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Your Catholic Neighbor: Katie Mills
Student heads south to serve poor
By Joyce Coronel, The Catholic Sun
October 18, 2007
Katie Mills is going to be a long way from home come February when she travels to Peru, but the 22-year-old recent Arizona State grad sees it as the fulfillment of a dream she’s had since watching the movie “Romero” during a high school Spanish class.
Mills grew up in small-town Casa Grande where she attended public schools and was active in St. Anthony of Padua Parish. She and twin sister Erin received full-ride academic scholarships to attend ASU in 2003, where they joined a brother and a sister who were already students there.
Although she started out as a biology major, after participating in the alternative spring break trip to El Salvador with the All Saints Catholic Newman Center, Mills knew she was called to a different course of study.
“I went to El Salvador twice with the Newman Center and twice on my own. It’s neat to see how everyone who goes on that trip comes back a changed person,” she said. “You learn about the injustice that took place there. Every day you have Mass, prayer and reflection time.”
In addition to her work with the poor in El Salvador, Mills has been heavily involved in other Newman Center activities as well, serving on the student leadership team and working to raise money for the center. In 2006, she and another student co-chaired the center’s capital campaign and helped raise $30,000.
“I really believe in the ministry of the Newman Center,” she said, adding that students gave anywhere from $100 to $2,000 in the bid to build a new and larger chapel to serve ASU’s burgeoning Catholic student population.
But it was the trips to El Salvador that made a powerful impression on the red-haired Mills, who is fluent in Spanish.
“We went to Chalatenango, where three of the Marynolls who were murdered in 1980 are buried and we prayed at their graves,” she said. “All they wanted to do was help the people and the people really loved them.”
Much of Mills’ education has focused on international relations and human rights. Last year she was awarded a Rotary scholarship which will allow her to live and study in Peru for a year. She’ll reside with a local family involved in Rotary and study at the Pontifica Universidad Católica de Peru. Her goal is to receive a certificate in international relations.
Part of the arrangement is an agreement that she will be engaged in leading a service project while in the South American country. The Rotary Club sponsors the scholarships in an effort to increase international understanding. Mills will also be expected to give presentations about her experience to the organization upon her return to the United States.
She plans to work for a non-profit organization upon completion of her studies and sees her work as a way of thanking God for all she’s been given.
“I’ve been given a lot with all the scholarships, the family that I have, the support, and I think it’s a great idea to take advantage of some of the things I’ve been given and give back to others,” she said.
What do you like most about being Catholic?
The community. In order to celebrate Mass you do it in communion with others — we can’t do it alone. Your faith grows stronger when you’re with others and you have the support of others.
How does your faith affect your work?
A big part of our faith is social-justice oriented. Based on what I’ve read from John Paul II, it’s a big calling to help the poor. We’re told that Jesus is in all of us and if you want to love other people you naturally want to help them.
What’s the most memorable thing that happened to you in El Salvador?
There are so many, but there’s a story my sister likes to tell. As we’re hiking a mountain together in El Salvador, all of us are dying because it’s hot and it’s a long hike. There was a little boy with no shoes, hiking up the mountain with us, about 11 years old. He grabbed one of the suitcases and put it on his back. This boy lent his hand to help someone else less fortunate and we would like to do the same.
What’s your favorite quote?
“If you’ve come to help me, you can go home. But if you see my pain as your own struggle, then maybe we can work together.” It’s in the journal Fr. Fred [Lucci, OP] gave me and attributed to an aborigine woman.
If you could meet one person...
Fr. Rutilio Grande, Archbishop Romero’s friend. He worked with the people in the fields and showed [Romero] what was happening and how they were treated.
To suggest someone we should profile, e-mail letters@catholicsun.org.
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