Baccalaureate Salesian Reflection

Baccalaureate Salesian Reflection
Jayden Barry
St. Francis de Sales School, Class of 2026

I appreciate the opportunity to share with you today.  My name is Jayden Barry.

Let me begin by saying, I am a product of my environment. So each day I make sure I protect my environment, to help create better products than myself. Now obviously,  I wanted to play college football. 

I always hoped to play in Minnesota so my uncle and my older cousin could see me play which is something they never got to do. Without going into a lot of detail, these two people are very important to me. 

After choosing a sport, football and a school, St. Francis, then a purpose, to play college football every situation that followed was handled under my control. But on a random night in December while working I was hit by a terrible wave of negativity. So strong that once I got home I struggled to sleep.  The next morning I received a call from my Nanah, and on that call she told me that my brotherly figure Darien Jamal Roberson was shot and killed. 

For once in my life I felt I had lost all control, realizing life hits hard and unexpectedly. I had to call for help. My counselors scheduled my exams early and I bombed all my exams willingly thinking the quicker I finish these exams, the faster I would get to Minnesota. Then maybe just maybe everything would be a huge prank and I would be in Minnesota on a winter vacation with the two people who were very important to me 

The road trip there couldn't have been any longer and every hour I spent in that car reminded me more and more that I am not in control no matter what scenario I put in my head. Once I got back to Toledo, I was a sophomore with a lack of faith in myself and impatience with the Lord. But the Lord knew I needed to learn for myself and not from another’s understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. 

And I was lucky to be selected into a course called Leadership in the Salesian Tradition, where in addition to learning about how St. Francis de Sales approached leadership,each student spends much of their time journaling and reflecting on themselves. In his greatest work, the Introduction to the Devout Life, (a book that has never been out of print, by the way). St. Francis de Sales wrote “So do not wish to be anything but what you are.” which felt to me as if he was directly calling me out because frequently during that time, I questioned who I am. Wishing that I could be anyone other than myself. 

So, just like any athlete would. I made football my identity My decision to do such worked out perfectly, especially with the success of Coach Lindke’s return, But this year my athletic expectations were not met and once again I questioned who I am, and what I am meant to be or why can’t I be someone other than myself. This time before having a chance to fill my understanding of myself with college football. just like St.Francis called me out, my senior religion teacher Mr. Eighinger did the same in class when he said “We are not our desires.” Meaning life is more than what we do with our time (“Human Beings not Human Doings”). This enlightened me to know that I will find myself not in what I do, but what I stand for. 

Here’s key lessons I carry with me from my experience as a student-athlete, and I challenge all of you to take at least one with you. 

First- Your initial step is gravely important to your goal, but your second step must be more intentional than the first for you to succeed. After those two steps, finish through without any hesitation. 

Secondly - You don't win with just off the big things, the small things matter the most, and it will take everyone on that team to win one small game. 

Third - Never react from an emotional high or low, stay even to keep an open mind and act accordingly. MOST IMPORTANTLY, remember….WE are products of our environment. Everyone we’ve interacted with in our lives played a PART in who we are today. 

So each day. Protect your environment  to help create better products than yourself.  It has been a distinct privilege to speak with you today. -Forever will Darien live through me.  

May God be praised! 

“It matters little how one begins, 

provided that he be resolved to go on well, 

and to end well.” St. Francis de Sales