People Of Faith

The People of Faith feature is compiled by Steve Halbig, who asks a series of questions of people of the diocese – some who have reached the “age of wisdom” and some who are younger. All will share stories of faith.

This month's People of Faith features Ryan Clark, a senior at Reitz Memorial High School in Evansville. He talks about family life and the worst part of being a teenager.

Plans for future: I plan to attend the University of Southern Indiana next year, and I am deciding between majoring in either the medical field or in finance. I hope to meet new people at USI but hopefully keep some of my friends from Memorial.

Biggest influence so far: My biggest influence has been the support of my family. My family is very close, and we really enjoy spending time together. For example, we eat family dinners every night, attend church together on Sunday, and share a lot of the same interests. I hope my family of the future is similar to my family now.

Best thing about being a teenager: I get the opportunity to take on some new responsibilities but also enjoy the advantages of getting taken care of by my family.

Worst thing about being a teenager: That would be the stress of trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. Adults constantly ask teenagers what they want to do, but a lot of teenagers do not know yet because there are so many opportunities. It is very difficult to narrow down the options to one or two.

Church attendance: I attend Mass basically every Sunday with only a few exceptions, the main one being if someone in our family is sick.

Change in the Church: If I could make one change in the Church, I would change its sometimes rigid viewpoint. Pope Francis already seems to be leading the Church down a path of openness.

Change in Memorial community: Maybe there should be more consideration that sometimes teenagers just need to enjoy their four years of high school because they pass by very quickly.

Any regrets yet: One regret so far is my lack of participation in high school my freshman year. I was shy and nervous when I entered Memorial, and I wish I would have been more outgoing and made friends earlier than I did.

More about myself: I played tennis for Memorial my last three years and started varsity the last two. We made it to the state finals (won first round), and it was the first time in 30 years that the Memorial boys tennis team reached the state finals.

I have two brothers, Aaron (20) and Matthew (13), and enjoy sports of any kind. My favorite sport to watch is college football. I also enjoy going to the movies and playing cards with my friends.

What I do in my spiritual life that I would recommend to others: I pray for the people I care about as much as possible.

Best wisdom on life: Never be too proud to apologize. Sometimes people create problems in their personal lives by not admitting their mistakes and always trying to be right. People can save a lot of stress by just admitting their mistakes and asking for forgiveness.