About Me

My name is David Switala. I am a recent graduate from The Ohio State University in Electrical Engineering. I grew up going to Incarnation as a parish as well as for school. Beyond that, I attended Alter High School.

In my own faith journey, I was greatly impacted by the many mentors I have had over the past few years. One of the first of these mentors was Danny Dunn who inspired me a lot to live out my faith more and take it more seriously. I ended up choosing Danny to be my confirmation sponsor because he was someone who I thought modeled well what it meant to be a Catholic. From there, I had phenomenal teachers at Alter High School that helped me answer the question that Danny helped plant: Who is God in my life? What does it mean to be a Christian disciple?

By the end of my high school experience, I knew that this was something I wanted to continue in college but did not know how to do so. I did not realize that Catholic communities like Saint Paul’s Outreach (SPO) existed until I got on to a college campus. SPO builds faith-based communities on college campuses across the country. Through my experience, I realized how necessary this is to have on college campuses because of the need that this organization addresses.

The Need

In May 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General declared loneliness, isolation, and lack of connection as a public health crisis. In his paper titled: The Epidemic of Loneliness, he declared loneliness as one of the greatest issues of our times. In addition, as many as 41% of Gen Zs and Millennials struggle with anxiety and depression. While there are multiple factors for this high percentage, part of it has to do with the challenge of the lack of connectedness we face today. One of the greatest desires of any person is to know and to be known. This is especially true on college campuses where so many students are looking for a place where they feel like they belong and are felt known.

This is all happening while there is also a decline in spirituality and religious affiliation. Only 10% of Catholic college students attend Sunday Mass.
1/3 of baptized Catholics end up not making their first communion.

 

What is Saint Paul’s Outreach?

Saint Paul’s Outreach, or SPO, is a Catholic College Ministry that focuses on building faith-based communities on campuses across the country. The heart of SPO is a community of joyful college students who live in deep relationships with God and one another. This is done through a strategic mission model: reach, call, form, and send. Students are connected to Saint Paul’s Outreach through events such as our tailgates, annual hog roast, dinners at our houses, weekly games of Ultimate Frisbee, and many other co-ed events. From there, students are invited into our men’s and women’s groups. These groups focus on guiding students to better understand their identity and purpose through the lens of Jesus Christ. Students are then invited into our Household program.

Household is a more intentional and committed way of living the Christian life. Think of it as a sorority or fraternity house but with the focus on living a Christ-centered life. It involves morning prayer routines, sharing meals together, attending mass, biweekly Christian Formation, ,  and sharing household chores and responsibilities.

The overarching goal of Saint Paul’s Outreach is to help people experience and live deep relationships through men’s and women’s groups and the household experience. The other goal is to create lifelong disciples, people who are passionate about their faith, and active in their parishes and vocations. 98% of SPO alumni still attend mass every Sunday, and 82% serve the mission of the Church as volunteers or full-time.

My Story

Many of the challenges our society is facing, I too experienced my freshman year of college: lack of real connectedness (beyond the superficial party conversations), loneliness, emptiness, and even moments of feeling anxious and depressed. Freshman year of college is a challenging transition time for anyone. For myself, I was a part of many groups but the only one where I felt like I did not have to prove myself or compromise my own morals and values to do so was the men’s group I was a part of through St. Paul’s Outreach. My men’s group was full of people who I knew genuinely cared about me, a place where I belonged. One of the leaders of my group would hang out with me frequently and helped steer me away from the typical college social life and brought me to a personal encounter with Christ. Through this, I came to the realization that if God is who I have learned He is and who He says He is in the bible then I have to live my life differently. From this personal encounter, I began to live my life differently. I was less willing to compromise my morals and values to win over the acceptance of others and rather double down on the relationship with the guys in my men’s group who already accepted me for who I am. We led by still having a fun college experience, we just kept our commitments to our Catholic values throughout our college experience. Through this, I have grown substantially deeper in my relationship with Christ and desire to give back what I have experienced through SPO at Ohio State.

 

I graduated in May from The Ohio State University with a degree in engineering and a minor in business and have had several internships related to my field. I realize, however, that this is a unique time in my life to help college students grow in their faith. After prayerful consideration, I have decided to serve with this organization in campus ministry with at least a two-year commitment at the University of Minnesota. Like many other non-profits, we are asked to raise funds to support our living expenses. The fundraising portion of my work is through August 10^th, so I can then focus on working with the students. More than just raising funds, I am looking for people who are interested in partnering with me in this mission to help young people grow in their faith. Please pray for the mission of SPO, my mission at the University of Minnesota, and for college-aged students that they may have a deeper understanding of God’s love for them.

If you are interested in supporting me or learning more about Saint Paul’s Outreach please fill out this Google form: https://forms.gle/WMtCk4vbymSBZvEY8 or contact me at 937-902-9521 or david.switala@spo.org.