In her sophomore year at Seton School in Manassas, Pamela Medina felt called to grow deeper in her faith. So along with a friend, she started a club where women could discuss the teachings of the church and the ways they saw God working in their lives. During its first year, members of the club — Daughters of Christ — prayed for God to bring together a core group of women to create a firm foundation for the club. During the second year, they focused on growing closer in intimacy with Christ and fellow members. This year, they’ve focused on outreach.
“Our goal was to reach out to the rest of our community, specifically the younger girls, and show them what Daughters of Christ is,” said Medina, who attends St. Gabriel Mission in Manassas Park. “To give them a community where they can find other girls who are also striving for the same goal, because it is very hard today in this world to have certain values.”
For several months, the members have worked to put together a daylong retreat at Seton for more than 100 attendees. “It’s a whole conference to really show what it means to be made in (God’s) image and likeness,” said Medina. Talks will be given on topics such as biblical femininity, friendship, sexuality, dating, mental health and the Eucharist.
“These (talks) are all given by different women of different ages and stages of life. We want to show that there isn’t a specific image that you’re supposed to be living at a certain age. You don’t have to be married by 25 and you don’t have to have 10 kids to fulfill your calling. Everyone has a unique calling,” she said. “That’s something we’re trying to present to the girls, (to give) them the confidence to be able to live as a daughter of Christ.”
Daughters of Christ isn’t Medina’s only extracurricular activity. For the past three years, she served on student government; this year she’s the vice president. Medina, a native Spanish speaker, also started a Spanish club. “One of the things we wanted to provide was a mission trip, an opportunity for people to be able to interact with (a Spanish-speaking) culture,” she said. So in 10th grade she helped organize a trip to the Dominican Republic where the students ran a Vacation Bible School and visited places such as a juvenile detention center and a home for children with special needs. “It was really beautiful and eye-opening,” said Medina.
In the fall, Medina hopes to attend Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, Calif. Looking back on the last four years, she’s grateful for all the support she’s received at Seton, whether it was a dedicated math teacher helping her solve a tricky problem, or the community rallying around her in a time of crisis. “My freshman year, we lost our house in a fire and the community reached out the same day and was willing to help us in every way,” she said. “(In Seton), I found a community and a home.”
