For some, returning to college after graduation may feel like déjà vu. But for Newman University alumnus Andrew Nguyen ‘23, it feels like coming home.
The day Nguyen graduated, he left current Newman students with valuable advice: “Don’t be afraid to switch your path.”
Reflecting on his undergraduate experience, Nguyen took his own advice to heart.
Growing in faith at Newman
Originally from Wichita, Nguyen’s journey to the seminary began with unexpected twists. He entered Newman as a sonography major, then pivoted to radiologic technology, only to later land on data analytics. The shifts added an extra year to his college experience, but he now sees this period as “purposeful,” he said.
“I think at this point my life’s been chaotic enough where I can just adapt to any situation,” Nguyen said. “If I have to change something, I’ll be fine. I just try to follow God’s will.”
That adaptability became a theme at Newman, where Nguyen immersed himself in the campus community, starting with the triathlon team.
“Half the triathlon team was Catholic, so we were constantly going to Mass together,” Nguyen said. “It was the first place where I easily made a lot of friends from all sorts of faiths and beliefs. That’s where I really started to grow in my faith.”
As his faith life bloomed, Nguyen’s friend Steven Nguyen ‘22 invited him to Campus Ministry events. Nguyen began to take his prayer life even more seriously when he lived in the Metanoia Catholic living community in Beata Hall. There, he experienced God’s presence in Mass, praying the Liturgy of the Hours and night prayer with his friends. During his “super senior” year, Nguyen became a leader by serving on the Campus Ministry board.
A pivotal moment came during a silent retreat called Cor Ad Cor, Latin for “heart to heart.” It was there, journaling in stillness, that Nguyen first began to question his path.
“I just started writing: ‘I’m not happy. This doesn’t feel right,’” he said. “And then, out of nowhere: ‘What if I’m called to be a priest?’”
The question lingered and resurfaced in conversations with close friends like current student Isabel Porres and his childhood friend Amanda Higgins ‘23, both of whom encouraged his discernment.
“That’s the gift of being in the Newman community,” Nguyen said. “It’s a small college, so you will gain lots of lifelong friends.”
Porres even told Nguyen, “You’d make a good priest,” something she believes now more than ever. As the scheduler for Campus Ministry lectors and servers, Porres described Nguyen as “always so willing to serve.”
“How badly he wanted to serve intrigued me,” Porres said. “It was clear that he loved it, and when you love something, you want others to share in that love. Andrew would have elevated expectations of the other servers; he wanted serving to be taken seriously because it is a gift to be in the sanctuary and assist the priest in the celebration of the Eucharist.”
The first time Nguyen was selected as the thurifer, or the altar server who handles the incense, Porres said “he was the most excited I think I have ever seen him.”
“The joy Andrew has about serving the Lord is incredible and is the primary reason I initially thought he should consider seminary,” she said. “We need priests who have a deep understanding of and zeal for Christ in the Mass, and I can see Andrew being a priest like this.”
Discerning the call to the priesthood
In the month after graduating from Newman, the realization hit Nguyen: “Maybe I’m really meant to pursue the priesthood.”
Nguyen’s parents were admittedly shocked and surprised when he shared his interest in becoming a priest.
“It was a lot of skepticism at first because I was just graduating from college and big changes were happening,” Nguyen said. “I think as I grew more in my prayer life, they started to notice, ‘Oh, this is actually becoming a serious decision.”
When Nguyen approached Father Chad Arnold with his interest, Arnold suggested he take a year for further discernment. During that time, Nguyen stayed busy working his summer internship with Adams Brown, running a marathon and half Ironman and deepening his spiritual life through weekly Adoration at his home parish, the Church of the Magdalen.
Nguyen also leaned on earlier “God moments” at Newman to help him discover and embrace his vocation. One of his mentors, former Newman Chaplain Father Adam Grelinger ‘11, gave Nguyen a book titled “To Save a Thousand Souls,” a vocational guide for young men discerning the priesthood.
“That book made me realize the priesthood might actually be something for me,” Nguyen said.
Another turning point came during the Quo Vadis discernment retreat — Latin for “Where are you going?” — through the Catholic Diocese of Wichita at the Spiritual Life Center.
“I went to the retreat in December 2023, and it helped a lot,” he said. “It was funny because Father Adam had wanted me to go back when I was still in college, but never actually told me.”
In addition to the guidance of mentors and peers, Nguyen found spiritual support through resources like the “About Four O’Clock” podcast with priests Arnold, Father Garrett Burns and Father Drew Hoffman.
“It helped me a lot when I had questions,” he said. “It’s a great podcast on vocations and the priesthood for anyone discerning.”
For Higgins, it has been “incredible watching Andrew grow in his faith and trust that he is being pointed in the right direction,” she said.
The most rewarding aspect, she said, is seeing the joy and peace in his demeanor when discussing formation.
“Growing up, there’s lots of pressure and stress to get a good job and be able to take care of yourself,” Higgins said. “But when he decided to join the seminary, there was a peace and excitement in him that I hadn’t seen in a long time.”
Finishing his first year in seminary
After completing three rounds of interviews and writing several essays, Nguyen officially entered seminary formation. Now in his propaedeutic year as a seminarian at St. Joseph’s House of Formation, he is also completing his final semester at Newman before transferring to Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, in August. There, he will join fellow Newman alumnus Thomas Elliott and a current Newman classmate, Caleb Garner.
“I’m very excited for the opportunity to discern more fully and be in a new environment,” Nguyen said. “I’m also excited to take more philosophy and theology classes and to learn how to think like a priest.”
Though Nguyen won’t be earning another degree at Newman, his return to campus has been deeply meaningful. He credits Grelinger, his triathlon coach Jeff Lovgren, Dean of the School of Business & Technology David Cochran and former assistant director of Campus Ministry Emily Simon for helping him grow into a more grounded version of himself.
“They’ve seen me change from a goofy, immature kid to … well, still goofy,” Nguyen laughed, “but more reserved now, more serious about where I’m headed.”
As he continues his vocational journey, Nguyen holds fast to the advice he once gave his peers: “to not be afraid to switch paths.” That message rings even truer now.
“If I discern out of seminary, it’s not the end of the world,” he said. “Newman taught me that. I changed majors, changed directions. God’s still guiding me, and I know I can handle the big changes with his help and the prayers of the whole diocese.”
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