Every Day is a Story of Grace

By: Samantha Rizzo, B.S. in Chemistry ‘25
Written on: September 25, 2025

 

If you’ve been reading these stories, you’ve likely seen that the graces from the Catholic Center flow from all kinds of involvement: regular connection with Jesus in the Eucharist, music ministry, Bible studies, and the community in general. In my three and a half years at Georgia Tech, I’ve been blessed beyond measure to be a part of each of these examples I gave, but that wasn’t where it began.

When I moved in freshman year, I knew I was planning on going to the Catholic Center on Sundays, but I had no idea how much more the GTCC had to offer. One night, I was sitting on the picnic table out back on the phone with my older sister when a fourth year, Maddie, who I had spoken to a few times, walked by with a couple friends and said that whenever I get off the phone, I should come out front and join them. She said “It’ll be fun!” with a kind of enthusiasm that made me think they were going to play a game or have a dance party. When I got off the phone, I went out front, and they were all sitting and chatting, no board game in sight. I sat down and soon realized that this was CLU, a group of students who meet and discuss life as the encounter with Christ and wrestle with difficult questions together. At first, I was thrown off by Maddie’s definition of “fun,” but I soon entered into the conversation and loved the way the group spoke so honestly about their experiences and questions.

While I only participated in CLU freshman year, Maddie’s invitation started a chain effect of involvement. I finally joined the Bible study that all the other girls in my year were in, I auditioned to play music during Mass, and I began to go to daily Mass more and more. By the time the Spring semester came around, I was ready to hit the ground running, with friends who encouraged each other to go to daily Mass, and even to get there early to pray! This is something that high-school me never would have expected.

Three years later, every day of my senior year holds its own story of grace. The Lord is moving constantly in my life, whether it be through the joy of celebrating milestones in the lives of those I love or through gazing upon the Eucharist and allowing Jesus to look back at me. The Catholic Center has been integral in opening my eyes to see more clearly how the Lord is loving me in every moment.