At St. Benedict’s, a Salesian parish in Toronto, I have had opportunities to volunteer with SummerDaze camp, where I worked with children from the community, and Gospel Roads, a week-long service retreat working alongside the marginalized with the teachings of Don Bosco incorporated into the activities.

In addition to these opportunities for service, last summer I also had opportunities to visit the Marian Shrine in New York and attend the Steubenville Conference in Ohio. With these trips I didn’t just learn about the sacraments and the love of God, I learned a lot about who I am as a young Catholic in a contemporary world.

A major part of the reason these retreats and service opportunities were so impactful is because they took place in the summer. Aside from fun in the sun, the summer time is also transitional time, from the few months between one grade and another or the leap from high school to post-secondary education or the work force. That transitional period leaves young people with some stress-free down time, which allows for self-discovery and reflection without school and certain peer groups to cloud the mind.

My summer experiences that have shaped my faith don’t only have to do with where I went, but also with whom I met. Since the summer is when most students are out of school, many organizations and parishes offer opportunities like internships at Campaign Life Coalition or mission trips abroad with Christian Life Movement. These activities provide young people with the chance to gain work experience, serve in a community and work in fellowship alongside peers in a fresh setting, allowing for new friendships to be grounded in Christ or serving, thus allowing spiritual growth to take place.

There is often this idea that the previous summer has to be topped by the following one. For the past few summers where more and more opportunities to serve or learn about the Catholic Church have come up, I could see how I have developed spiritually from one year to the next. I have also found that the opportunities I took part, in such as Gospel Roads and the Steubenville youth conference, helped me cherish the time I had with my family and friends more. And the spiritual growth I had in the summer helped me transition strongly into other summer jobs and into university because I was able to bring the renewed light of Christ with me.

I hope that this summer will be a time to refocus my relationship with God so I can return to school as a refreshed young Catholic.

(Mervar, 18, is a Religion and English student at the University of Toronto.)