Testimonials
Alumni Profiles
Father James Farfaglia '78
Graduate Study: B.A., Philosophy, Angelicum Pontifical University (Rome); B.A., Theology, Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University (Rome)
Ordination: December 24, 1987
Current Service: Co–founder and pastor at St. Helena of the True Cross of Jesus, Corpus Christi, TX
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"Formation begins from within. If you open yourself up completely and make the College's Program of Studies your own, you will find a lifelong treasure. The discipline and challenge of the academic program, the deep spiritual life, and the joyful community life create an incredible opportunity for personal growth and development.
"For me, the Magdalen College experience was an extraordinary opportunity to gradually, joyfully—and sometimes arduously—open myself to a new way of learning. The chance to read and discuss the great authors had profound impact on my life. The experience of learning how to move from a mind filled with opinions to a mind illuminated by objective truth was exhilarating."
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"The Magdalen College Program of Studies taught me how to think, read, and write well, and allowed me to engage some of the greatest thinkers who have ever lived. The rigorous academic program and Socratic method of teaching continually challenged me to think critically and logically. This was great preparation for law school and a career in law.
"But there is more to education than academics, and more to life than career. My experience at Magdalen College provided me with a deeper sense of my faith, and a better understanding of who I am and what life is all about. This foundation has helped me live each day with conviction and clarity—a true gift in a culture filled with so much uncertainty.
"I am very busy these days, since my wife and I are raising our children. Our family is involved in our parish and at the boy's school. As busy as my life is, I find that the foundation I developed at the College is a great source of stability that helps to center my priorities at home and at work. I will always be grateful to the College for that foundation."
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Dave '83 and Kathy (Hochreiter '84) St. Pierre
Dave: Dave works in residential window and door sales for the Granite State Glass Company, Belmont, NH.
Kathy: Kathy raises and homeschools their nine children: John, Maria, Paul, Theresa, Joseph, Katrina, Jacinta, David, and Christina. Kathy is also active in the local Catholic homeschool group and has taught Confirmation in her parish. She is secretary for Serra of New Hampshire which is a lay group that supports vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
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"We have special fondness for Magdalen College for the three people it brought together: Dave, Kathy, and Jesus Christ. While the education affected many aspects of our lives, it first helped to show us the value and strength of friendship based on common beliefs and principles as well as mutual love. It showed us how God is a necessary component to every relationship and it is when we love Him first that our love for each other blossoms.
"Studying the teachings of the Church, especially Pope John Paul II, helped us to have a clear understanding of God‘s plan for marriage and family life and eventually to embrace this vision in our own family. The intellectual formation from Magdalen College's unique approach to the liberal arts has helped our marriage over the years. The objective thinking, so necessary to the pursuit of Truth, has helped us to be fair with each other and even with ourselves when humility is called for. It taught us to look at things from a point of view outside of ourselves, which helps us to judge situations accurately and make decisions for our family that achieves the goals we have in mind.
"In addition to the academics at the College, our lives were filled with a rich liturgical life, discovering fun without television, and making true and lasting friendships. We wanted to foster this in our children at a young age, so we decided to homeschool; we have found this to be the perfect venue for building our family's unity and for passing on what we received at Magdalen. To this end, we encouraged our oldest son to attend the College which has put the finishing touches to the education we have tried to give him all along. To live life well in all its aspects is a great gift to give back to God!"
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Richard '99 and Lisa (McCoy '99) Yamin
Richard: Richard works as the Executive Chef at Mount Clemens General Hospital in Detroit, MI.
Lisa: From 2001–2005 Lisa administrated and taught at her family‘s private school in Anza. During their five years in California, Lisa gave birth to three sons: William John, Joseph Patrick and Thomas Benedict. Lisa now stays home to homeschool and care for her children and is involved in parish life.
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"Magdalen College helped us to see God‘s goodness in our relationship with each other, our children, and those we encounter everyday. The College taught us to dialogue using first principles which has become invaluable in our marriage and in raising our children. Also, we have had encounters with a lot of non–Catholics. Magdalen College helped us realize that when dialoguing with people, the bottom line is respect and love for them, for who they are, and from where they are coming.
"Magdalen College also taught us to ask questions and seek the truth on how to live your life well, not just taking what our culture says to be true. Because of this we continue to research and study to improve all areas of our lives. We realize that God has a natural plan for all his creation and if you just respect and follow this plan in all aspects of your life you will discover the key to raising healthy, happy children, who love God. God does provide everything we need; all we have to do is trust in His providence.
"The formation at Magdalen College made a huge impact on our lives. We are truly thankful for the rigorous schedule and strict formation. Through this we learned to live a well–ordered and balanced life, which has been vital in our marriage and in raising our children."
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Sister Maximilian Marie Garretson, O.P. '99
Work: Loretta Garretson graduated from Magdalen College in 1999. After a few years working as a Director of Religious Education, she discerned her vocation to the religious life.
Religious Vocation: Loretta entered the Sister of Mary Mother of the Eucharist in Ann Arbor, MI in 2001. She received the name Sister Maximilian Marie in 2002.
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"Magdalen College – These were four very important years of my life in regards to my vocation to consecrated Religious Life. It is curious, how this lay–governed, lay–administered Catholic institution responding to the Second Vatican Council‘s teaching about the lay vocation and lay apostolate, opens so many souls to Consecrated Religious Life and the ordained Priesthood. How does this happen? Interestingly enough, this zeal to be a lay apostle for Holy Mother Church was the first step to my vocation as a consecrated Religious Sister. At Magdalen College, I began to understand the importance of the laity in the Church and I welcomed the challenge to holiness. This reality was the first step in walking in the right direction.
