As Christmas time nears, and Advent begins, the beginning of the liturgical year in the Catholic Church and the period of preparation for the birth of Jesus, Sister Sarah Heger C.S.J., the new career center specialist and ESL Study Hall teacher of Ripley High, remembers when she decided to become a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet exactly five years ago on December 8th, 2003.
   Sister Sarah, majoring in Special Education at Fontbonne University in St. Louis, Missouri, did not always have thoughts of becoming a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet until her sophomore year of college.  Sister Sarah, the oldest of seven children, previously wanted to get married and have a big family of her own with children. 
   “As I was making the decision I was very confused with many questions in my head.  I could not stop thinking about it,” said Sister Sarah about her decision.
   Four things initially attracted Sister Sarah in making a choice: deepening her relationship with God, the ministry, the community and sharing in prayer, and a life of simplicity that came with becoming a sister.  Once the decision was made in her senior year of college, Sister Sarah felt more at peace and at joy with herself.
   “It just felt right,” said Sister Sarah, “my friends and family were really supportive of me and my decision.”
   Sister Sarah first went through an application process to become a sister where she did numerous volunteer works in the community.  The next year Sister Sarah spent teaching grade school and living in a community with a sister.  As a novice, Sister Sarah lived in the motherhouse with other sisters from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet where she took classes with other novices and learned more about the ministry.  Last year Sister Sarah also helped the immigrant women and refugees in St. Paul, Minnesota, spent some time in Denver, Colorado teaching Hispanic grade school, and traveled to Peru to learn Spanish and help the community in her time as a novitiate.
  In August, Sister Sarah’s vow ceremony was held in which she became a full-fledged Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet.
   Sister Sarah’s decision to come to Ripley was quite simple.  Sister Sarah previously visited Ripley once when she came to help at the Vacation Bible School at St. Matthew’s Catholic Church and liked the community of people she found.
   “I like small towns and the people in it. The catholic community is a wonderful community, very colorful, and the people of Ripley are great,” answered Sister Sarah about living in Ripley, “I can learn many things from the people here.”