Jessica Morrell, the Associate Director of Campus Ministry at Immaculata University, spoke with VISTA Today about being born in Pittsburgh but growing up in the Augusta, Georgia, how her parents paid for her tuition to a private high school by renting out the family’s home during the Masters Tournament every year, and the influence that a Catholic education had on her life.

Morrell also discussed the people who have helped shape her career in the decade-plus that she’s been at Immaculata, her affiliation with the Freedoms Foundation, what she likes to do in her free time, and the opportunities that lie ahead for her in her professional career.

Where were you born, and where did you grow up?

I was born the middle of three girls in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. When I was six years old, my dad’s job transferred him to Augusta, Georgia. I lived there until I was eighteen and went off to college.

What did your parents do?

My dad worked for Gulf Oil and then Westinghouse and the Savannah River Plant. He’s currently a government employee, but Westinghouse is what took us down south.

My mom was a stay-at-home mom. She gave up a lot to make sure we her kids lived a good life.

What memories do you have growing up in Augusta?

We moved to Augusta in 1989 the week of the Master’s Tournament, and I remember wondering exactly what golf without a windmill or the Masters was. On my first day of kindergarten, I had my mom quiz me on the winner of the Masters because I thought it would help me fit in better.

The community was tiny but had a powerful impact on my life. We rented our house out every year for the Masters Tournament. That’s what paid for my private high school education.

All three of us had our tuition paid for that way. My private high school played a big part in shaping who I am today. I had amazing teachers and mentors there.

Did you play any sports growing up?

Sports are a huge part of my life, and they always have been! In high school, I played softball, basketball, soccer, and I ran track and field. I received a softball scholarship for college. I still play on four teams today! 

Were you best at softball?

I think I was better at basketball. I had to have knee surgery at the end of my senior year and just never got back into basketball shape. My coach was the same for both sports – softball, and basketball – and she suggested sticking with softball.

What position did you play?

In high school, I played first base. In college, I played “right bench” and outfield. I just loved being a part of the team!

What did you bring to the field that coaches liked and saw something special?

In general, I’m a very positive and competitive person. I think when you put those two together, it’s easy to help support your teammates and keep a positive team mentality.

What do you love so much about sports?

I think the discipline and competitiveness teaches you how to manage your schedule and priorities. It provides a great structure. You need to remember that you not only have practice for your travel or school team, but you also have homework or chores, so you need to stick to a schedule to be successful. It forced me to create balance in my life.

Did you have any jobs in high school?

I had a few jobs in high school – mainly serving. I worked at the local diner. I also had a job as a mascot for the Single-A baseball team and the arena football team in my town.

What were the mascots?

The Augusta Greenjackets! He was a yellowjacket that wore a green jacket. His name was Sting. I have beanie babies and trading cards of myself! For the arena football team, I was Tony the Pony for the Augusta Stallions. Both seasons were summer, so it was hot in those costumes.

You were a busy girl. Where do you get that work ethic from?

Definitely, my family – my mom and my dad. My mom gave up so much for us kids. When I was little, my dad worked two jobs on the side in addition to his full-time job. I think seeing that work ethic really shaped who I am today. Seeing that commitment and passion really drives me.

What kind of music were you listening to back then?

You could look at my phone today and find the same songs as the CDs I was listening to back then. I have a very eclectic taste. I like musicals, the Music Man, Fiddler on the Roof. I also love country and alternative music.

My grandfather loved Broadway. He had a beautiful voice and sang in the choir. My younger sister is an actress and a singer. There’s always music around me.

Where did you go to college?

I went to St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA.

Why St. Vincent?

It’s actually a funny story. I knew I wanted to go to a Catholic College. Catholic education has really shaped my life, and my parents sacrificed a lot for me to go to Catholic school.

I was sitting in the cafeteria one day at my high school, and the poster had a picture of a statue of someone I didn’t know. It was Boniface Wimmer, the founder of St. Vincent and the Basilica. It said Latrobe, PA, on the poster, and I went home to ask my parents if St. Vincent was near Pittsburgh, where much of my family still was. I told my parents I wanted to apply there.

My parents wanted me to go to Belmont Abbey, which gave me a full ride, but I didn’t want to go there.

The moment I stepped foot on St. Vincent’s campus, I knew that’s where I wanted to go to school. They offered an academic scholarship but not the same full tuition coverage as Belmont Abbey.

My grandmother was very sick with cancer at the time, so my parents suggested I go spend some time with her before she passed–this was my senior year in high school. I was visiting with her and my grandfather when the softball coach called and offered a scholarship that would make St. Vincent work for me monetarily. I looked at my grandmother and told her I’d be there to look after my grandfather after she passed. It really worked out for the best, and I knew that’s where I wanted to be. 

Looking back, was St. Vincent a good choice for you?

One hundred percent. The Benedictines who run the school have a method surrounding “pray and work.” I’m an action-oriented person, so this mindset was perfect for me.

It was also nice to be in the Pittsburgh area and reconnect with my family, who I hadn’t gotten to spend more than holidays with since we left many years before. I was able to grow close with my cousins, aunts, and uncles again. My mom’s mom and my dad’s dad were both still alive, so spending time with my grandparents on the weekends was special.

I did get into some trouble during my freshman year and had to do community service. I did some rounds with the Residents Assistants (RA’s) and knew I wanted to become an RA.

I remember one specific incident once where the fire alarm went off in our dorm, and they were evacuating the students. As we were running down the steps, I saw people running up. This was when I realized we had a volunteer fire department on campus. I had always wanted to be a firefighter growing up, so I joined.

That shaped so much of my adult life. I’m currently a volunteer firefighter and on the water rescue dive recovery unit. Joining that department in college gave me such an incredible family and group of mentors. There was a monk who was the Chief of the department who became a lifelong mentor of mine.