"Prior to attending Magdalen College I was living a typical Catholic–American life. My natural, sincere search for happiness merged with a cultural inclination to live in my head, exclude reality, and fosters a distaste for sacrifice. Yet, in my restlessness, I became attracted and enchanted by the truth of my Catholic Faith. At Magdalen College I delved into its truths and the nature of the human person. Through these studies and the relationships which surrounded me, I began to put words to experiences of past emptiness and recognized partial truths I had taken as absolutes. I began to distinguish true happiness from the fictional: the 'all glamour and fun' plastered on billboards and magazine racks; superficial sensuality blaring over the radio; and the seductive autonomy and false sexuality preaching 'happiness' from the movie and television screen. I recognized the evidence of its impact in the very way I spoke, thought, and lived.
"At Magdalen, faculty, staff, and students taught me sincere self–giving, sacrificial love, and the innate dignity of the human person calling forth authentic love and happiness. The reality of community and the social nature of man flew in the face of the culture of individualism I was formed by. Living in a culture where there is no one to turn to, no authority, I had looked only to myself and formed the habit of self–centeredness — "in myself, by myself, for myself." I was left with a narrow universe of "Me, Myself, & I" resulting in a loss of real relationship with another and real happiness. The innate tension between my world view and my nature to love and be loved in this world of isolation drew me to such a unique school not for the sole purpose of career or monetary success...but how to learn to love and love to live."
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Sean Regan '99
Family: Married to Maria (Herman) '99 with two rambunctious boys: Liam and Thomas
Graduate Study: Masters of Business Administration in Marketing, University of Notre Dame (2002)
Current Work: Brand Manager, Global Fabric Care New Business Development, Procter & Gamble (Cincinnati, OH)
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"Holistic formation of the human person is the primary differentiator between Magdalen and other schools of higher education. And while Magdalen can catch some flak for this counter–cultural approach, a well–formed character is the key to leadership success in any field.
"Don't believe me? Do a Google search for "Top Ten Attributes of a Leader" and you will find millions of hits. The striking commonality among these diversely composed 'cheat sheets to leadership' is a focus on character traits. Most lists—often derived from employee surveys of what they admire or want in a leader—will count off such seemingly mundane attributes as 'honesty' and 'humility'. They‘ll declare that a great leader 'is responsible', 'communicates well' and 'delivers on his promises.' On and on, these articles proclaim, a leader 'is respectful', 'cares about his people', and 'is trustworthy'. Character, character, character. You will note the striking absence from these lists of 'possesses advanced degrees' or 'attended a well-known institution' as keys to leadership success. Advanced education may well be necessary to learn the job skills to enter a field and attending a graduate school with a big name may vastly improve your job options, but once 'you‘re in' it is the character attributes that count, that distinguish the great leader from the average boss.
"As U.S. Army General Norman Schwarzkopf once said, "Leadership is a combination of strategy and character. If you must be without one, be without the strategy." If you want to be a great leader, be formed in character and continue that formation throughout your life. You may also find yourself happier.
"In addition to the great education at Magdalen College, I am most grateful for finding my vocation to marriage with my wife Maria. Magdalen College‘s dating policy enabled a unique environment where I could first grow in friendship with other strong young men, then develop pressure–free friendships with young Catholic women and, finally, pursue a serious dating relationship with Maria. The College's healthy approach to dating was a blessing that guided the development of our relationship."
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Nancy Carlin '03
Graduate Degree: Anticipated RN/BSN at Duquesne University in Pennsylvania 2007
Work: Nancy worked as the Residence Life Director at Magdalen College and ran Summer Youth Programs from 2003–2005. She then worked at Memorial Specialty Hospital in Lufkin as a Medical Technician (Patient Care technician, phlebotomist, lab technician, and pharmacy technician) from 2005–2006 while taking prerequisites for nursing school.
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"I would never have been interested in nursing had I not attended Magdalen College. I had always had a desire to work with women, but through my experience working as the Residence Life Director of the women‘s residence at the College my desire evolved into working in medicine.
"Magdalen has been a phenomenal preparation for this or any other work. It provided me with habits of diligence and efficiency, of cleanliness and courtesy. While sitting through orientation on the first day of work at the hospital, I recognized all the expectations for employees: 'Employees must be punctual', 'work out problems at the lowest level,' 'maintain a good work ethic,' and so on. Even the dress code could have been lifted from the College. I could not help but think, as I heard stifled groans from fellow new employees, how little most colleges prepare students for life in the professional world.
"Eventually I want to work in a home for women in which women can seek healing for their bodies from professionals who do not ignore the existence of their souls. Today‘s culture wreaks havoc on the human person, and women suffer in a particular way from this degradation.
"Throughout the entire education at Magdalen College—whether in the classroom or residence hall, at meals or at Mass—the dignity of the human person is stressed in all of the customs, teachings, and discussions. The personalistic norm of John Paul II, that the human person must never be an object to be used, but only an object of love, is the antidote to the devastation, the despair, and the hunger we see in the world today. Looking back on the education at Magdalen College, I realize that all of the philosophy, catechesis, and humanity classes culminate in this principle. This is of central concern in the medical field—from the way you treat your patients on a daily basis, to the ethical questions of euthanasia, birth control, and abortion. If the dignity of the human person is negated in the practice of medicine, medicine will turn into a mere means for making money, the patient will become a commodity, and the goal of healing will be completely lost."
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