A group of 18 High school students walked into Jones Day, the 1st ranked law firm in the US according to Acritas, to meet with a middle-aged lawyer named Thomas Forr. He leads them into the conference room to explain to them what it means to be a lawyer – which for him is having a job that isn’t about you but an opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives. In fact, Forr had done Pro Bono work, including helping a homeless man get back in his residence legally.
The teens explained how they had just come from Union Station where they did a short homeless mission bringing food and beverages to homeless people in that area. Br Luke Rawicki LC, who brought the teens there with Fr Andrew Gronotte LC, noted, “He was very struck by that and surprised and said he’d never heard of any other leadership program that would work that into the schedule and make working with the homeless a priority.” Forr explained that this was an example of a real leader as it wasn’t egotistical or self-oriented but a calling to put others first and change the world.
These 18 young men were part of the LTP internship course June 18-23 based out of Catholic University of America but visiting various offices every day.
One of the high school participants, Matias Esquivel Losada of Stamford, CT, said that it gave him a window into how to be both seriously Catholic and successful. For him it eye opening to realize, “Not only how these speakers became successful but how they defined success… they reconcile faith and success.” He mentioned how he was impressed by how the speakers didn’t pontificate but engaged the young men. Br Luke noted how impressed he was by some of the young men’s questions.
Matias explained his takeaway as, “A change in how I myself would go about trying to attain success, because I think I had a mainstream way of thinking about success in terms of money, and what these people really spoke to was that success can’t really have a number on it but it is more how you balance your faith-life, your family and your business.”
Matias’s description exactly matches what Br Luke said the course was all about: helping the young men understand and define true success and leadership. He explained that Catholics with worldly success help explain to the young men: “Their faith is not in contradiction to have worldly success but a great gift to be successful.” The young men learn lessons about virtues, explained Br Luke, like integrity in being a man of your word, how true leadership is serving others, honesty, and teamwork.
The speakers this year included various fields: Kimberly Moore, US Circuit court judge; Steve Pavlick, Deputy Assistant Secretary at U.S. Department of the Treasury; Daniel D’Aniello, cofounder and chairman of the Carlyle Group; Griff Jenkins, Fox News; Gerald Seib, Columnist at the Wall Street Journal; Juan Pablo Segura, a young entrepreneur; Devin Nunes, Mario Díaz-Balart, Jim Sensenbrenner and Dan Lipinski, members of the US House of Representatives; and the chaplains of both houses of Congress: Barry C. Black and Fr Patrick J. Conroy, SJ.
In addition to the talks by various leaders, which they’d average about four a day, the week included daily Mass, night prayers, and evening activities back at CUA.
The young men came to DC from Cleveland OH, Miami FL, Stamford CT, Charlotte NC, Houston TX, and the DC metro area (DC, Maryland and Virginia).
Fr Michael Sliney started the LTP Internship course in 2001 and it has run every year since then. More information, including 2018 registration next Spring, is available at http://ltpwashingtondc.com.
