Sister Sharon Steglich, OP, Dominican Sisters of Houston

In elementary school, I was very impressed by the lives of the Dominican Sisters who taught me. I wanted to be around them and tried to be like them. They thought I had a vocation as a Nun—I didn't.

Changing My Father's Mind
My father was not Catholic and became very upset when I told him I wanted to become a Nun. He said the only way he would let me become a Nun was "over his dead body." Even my mother, who was Catholic, didn't understand why I would want to become a Nun. To help decide what I wanted to be, I went to a novena and felt God calling me to become a Nun. After the novena, my father said he would let me enter, because he wanted me to be happy. It was the right decision for everyone.

A Great Light
Through my vocation, I have seen a great light. I would never have done the things that I have done as a Dominican Sister if I hadn't entered, but gotten married and had children. I would not have gone to college, much less receive a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education and found my gift as a teacher.

Founding Congregations: Sisters of Divine Providence; Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, Houston; Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament; and Dominican Sisters of Houston.