“It’s been amazing to find a community I feel welcome in and just be accepted for who I am, and I have been able to really increase my faith journey here,” said Clarissa Ostorga, a rising senior at George Mason University in Fairfax.
The sentiment was shared by many June 5 as George Mason’s Catholic Campus Ministry hosted a cookout at the St. Robert Bellarmine Chapel in Fairfax. The annual event kicks off Thursday Night Gatherings, a summer series of events open to all recent high school graduates and college students in the area.
Ostorga is leading the Thursday Night Gatherings this year. She first became involved with the campus ministry in 2022 after attending a luau event. “I was praying up in the chapel after that luau event and I just felt so much peace there and I felt like this is exactly where God wanted me to be,” she said.
The event started at 7 p.m. and began with an opening prayer and bingo icebreaker. Other games included volleyball, spike ball and cornhole, to help students mingle and get to know one another.
“I took a gap year this year,” said Clare Fullinwider, a rising freshman at Northern Virginia Community College. “I graduated in 2024 from high school and I liked coming here in the summer because it felt good to keep a community. Taking a gap year, I didn’t really hang out like I used to in high school, so it feels good to be a part of a community of people who are like minded.”
Thursday Night Gatherings continue every Thursday night from 7-9 p.m. in June and July at the St. Robert Bellarmine Chapel.
