Mary Anne O’Donnell, is the Council contact for SisterHouse and Coràzon a Coràzon in Chicago.
When I accepted a position at an SSND sponsored educational institution, the mission of education for transformation of people resonated with my personal desires and goals. It did not take me long to realize that this was not solely the mission of this institution but of the School Sisters of Notre Dame. This definition of education shaped the rest of my career and personal life.
As an elementary school teacher, education was focused on imparting knowledge to students in a structured environment. Ensuring that sight words, reading comprehension and math and science concepts were learned was the main goal.
I loved teaching second and fourth grades because the open minds, the wonder and excitement, the humorous interactions made me smile!
I moved into college administration and education became broader. Academics were complemented with programs and services that supported students holistically.
Creating environments to support academic success and the growth of students as individuals seeking to develop their potential, learning to live their lives with purpose, finding causes or interests that they could commit to as ways to impact the world while finding personal satisfaction was exciting and stimulated my learning.
Serving individuals who live on the peripheries by listening, loving them and facilitating a process that allows their inner power to be realized is transformational for all of us mentoring staff, by providing experiences where skills are refined, new skills developed, exchange of thoughts and ideas are encouraged and debated creates an environment where each person is the educator.
