Beyond Brilliance
Letter from Samantha Yee
Meet Samantha. After enrolling at UC Berkeley at the age of 16, Sam fell into depression. This is the story of how Sam reclaimed her identity as a Catholic woman through a journey of hardship. We hope this story inspires you to ground yourself in what never changes.
Stay connected with Sam by following her on Instagram.
A few of our favorite moments
Samantha's Letter to You
(Click on the letter to enlarge)
Hi friends,
I know I haven't met most of you in real life, but I'd like to think we'd be friends. I'd like to think we'd meet at a cute little coffee shop, with tattooed baristas and art on the walls, and we'd get a corner table and sip our drinks of choice as we laughed and cried about how God has worked in our lives. Because our stories and our testimonies matter. Because relationship matters. If there's anything that my story can teach you, it's that you are not alone in anything. For so long, I kept things to myself and refused to open up because I didn't want to burden people with my problems and because I didn't think anyone would understand what I was going through. I was so wrong. No matter who you are, no matter what you're struggling with at this very moment, you're not alone. God is with you. I am with you, sister, and I want to see you succeed, I want to see you overcome, I want to see you claim the victory that is promised to us through the cross. But before that happens, you need to let God into your brokenness and you need to be vulnerable with other people.
One of my favorite things about being Catholic is being part of the biggest family on earth. Whenever I walk into a Catholic church, I feel safe, I feel loved, I feel like I belong. It took me a long time to feel like I belonged anywhere, but the stories of the saints taught me that God can use me and my unique gifts and talents to serve Him. I don't have to be anybody else. The beauty of the Catholic faith and of the Body of Christ is that our differences, strengths, and weaknesses balance each other out. In the words of St. Teresa of Calcutta, "What I can do, you cannot. What you can do, I cannot. But together we can do something beautiful for God." If each of us became fully who we are and learned to work together, rather than against each other, there would be no stopping us. The world would change overnight.
My dear sweet sisters in Christ, please learn from my story and learn to love yourself, learn to embrace who God made you to be, and learn to give yourself away and let God and others be your strength when you are weak.
From a fellow sinner and future saint,
Sam