Alumni Reflections with Martyna Szmitko

After graduation, my faith life has been very interesting to say the least. Graduating during Covid-19 definitely has shaken up my faith. I was mad at God for taking away so many things from me. I was mad that I had my graduation taken away from me, that I was unable to go to church physically and many more things. With having Mass online, I was not getting the same joy as actually going to church. So once churches started to reopen I got really excited. I would go with my family and sit in the pew like a normal parishioner but it felt weird. I was the Liturgy Coordinator for two years at DePaul so I was always doing something at every Mass. When I was able to sit in the pews for the whole Mass at my home parish something felt out of place. Something in me was missing so I knew that I wanted to help out my parish in some way. I decided to become a volunteer greeter that helps out parishioners at the beginning of Mass so everyone stays safe.

When I started to volunteer that emptiness went away. It felt great to be able to help out my parish in a way that was allowing other families the ability to gather at church safely. This want and emptiness definitely came from CCM. I was so used to being involved at Mass that when I wasn’t, I was confused. I was missing something that made me the person I am today. So thanks to CCM, I am involved with my home parish as one of the youngest volunteers and I hope I can bring more young adults into the church who want to help out in any way they can. So if you are reading this and your home parish or the church you go to is looking for volunteers I highly encourage you to help out. You get to meet so many wonderful people that you wouldn’t meet otherwise.


  • Graduation: June 2020
  • Accounting Honors Major
  • Working for BDO as a Tax Associate
Martyna Szmitko – 2020 Graudate