Hi.
I'm Landon Downing.
I'm from Wichita, Kansas.
I'm, currently finishing, counseling five eighty.
So this is my second residency here.
I am excited to get to share with you a little bit about why I chose Divine Mercy University.
I was a theology student at Benedictine College.
Counseling was always kind of a background dream of mine.
And then through, FOCUS, I heard of Divine Mercy at different conferences, and, it was a dream school for me.
But in my state, there was a while where, I wouldn't have gotten accredited by by coming to DMU.
And as soon as they were CACREP accredited, I was pumped to to, sign up.
And so going through the process, learning more about the Catholic Christian meta model of the person, that we can understand from a Catholic Christian perspective what it means to be a human and what it means to flourish as a human being.
To just be grounded in that, and what that means for the counseling profession has been such a gift.
This program has been enriching, not only professionally, but, especially personally for me.
I've began, to look at people differently to find the goodness in everyone that I meet and and everyone that I encounter while also being given the skills to, hopefully, one day be a a mental health professional myself.
I'm in the program part time, so I'm kinda taking a less traditional long term route.
But, here being, at my second residency, I got to come last summer, and I'm here again.
And just the opportunity, with an online program, you don't necessarily get that much, in person connection.
But to be here at residency in the flesh with people who are in the trenches with you, is so fulfilling, and rewarding.
It's exciting.
I both last residency and already this residency, I'm, feeling a a sense of purpose and and excitement about the the future.
I love DMU.
I enjoy talking about it to anyone and everyone.
I I I wear it proudly.
So definitely a huge proponent of of the university.
I'm very grateful for all that they've done for me and for for many others.