Irene Andrada

"A leader of faith should be strong in their faith to be a role model for those wanting to be more involved in what they believe.  As a BYC member, I will do my best to inspire the youth to be more involved in their faith.  I would try to get to know people personally so they feel they can count on me to help represent the youth.  I also hope to inspire people by my actions and learn from others' strong faith."

Cepi Anguelo

"Anyone in a leadership role should be committed, dependable, trustworthy and honest.  And as a faith leader, one would need to be a regular church attendee and a firm believer in Jesus Chrsit. I feel as I walk my own walk with the Lord, I can be a model for other youth."

Olivia Patricia Ash

"Important qualities of a leader of faith are responsibility, respect and commitment.  As a member of DSJ, I can demonstrate these qualities by dedicating myself to this club and committing myself to help make positive improvements.  I can demonstrate respect by respecting everyone's opinions and listening to eveyone's ideas. I will not be single minded and will be a team player."

Natasha Cannon

"My hope would be to create a connected community of faith for youth in the San Jose Diocese - conected to God, connected to the parish, connected to each other. Creating a youth community across the Diocese of San Jose would be a very powerful faith-filled experience.  The youth are the future of the Catholic Church and I want to help lead us to our place and roles of the future."

Kristina Mae Catli

"I understand that the Youth Council's goal is to get youth more involved in their parish community. My plan is to achieve this goal through ways appealing to them like retreats, dance mixers, play days, summer camps, etc.  I believe that in order to be able to feel comfortable to profess your faith, you need to know that you are not alone, and making lasting friendships can boost that confidence."

Alyssa Diaz

"A leader of faiths hould always have strong convictions about their faith.  She should be able to inspire others to achieve what they desire.  She should be confident, have strong and moral judgment, should always want others to exceed and always have faith in every action she makes.  I believe all of these qualities will enable me to have a strong voice in the Council. I believe that these qualities can inspire others to always have strong convictions about their faith."

Ayaka Dohi

"A leader of faith is one that puts faith into action.  He mus be able to lead, teach and follow by using his values and morality he has established. A leader of faithis able to direct the people towards a goal that works toward a greater good. As a member of the Council, I will strive to be a leader of faith who leads, teaches and follow in every aspect of my life, at school, church, home and community.  I will work with my peers and continue to live my faith through my God-filled actions."

David Donnelly

"Some important qualities of a leader of faith are knowledge of one's faith and ability to discuss it with others and the ability to seek out God's will instead of your own.  As a member of the Youth Council, I would model these qualities by increasing my knowledge of my faith so I can better discuss it with others.  I would also be coming up with the basic idea of getting youth more involved in ministry."

Priscilla Duong

"I would like to work on drawing other adolescents to deepen their faith lives and contirbute to the community. Youth groups seem to appeal more to the new generation, and I believe that if we focus on improving opportunities for youth, then they would become more involved and enthusiastic with participating. As part of the Vietnamese youth, I believe I can contribute to the diversity in the Church."

Carmen Herrera

"One quality of a leader of faith is to stand up for what is right and in what one believes in.  Another is to pray to God about one's decisions and to discuss ideas to get more point of views on the situation.  An important one is to be yourself in faith and love, and to bring the Light of God in other's lives, even in the smallest smile.  I wish to model these as a member of the Council, by being a good person and jsut rying my best to make a better world."

Renee Jain

"Being a member of the church, I wish to impart knowledge of the Catholic faith to the younger children.  I hope to involve young people in their communities as well as in the diocese as a whole. The Youth Council could facilitate the blending of youth groups. We could work with youth group leaders to bring parishes near each other for speakers, events and the like. There are many ideas I have for the youth ministry in the diocese and I want to bring the input of the young people in our diocese to the Youth Council."

Christine Joseph

"A leader of faith has to be a person that has no shame in what they believe.  He must be willing to shine a candle of hope even in the time of despair, and must be willing to go on despite hardships and when things seem impossible.  As a member of the Council, I am willing to share my faith even when no one will listen.  I am willing to shine a candle of hope and willing to go on despite all hardships and despair.  I hope that together with the other members, we can reach out to our diocese and community and make a difference. I hope that we can begin to use our youth as a tool to spread love in our neighborhoods, communities and our world."

Megan Lott

"When you are a leader of faith you have the responsibilities to set a good example through your words and actions.  When you speak you should be kind, positive and not curse.  Through your actions you can easily set a good example by doing nice and courteous deeds for others.  As a leader of faith your words and actions should glorify God, and when you base your actions on glofirying God many people are touched by it."

Evelyn Nguyen

"Important qualities of a leader of faith include: dedication, communication skills, benevolence and support.  I would model these qualities as a member of the Youth Council by devoting my time to the Council, trying my best to be a good role model to my peers, being supportive of fellow members and demonstrating kindness and compassion as well as contirbuting ideas."

Ashley Overhouse

"Qualities of a leader of faith include well-executed communication skills, compassion, organization and last but not least, hope. Without hope, a leader cannot be optimistic, have the ability to believe in people, nor believe in their faith. Even through hard times, I try to have hope with the help of my faith. All in all, each of these four characteristics play an imporatnt role in making up a leader of faith."

Christopher Perez

"One idea I have for the Council is for parishes to have a youth group for the younger children from 5th to 8th grade, so they can have the same amount of fun and knowledge that us older teens have.  Another idea is when we have Children's Mass, not only to have the catechism students be in the mass, but have a sign up sheet for people outside of catechism to participate in the masses."

Kelsey Schroeder

"A leader of faith must be dedicated, set high standards and try to live up to them, be a regular member of church, and be respectful to everyone. I am dedicated to everything that I start. I do set high standards for myself, and I try to live up to them the best I can.  One of my main goals for joining the Council is to increase youth participation in our Diocese and in mass.  I believe with some youthful ideas, we can bring the youth back to the masses and help them become more excited about their faith."

Joe Schutt

"The qualities of a leader of faith that I try to demonstrate are leading by example, honesty, and integrity. I would model these as a member of the Council. I'd like to bring to the council a true and accurate represntation of the thoughts and opinions of my peers.  I'd like to help make visible to the group what the reality of being a teen in a catholic high school today is like. I would also like to honestly talk about the struggles that teens have in high school."

Roxanne Smith

"I think that as a community of faith we have to reach out to my generation. We have to connect with them with things that they relate to.  We can have a concert but of Christian music, have talks on things that they find interesting, and maybe even to get the youth groups together so they can bond with people in other churches and mabe those peple could help them connect with Christ. Sometimes all it takes it to have someone new around you."

Doug THoreson

"There are a few charecteristics that I believe to be required of a leader of faith: wisdom, a commitment to service and a sense of humility.  A leader of faith should compose themselves in a dignified way.  He or she should not think of themselves as a person better than others. He or she should be respectul of others and their fiaths while at the saem time being able to promote their faith in a respectful manner."