NCYC 2025
Terre Haute teens ‘expecting the best’ at NCYC find it ‘way more’ than expected
Carmella Marrero, left, Sofia Medina, Lily Morales and Sophia Conner, members of a group from the Terre Haute Deanery, pose on Nov. 20 before an archdiocesan Mass in the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis during the National Catholic Youth Conference. (Photo by Natalie Hoefer)
By Natalie Hoefer
It’s about 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 20, and youths from around the country are starting to arrive at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis for the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC).
Among them are three members from three
Terre Haute parishes—plus one’s cousin from Indianapolis.
As the four youths sit down to speak with The Criterion, their eyes are bright with excitement as they anticipate all the three-day event will bring.
This article captures the pre-NCYC expectations and post-conference takeaways of the Terre Haute teens: Sofia Medina of St. Margaret Mary Parish, Sophia Conner of St. Patrick Parish and Carmella Marrero of St. Benedict Parish.
Joining the group is Medina’s cousin, Lily Morales of St. Luke the Evangelist Parish in Indianapolis. She attended NCYC as part of the Terre Haute group.
‘Expecting the best’
This NCYC marks the second for Medina, who attended the conference in Indianapolis in 2023.
“I liked it last [time] because I got to meet new people, especially from different places and different communities,” the high school senior says on the opening day of this year’s event. “So, I’m hoping to be able to do the same this year.”
She says she is “just excited for everything,” but especially the live digital session with Pope Leo XIV.
So is Sophia, her fellow senior.
“Just to see him live [on screen] and hear his voice, I think that’s going to be so amazing,” she says.
But, as a first-timer at NCYC, Sophia is also looking forward “to just everything.”
“My sister went, and she just said it was just magical,” she says. “So, I’m just expecting the best.”
Carmella was a freshman the first time she attended NCYC. This time, the junior says she is approaching the experience more philosophically, looking forward to “learning more stuff about myself and my own faith and just getting to experience more thoughtful stuff.”
Lily, the youngest of the four teens, was excited to share her first NCYC with her cousin.
“I’m a freshman, so I want to start high school by just growing in my faith in the best ways possible and connecting with others,” she says.
As the four youths head off to join into the growing crowd in the convention center, they don white, fur-trimmed cowboy hats with black spots—part of the “silly hat” culture of NCYC.
‘Way more than I expected’
Two days have passed, and it’s now 12:30 p.m.
on Nov. 22. There are still 10 hours left of NCYC, including the closing Mass in Lucas Oil Stadium.
But much has happened in the last 48 hours. Four general sessions for the 16,000 participants have taken place in the stadium, including adoration and the pope’s live, on-screen interaction and more.
As they gather to share about their NCYC experience, none of the four from the Terre Haute group has the cowboy hats they started with.
“I think Lily traded, like, 30 hats,” Sophia says with amusement. “And I got to arm wrestle a friar! I won, but I think he let me win.”
The senior turns more serious as she reflects on the spiritual side of her first NCYC experience.
“It exceeded my expectations,” Sophia gushes. “There’s just, like, something in the air here, and it’s amazing. It’s not like anything else I’ve ever experienced. It helps a lot to know that I’m surrounded by people who aren’t perfect but are trying their best and still showed up for their faith.”
The digital session with Pope Leo was a highlight for Sophia, who says he “said everything I felt like I need to hear.”
Adoration in Lucas Oil Stadium was another highlight for several of the girls, including Medina.
“Everything hit me all at once,” she says. “Everything just felt so real in the moment. It’s so hard to explain.”
One takeaway for her is the assurance that God is “always with me, no matter what,” Medina says. “And he’s never going to leave us, even if we’ve done something wrong. And he’s always healing us, no matter what.”
Her cousin Lily was also moved by the adoration experience.
“Being in the presence of Christ with everybody there, you could feel it in the air, just everybody being brought together by God, being thankful for him and everything that he’s ever done for us,” she says. “Just being in the moment was amazing.”
Despite her cousin sharing in advance about what to expect, Lily says her first NCYC experience was “way more than I expected.” She appreciates “being able to hear people talk about their experiences, … what they’ve gone through and how God has changed their life.”
NCYC impacted her own life, says Lily. She is walking away with an “understanding that a lot of people have their own problems, but we can all together, like, collectively, just bring it to God, and we can literally feel better in seconds if we just talk to him, if we really try to feel connected to him.”
Carmella gained insights, too, but of a more personal nature.
“I personally learned a lot more understanding of letting God have his own plans instead of trying to take things into my own control,” she says. “I realized I just need to put things into his hands more and trust, [and not] get aggravated and wonder why nothing is happening, … to believe in him because he will do what’s best for me.”
Going to confession was a highlight for Carmella. Not only did she feel “lighter,” but she gained understanding “that when I do a sin, it’s wrong and I shouldn’t be doing it, instead of choosing to do it and be like, ‘Oh, I can just go confession.’ I should just know that I shouldn’t be doing it. But to also know that, even if I do slip into it, confession is always there.”
‘I AM…’
The NCYC theme, “I AM/Yo Soy” in English and Spanish, was explored in different ways throughout the three days.
So, as the three-day event draws to an end, The Criterion asks the four teens from the Terre Haute group to complete the phrase “I AM … .”
Sophia: “I AM ready. I’m ready to embrace my faith. I want to make it a priority to share with my family everything that I learned here and share with my friends at school … . I want to share it with everyone.”
Medina: “I AM excited. I’m excited to learn more about my faith. And I want to pray the rosary or a small prayer every once in a while throughout my week, my day and, like, anytime—it’s just the easiest thing you could do.”
Lily: “I AM confident. I’m pretty confident in my faith now. I’m confident about how much I love Christ and how I can, like, bring it out into the world, to show people how powerful he is, how powerful his love is. … Instead of, like, scrolling on TikTok or something, I want to just take time out of my day to thank God for everything of the day, for the gift of life.”
Carmella: “I AM open. I am open to all that God wants to give me and to not close myself off because I feel like I don’t want to do [what God is asking] or like I’m not into what it is [he wants me to do]. I want to try and be more open to the stuff in front of me and not be stuck on stuff behind me.”
Sophia’s summary of her NCYC experience is a hoped-for outcome for all participants: “I really have felt the Holy Spirit inside of me here.” †
See more stories from the National Catholic Youth Conference here
