In terms of religious tradition, I am essentially a "cradle Catholic" (although technically I was baptized Methodist... so the "cradle" truth is a tiny bit stretched there!)  In any case, my childhood religious formation occurred in the Catholic Church; it was there I had my first communion and confirmation, and it was in the context of Catholic Mass that I fell in love with the Gospel and the ritual of our liturgy.  As a pre-teen I became one of the first altar girls in a very conservative diocese in Illinois, and I was very proud of this!!  This step represented a small stride in terms of gender equality in Catholic tradition - an opportunity made possible by the work of generations before me (and a fantastic priest) - something I could not fully appreciate as a child, but for which I am very grateful now.

I have been long interested in theological study, and I've investigated several Catholic seminaries over the years but none have felt quite right to me.  Just this past Spring, a friend introduced me to ESR, and I simply fell in love.  While visiting campus, I sat in on an Intro to New Testament class (where the dynamic was fascinating), and I attended a prayer service where I was struck by the rhythm of the selected readings and hymns followed by the silence - it was powerful and lovely.  In the end, one of the reasons I chose ESR was to expose myself regularly to diversity of religious thought and spiritual tradition in an academic setting, and both the class and the prayer service validated a somewhat intangible experience I had been waiting for - the one that told me, "yep, this is the place."

You can read more about Angela here: http://esrquaker.blogspot.com/2013/05/new-student-introduction-ange...