Guadalupe Rodriguez came to Visitation School as a shy freshman, but now as a senior, she greets visitors while working the front desk at the entrance of the school adjacent to the Visitation Sisters’ former monastery.
“Coming to a new school, I was struggling with finding myself, but it didn’t take me too long to find myself because the community was so close; I was able to experience God,” Rodriguez said.
Embracing community characterizes Rodriguez’s time at Visitation, the Mendota Heights all-girls Catholic school founded by the sisters. She previously attended a public middle school in St. Paul, and she found a genuine faith experience at her high school.
Rodriguez described her faith before Visitation as not going much deeper than participation in parish activities. She played guitar and sang in the choir for Spanish Masses at St. Francis de Sales in St. Paul. Her parents wanted her to attend Catholic school to grow in her faith, as well as remain active in her parish, she said.
“Then once I started taking religion classes, I was able to learn more in depth what each part of Mass meant,” Rodriguez said. “I was also able to learn more about the Bible and history behind it.”
Learning about different religions in religion class at Visitation also was enriching, she said.
“It made me get closer to my faith, knowing that I’m Catholic and that’s the religion that I want to pursue for the rest of my life,” Rodriguez said. “It also helped me realize how every religion has something in common, and I loved learning about the different religions.”
Rodriguez will continue her Catholic education at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph this fall and major in Spanish. She wants to be a university Spanish professor because of her love of Hispanic culture and language.
At Visitation, she supports cultural diversity through the Students of Color group. Respecting cultural differences is part of the Salesian charism of practicing “little virtues,” which is promoted by the school, she said.
“We try to work out how to reach people with gentle hearts and kindness and learn to have patience with those with whom we have different opinions,” Rodriguez said.
