Dear High School Graduates of 2021:

When the future seems uncertain, do not be discouraged.

That’s the message Tagen Marshall, a Catholic convert and third-year student at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, hopes will lift some anxious spirits.

“Right now, you’re stepping into a chapter of your life which is unknown. We all have hopes and ambitions and goals and that’s all good. But I know there are also some fears and anxieties that come with that,” Marshall said.

“Do as the Book of Sirach says: never rob yourself of a joyful day.”

Marshall is well acquainted with how hard life can seem and how to pull through. He was born nearly three months early, at 26 weeks, with spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy to teenage parents who were not able to provide the 24/7 care he needed. He was first put into foster care at age 2, and then again at age 12.

Even after his respite caregivers took him in as one of their own, Marshall struggled to believe that a family could love and accept him as much as they did. He experienced dark moments and grief as he tried to find his place while navigating life in an electric wheelchair.

What brought him hope was his conversion as a teenager.

“My story of faith begins when I was 12 and encountered Christ in a unique way with a lovely Protestant community,” he told The B.C. Catholic.

Years later, he befriended a fellow high school student, a Catholic who “challenged me on the Eucharist – a big topic to be sure, of some great debate.” The more Marshall studied and read John 6 – the Bread of Life discourse – the more he became convicted that the Eucharist was more than a symbol.

And though his plans of study have gradually changed, from social work to the priesthood to philosophy, his faith has always been more than an intellectual journey.

“I spent from the age of 12 to 19 in the foster care system definitely processing some of the challenges I had experienced with my birth family, although they did the best they could, processing standard coming into adulthood, but also dealing with loss, dealing with grief, dealing with the unknown. Faith is absolutely necessary,” he said.

When his foster mother decided to re-marry and move to Alberta, he felt he was losing a mom for a second time.

“When you think about it, I lost my mother twice,” he said, since he and his biological mother don’t have a real relationship. “It’s not great, but it’s just how life goes,” he said. When his foster mother was making plans to move away, “at that point in my life, the blessed Mother became so important.”

He also draws strength from St. John Henry Newman, the famous 19th-century English convert to Catholicism, and St. Joseph.

Now, Marshall is training to become a leader of the Faith Study Series by Catholic Christian Outreach and is on an educational path he hopes will help him become a high school or university philosophy teacher.

He also volunteers with a community for youth who have been in foster care, has spoken at Missions Fest in Vancouver, has been interviewed on TV and radio, and has appeared before chambers of commerce and municipal councils to talk about ending human trafficking and other issues he’s passionate about.

But life can still be a daily challenge. He attends university classes with the help of text-to-voice technologies and in-class notetakers, writes papers with speech recognition software, and relies on an aging specialized van to help him get around.

That vehicle, originally paid for by the government while he was in the foster care system, is now on its last legs. The van is the only way he can get to class, to Mass, to volunteering, or to those faith studies he’s so eager to start teaching. Replacing the specialized van is yet another hurdle Marshall is counting on God and the community to help him get through to raise $89,700 to replace it while he lives on a small disability income.

“Even in the midst of this fundraising, I’m saying ‘Lord, you will provide this.’ It’s a lot about trust right now. It’s a difficult thing because we’re human beings, but I would say keep the faith, because Jesus knows what it’s like to suffer and he is present with you,” he said.

The last year has been one like no other. With in-person Masses cancelled, classes running online or with changed schedules and confusing rules, and scandals arising from inside and outside the Church, many young people are distressed and facing tough questions about the future.

“I know for many of us, myself included, have experienced those faith crisis moments. There’s a lot of darkness and uncertainty. Where is Christ?”

For those graduates feeling anxious about what lies ahead or facing serious hurdles, he offers a suggestion.

“I would encourage you, as I encourage myself as I look over at the prayer table I have behind me: one of the most powerful things we can do is to sit and meditate on the crucifix. What does St. Paul say? We preach Christ crucified. Which means we can unite our sufferings to his for the greater good.”

Finding a community of Christians to accompany you in the next stage also helps, he adds.

“Faith is always a hard thing when you’re not going to a faith-based university,” he said, encouraging students to find out if CCO or another Christian organization is operating on campus and can help you keep your faith alive. (Visit cco.ca/campus to find CCO locations.)

“I think we can all connect to that sense of being alone. That’s a major theme – to say you are alone, you are forlorn, you are in despair,” he said.

But “even in the darkest moments you are not alone.”

To learn more about Marshall, contact him, or make a donation to help him purchase a specialized vehicle, visit tagenmarshall.com.