I had the fire department, the softball team, and my RA family at St. Vincent.

You really found yourself at St. Vincent’s. 

I did. I think if I didn’t have the high school experience I did, I wouldn’t have been as grounded or shaped to be able to do those things. When I got there, I feel like I had a good foundation and kick-off a great path forward.

When did you graduate?

In my third year, my advisor told me I could graduate if I wrote both of my theses and did an independent student because I was a double manager. I decided that was best for me and graduated in 2004 after three years. A lot of my credits came from my high school AP classes.

What brought you to Immaculata?

I didn’t have a plan after graduation. St. Vincent’s let me stick around to be an RA and serve as the Orientation Chair for the new students. They let me take graduate courses at that time.

One of my best friends was also in the graduate program at the time. She got a job at Immaculata first and found out someone in Campus Ministry was leaving, so she suggested me for the spot. I came out for a tour and knew I wanted to work there. I interviewed with Sister Cathy Nally, IHM who offered me the job on my ride home after the visit, and I ended up working for her for the last twelve years.

Who helped you get to where you are today?

Father Joe Adams, OSB at St. Vincent was the monk who has served as one of my mentors. He is a man of very few words but a man of great faith and action. While serving as a monk and firefighter, he was also a member of the Army Reserves and honored with the “Soldier of the Year” Award at the age of forty. He’s lived a very full life of dedication, commitment, and perseverance.

What did he see in you, Jessica?

I think he saw commitment and passion. That’s what I try to bring to everything. I genuinely want to serve people.

That moment of my peers running into the building while I was running out during that fire drill has always stuck with me. I didn’t want to join the fire department to check a box on my resume; I genuinely want to help people.

Father Adams would always reply to my questions with, “God willing,” and I see that as a reminder that there’s more than just me, and I really don’t have control.

Who at Immaculata has influenced or impacted you the most?

What a hard question! My supervisor for the last twelve years, Sister Cathy Nally, IHM helped to shape me from a twenty-four-year-old finishing graduate school to who I am today. She always encouraged me to run with my ideas, which led to the creation of an outdoor camping program here that I modeled off a program at St. Vincent. She found a way to curb my enthusiasm but never encouraged me to shy away from it.

My coworkers over the years have also been incredibly supportive. The same individual I had my hearing with back during my freshman year, Cat Mattingly, ended up coming to Immaculata to serve as the Associate Dean of Students for a time working closely with me in Campus Ministry.

My life went full circle when she came to Immaculata. She had taken a chance on hiring me as an RA after having a disciplinary incident my first semester of college, and here we were working together thirteen years later. Having that experience at St. Vincent was very helpful to shape me moving forward, and it began with her. 

Looking forward, what do you see as the challenges and opportunities in front of you?

This summer, I went on a U.S. delegation trip to Rwanda with Catholic Relief Services. On campus, I work with our students to advocate for social justice in different formats and ways. Because of the great work our students are doing, I was able to travel to Rwanda for ten days. It was an incredible trip, and I learned a lot about fighting malnutrition and global hunger, human trafficking, water issues, and more.

My goal is to continue to make students and others aware of what’s going on in Rwanda post-genocide. It’s incredible to see the fire in students to fight for these rights for others.

I recently took two students to Washington, D.C., to meet with our local representatives to discuss the importance of continuing to funding these international programs. A dollar in developing countries goes so much further than in the United States. In one of the villages we were in, there were 1,683 children under the age of five suffering from malnutrition in 2016. In 2019, that program is ending, and there are zero children suffering from malnutrition and that village now has the skills and tools to produce and provide nutritious foods for themselves.

What programs at Immaculata teach a student how to advocate?

One of them is the Catholic Relief Services Student Ambassadors. We have a chapter here, and there are chapters all over the U.S. I will do a workshop for our Student Government in the Spring, which will talk about what I’ve learned about social justice and how they can apply that to advocate for themselves in the workplace. I’m trying to teach them that these skills are essential in all walks of life.

Is your main focus at Immaculata social justice?

One of the many things I get to do here.  I’m also in charge of community service and service trips. Everything is connected at campus ministry – faith, prayer, mass – they’re all rooted in social justice and the dignity of the human person. I do a variety of things, including programming.

Tell me about your work with the Freedoms Foundation.

I’ve been with the Freedoms Foundation for eleven years. I direct the Youth Citizenship Program, which is a Thursday – Sunday program for high school students. On different weekends of the year, we have students come from all over the United States, and we do workshops on citizenship, American History, how the American government works, leadership, and more.

So you still play on four softball teams, what do you do with your other free time?

I play football in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia. Most of my spare time goes to Valley Forge Volunteer Fire Company, Friendship Diving and Rescue Team, and Swedesburg Volunteer Fire Company. I also volunteer at my sister’s playhouse, Steel River in Pottstown.

I love to be around my friends’ kids who call me Aunt Jess. I have run a few half marathons. I love to stay active. My sister and I like to travel, hike, and camp. My sister and I hiked the last leg of the Camino de Santiago de Compostella a few years ago.

What’s the next hike?

I hiked up Croagh Patrick in Ireland recently. My next adventure is happening this summer with a friend of mine who is a fellow firefighter. We are going to Europe for a friend’s wedding then we are going to travel to a few countries and end in Iceland. 

Finally, Jessica, what is the best piece of advice you ever received?

It’s the advice from my parents that I never heard, but I saw. My parents gave up so much to provide for their kids, from my dad working several jobs and my mom giving up a career of her own. Growing up, I was surrounded by their positivity and work ethic.

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Publisher’s Note: Laura Wagoner contributed to this profile.