MADISON HEIGHTS — Madison Heights Bishop Foley High School senior Erin Sandelin-Stitt was very blunt about what was going to happen to her this Easter: “I’m going to get dunked.”

Well, that might be the climax of her conversion story. But the newly baptized and confirmed member of Guardian Angels Parish in Clawson has a deeper faith journey than that.

Sandelin-Stitt’s journey to the Church began when she was in the fifth grade, entering a new environment at St. Mary School in Royal Oak.

“When I was at St. Mary’s, I was comparing it to my old school where there was a lot of bullying and people just being the worst,” Sandelin-Stitt told The Michigan Catholic. “When I went to St. Mary’s, I saw how nice and kind everyone is. It was just like a giant family.”

Sandelin-Stitt’s time at St. Mary’s was her first true submersion into Catholicism. Her parents took her to church twice a year – Easter and Christmas – but the faith was never a priority.

But her time at St. Mary’s, and later Bishop Foley, opened her eyes to the faith.

“Back at my old school, I felt like the teachers didn’t care,” Sandelin-Stitt said. “At St. Mary’s, it was more of them showing me how to do the work, helping me. You could be wrong and not be made fun of. Then at Bishop Foley, it’s literally, ‘Here is a packet of help waiting on a silver platter.’”

Sandelin-Stitt quickly adjusted to the Catholic school system. Her grades improved, she was making new friends and joined the band, the choir and music ministry at Bishop Foley.

One day, while singing at church, Sandelin-Stitt realized that she spends so much time there, it made sense for her to become Catholic.

“It was during Eucharistic adoration I was thinking about it, and it turned into, ‘Sure, why not?’” Sandelin-Stitt said. “I was singing at Guardian Angels Parish with Fr.  Gerry (LeBoeuf, pastor) and asked him what I needed to do to become Catholic.”

Sandelin-Stitt joined the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults program at Guardian Angels, wanting to join the Church before heading off to Grand Valley State University in Allendale to study medicine.

“When I went to my first Bible study, I thought I was going to be bored, but it wasn’t that bad,” Sandelin-Stitt said. “RCIA was like theology class lite, it was much easier than theology class in school. But I learned a lot about myself, that I can do anything if I just go for it, even if that means waking up early in the morning to get to RCIA class.”

The religious curriculum prepared Sandelin-Stitt for RCIA classes, but she was also assisted by her best friend, Jessica Rusin, whom Sandelin-Stitt asked to be her sponsor. Or, as they coined the term, “baptism buddies.”

“Sponsor sounds like a sporting event, so we use ‘baptism buddies,’” Sandelin-Stitt said. “She’s been my cheerleader, making sure I knew everything I needed to know for RCIA.”

As the Easter Vigil drew closer and closer, Sandelin-Stitt expressed excitement in finally being able to receive Communion with her Bishop Foley classmates, bridging a divide she felt existed between her and her baptized classmates.

“My mom was like, ‘I’m going to cry,’” Sandelin-Stitt recalled. “I was like, ‘Mom don’t cry, then I will cry.’ But I think I might (have been) nervous being in front of such a large crowd, but more than anything I’m just happy to be baptized.”

Sandelin-Stitt’s coming into the Church coincides with her leaving Bishop Foley, and she expresses relief to be done with classes, both high school and RCIA. She describes herself as a more subtle Catholic, set out to change the world through faith and action.

“Jesus said treat others the way you want to be treated,” Sandelin-Stitt said. “Some people are just awful; I don’t want to sugarcoat it. But when you die, if you’ve made the world a better place than before you were born, you’ve done a good job. And that’s been my philosophy.”