastity, the grave evil of abortion, pornography and the like. I also desire to teach through my gift of public speaking.
After teaching abroad for a year, I plan to get my masters in Theology, specifically in Christian Marriage and Family through the JPII Pontifical Institute in DC. Here, I would perfect the knowledge I’ve already received as an undergraduate student. This would prepare me to teach, speak, write, and possibly work in an archdiocese as their director of marriage preparation. It would also prepare me immensely to be a wife and a mother.
When I become a wife and mother, this will be my primary vocation. My family will be my first school of love. It is here that I will first and foremost bring what I’ve learned thus far in theology and human life studies “out there.” My hope is to model the Holy Family and be a living example of authentic love to the world. Through my primary vocation as bride and mother, staying close to the sacraments, and daily pray, I intend to help save souls and spread the Gospel of Life. I will do this before anything I produce or work I accomplish.
I want and need to be a woman of life and love first. This is priority as I am a daughter of the King. Then and only then will there be any fruits of my labors. So first, I will continue my formation and saying “Yes” to God. I believe the greatest way to change a culture is to be the embodiment of the change you wish to see. I am motivated to be a woman of life, just as the Blessed Mother is.
My intuition is a gift I have received from the Holy Spirit. I feel what others feel. I take on the sufferings of the world with a heart that breaks for what breaks God’s, just like Our Lady who’s heart was pierced at the foot of the cross. The compassion I hold for humanity drives me because I feel a great responsibility for the people around me, which is exactly what JPII calls us to in "Evangelium Vitae." I want a better life for my brothers and sisters in Christ. I am my brother’s keeper.
Just as Mary gave her fiat, I will continue to call on her intercession so that I too may be able to say, “Yes” to God’s will for my life. My plan is to let Him use me to bring Christ into the world just as Mary allowed God to bring Christ into the world through her. I have many opportunities before me and I will let God lead the way. For now, I will give God my fiat and simply trust that He will take care of the rest.
He is a good good Father. He will provide.
Please consider donating. Please consider investing in me and my future. I will be praying for you and your intentions.
Thank you for your generosity.
In Christ,
Maura Avery Eckels
Organizer
Maura Avery Eckels
Organizer
East Hampton, CT
