An Interview with Ally Kysely, Harvard FOCUS Missionary

Ally Kysely is a first-year FOCUS missionary at the Harvard Catholic Center where she leads Bible Studies, disciples students, and organizes undergraduate events.

Madeline: You just arrived on campus in August—what has surprised you the most about Harvard since you arrived?

Ally: I think initially I expected that everyone would be prestigious, fancy, super focused on studies… which is true to an extent, but I think it's been beautiful to see how people are more “normal” —everyone’s just a student trying to get a degree, make friendships, and find their way in the world. And it's impressed me how dedicated everyone is. People are passionate about everything. That’s so helpful for me from a faith perspective—if you are passionate about something, it's easier to channel that and ask deep questions, because people aren’t wishy-washy with you, you know?

Kelly: From your initial observation, what do you see as the greatest spiritual need of the students here?

Ally: Definitely friendship—virtuous friendship. There are three types of friendship: friendships of utility, friendships of pleasure, and virtuous friendships. That’s from Aristotle. I’ve seen many students here who say that they feel lonely, or that they don’t have a Christian community, or really just a group of people that builds them up for something greater than just their studies.

Madeline: You work for FOCUS, the Fellowship of Catholic University Students— can you explain what that is to an audience who might not be familiar with that?

Ally: Absolutely. All of us are recent graduates of universities across the U.S., and we commit to at least two years of full-time mission. So it's my job to be here full-time, serving students and growing in a closer relationship with Christ. That’s the premise, really—to help students grow in their own personal relationship with Christ. We call it fulfilling the Great Commission, which is the mission to teach other people about Jesus. “Teaching teachers to teach” is the premise. 

In the day-to-day, we host a lot of bible studies, one-on-one mentorships, group mentorships, and community events. We’ll go on campus to meet students and ask them questions about their faith, their definitions of love, and those deeper topics that aren’t really discussed when people are on their phones and in their own worlds. It's beautiful to share Jesus on a campus, especially a secular campus. We agree to be stationed wherever—on campuses around the U.S.. I’m from Wisconsin—I should say that. But I’m happy I was placed here.

Kelly: ​​Can you describe the moment you felt called to campus ministry? What was that like? 

Ally: The call was obviously gradual, but the biggest transformative moment was in my freshman year of college when I went on this retreat called Koninia (which means community) in Madison, Wisconsin, with my Catholic center. That retreat changed my life for prayer. It was the moment when I first started taking my faith seriously, seeing faith as communal, something bigger than myself. I realized then that faith was something I needed to fulfill every part of my life. It was a really powerful encounter that I had on this retreat, and after I was like, “Wow, I want to share this with other people.”

In a sense, that moment was the spark of realizing that I’m called to share the Gospel with others, that every baptized person is called to be on mission in some form. So leaning into that, I wanted to do something in ministry. I didn’t know it would be FOCUS specifically—I thought of a lot of things… But I was impacted by FOCUS during my undergrad, so I chose it, even though it requires you to give up a lot of things. For example, we have a first-year dating fast, no control over where we’re placed, we fundraise our whole salary… All of the surrender is all forming me into the person that God wanted me to be. But I’m still growing.

Madeline: What is a recent book you've read, a podcast you've listened to, or a spiritual practice you've engaged in that has been particularly meaningful?

Ally: There are so many things. There’s this book called My Sisters, the Saints, by Colleen Carroll Campbell. The book is so beautiful; it's so realistic. It moves through this woman’s story of being a party girl in college in Wisconsin to her working for the administration in DC, and how, in the midst of it all, she finds God in women saints. It's been beautiful to lean into that—witnesses on earth who are now in heaven helping her shape her faith journey through the trials of life. It was so impactful to read these things happening in her life that mirrored the little hardships of my life. And also, I’m not just saying this because I’m Catholic, but the rosary is such a powerful prayer. It's a practice I’ve been doing for the past few years.

Kelly: What is a quality of Jesus that you are particularly focused on embodying in your ministry right now?

Ally: Surrender. Yeah, I’ve been talking a lot about this recently. Jesus on the cross, and even in the garden, was continually repeating “thy will be done.” He was in the greatest hardship of his life– dying after being beaten and whipped and everything, feeling the weight of every sin as He was hanging on the cross, and yet He still surrendered to the will of the Father. There are so many things I’m clinging to that I don’t want to give up. That’s why it's helpful being a missionary—there are a lot of things that I was forced to give up by saying yes to this. My life here is, in a sense, echoing “thy will be done.” It's not purposely getting rid of things just because, or a false surrender; no, I’m surrendering because I’m growing closer to Christ by having Him be the only thing I’m focused on.

Madeline: As someone who recently was a college student, what advice would you give to your younger self, or to someone who is still in college?

Ally: Make a daily prayer life as early as you can. It will carry you through, but it also gives you a relationship with God. If you don’t form it now, it's hard to do later. But also, have fun with your virtuous community—have fun. When you look back on college, you’re not going to remember that exam or that homework assignment; you’re going to remember those moments you had deep conversations with your roommates, going to a community get-together with people on your floor, and outings with friends. Life is a lot bigger than just studying. God’s got you.

This interview of Ally Kysely was conducted by Madeline Schaeffer '29 and Kelly Lenox '29.