Find Your Calling: Cormac O’Connor finds his passion in Peer Ministry and year-round athletics
At Hill-Murray, we strive to help our students find their calling, whatever it may be. From daily classes, athletics, clubs, and programs to other student-led initiatives, our students are discovering their paths each day. Through our new campaign called Find Your Calling, we get to know our Pioneers and discover what inspires them.
Current Pioneers, share your story with us and we may feature you on our website and social media. Take the survey here.
Cormac O’Connor, Grade 12
What subjects are you most interested in?
Political Science, Theology and Math
Does Hill-Murray help you explore those interests?
YES! 1000% YES! Hill-Murray helps me explore these interests with the great faculty, staff, curriculum and challenging courses that they provide. The staff and faculty at Hill-Murray are so amazing and they just want the best for us, they challenge the students to grow in their own intellect and interests in this way. The courses are beasts of their own, they are challenging and rigorous but the amount of knowledge you take away from them is insane! I’ve learned so much at HM, it’s not even funny! Teachers at HM make classes that are considered to be hard, or in some cases boring, really interesting and fun. They make you want to learn and actually enjoy it too. Everyone at HM wants you to succeed and they will do everything they can to make sure that happens.
Are you involved in any athletics or extracurricular activities? What do you enjoy about these opportunities?
I’m involved in a lot at HM. I am a three sport athlete: Cross Country in the fall, Alpine Ski Team in the winter and Track and Field in the spring. All three of these sports are so amazing and I feel my experience at HM would be vastly different if I had chosen to not participate in them. I say this because I share a unique bond with everyone on each team, and in a sense we are all a family and I love that about HM. The community aspect of Hill-Murray is truly one of a kind and what makes it so unique is I have never felt so welcomed into anything before, but they all welcomed me in with open arms without hesitation. Now that I am a senior I remember those seniors from years ago that welcomed me in, and I was happy to return the favor. I was a captain this year for the Cross Country and Alpine Ski Team and I absolutely loved my experiences with both teams. I was humbled and honored to be able to serve in this way and represent HM. Outside of sports, the main thing I am involved in at HM is Peer Ministry, and I love it so much! This year I have basically been the semi-permanent altar server for the all-school masses and I love being able to have the opportunity to serve in this way for HM too! I love being able to assist the priest when needed and also just be at peace knowing God is working within all of us and that he is King. A unique thing about being an altar server is that I am able to see the entire school from where I am on the altar and just seeing everyone from HM assembled and praying together is a really really powerful experience. God is absolutely working within HM and we are so much better for it.
Finally, what does finding your calling mean to you?
Finding my calling (I think of it as a vocation) means so so much to me and I would 1000% agree that HM has helped me find my calling. I would say a few reasons I think this to be because, as I said before, the teachers want you to succeed and they want the best for you, so they do their absolute best to make sure that you do indeed succeed. I also think that HM has helped me find my calling with the masses, religion classes and silent prayer. I have come to realize with all of this, that religion is not boring, that God is so so good and so so worth it and finally, that we are ALL brothers and sisters in Christ. I feel that HM has done its job at helping me find my calling and I am truly and endlessly grateful for that!
