5 questions with Kate Sidor '23
Sidor is from Chicago, where she spent weekends at a school learning Polish culture and language, the language her family speaks at home. Her parents are immigrants; most of their family is still in Poland. At UD, where she lives in a house with a big porch, she is a music studies major. One day she wrote a song about her faith. And a roomful of people sang it with her — in community.
1 — How did you get involved with Campus Ministry? I went to a public high school in a Chicago suburb; I attended Mass but wasn’t involved in liturgy or music ministry. I had heard of Kairos retreats, but I never did one. At UD, I learned of my roommates’ experiences with Campus Ministry. This past year I was cantor at the noon Sunday Mass. And I’ve been involved in other praise and worship events and retreats.
2 — What sort of retreats? The music ministers have daylong retreats each August before classes start. I’ve also done Busy Person Retreats. Each year has a theme with questions, video, art, Scripture to discuss; you meet once a week with a campus minister. Last year I missed sign-up for the Wilderness Retreat; you get to go backpacking at Kentucky’s Red River Gorge. I hope to go next year. This year I was a leader on the Radiate Retreat.
3 — What’s that? It takes place over a weekend at Governor’s Island (a Marianist facility on Indian Lake, north of Dayton). The first day is devoted to encountering Christ in others, to seeing what qualities that entails. On the second day, we look within to see Christ in ourselves. The third day is devoted to how we can radiate Christ to others. We look at the Marianist charism. See. Discern. Act. Celebrate. In community.
4 — And you wrote a song during it? Part of the retreat was breaking up into small groups. I had written songs before. I sing with the UD jazz ensemble, play guitar with the jazz combo and have performed at the ArtStreet amphitheater. The songs I’d written, however, were not related to faith. But on the Radiate Retreat I wrote a song related to faith for my group’s morning experience. The Campus Ministry staff members there had us play it at the end of the retreat. I’d never had a whole room of people sing a song I’d written.
5 — What are you planning for life after UD? I’m minoring in psychology as well as in medicine and society. In grad school, I hope to study music cognition, the way the brain processes music. But first I want to reflect, to bring the Marianist charism to practice, maybe with a year of service, perhaps in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps or the Peace Corps. But I’m open to other possibilities.