Dan and Julie Mohan are volunteering at this weekend’s conference as part of the production team. Dan is our Live Stream Engineer and Julie is the Assistant Producer of this weekend’s conference.
As a senior at Chaminade, Dan attended the very first SteubySTL conference in 1999 at Marquette High School and the next one in 2000 at SLUH as a volunteer. Fourteen years later he reconnected with an old friend from his youth group, Denny Handley, and in 2015 he began his current role as the Livestream Production Engineer.
Though Julie never attended as a teen participant, this is her 4th year volunteering. In addition to her role this year, she has served as a chaperone and has been a spotlight operator.
Before she decided to stay home with their kids, Julie was a middle school teacher at St. Joseph Parish in Cottleville. She loves to run, tutor and bake/decorate cakes. She will be making her first wedding cake next month, and would appreciate our prayers for that project!
Most of Dan’s time outside of Steubenville is spent running their family’s remodeling business, J & J Siding & Windows, Inc., raising two little kids (ages 6 and 3), and volunteering at St. Joe Cottelville doing all things Audio/Video, including running sound every Sunday at the 12:15 Life Teen Mass with Kyle Huelsing and the band.
Dan’s favorite part of every weekend: “I love spending time with the musicians, production staff, and presenters both backstage and before Steubenville actually begins. However, I suppose that’s not really part of the weekend. Each year, I think it’s something different that really stands out and sticks with me. Some years I’ve had really powerful experiences in Adoration, other years a homily or a talk has really stuck with me, and some years it has been one-on-one conversations that have had the most impact on me. I just try (rather imperfectly) to go to give what I can and expect nothing…God has given me some really amazing gifts when I have brought that attitude.”
Julie’s favorite part of every weekend: “Like Dan, I also really enjoy the behind the scenes stuff. Seeing the arena from the spotlight booth is an awesome perspective, especially during opening night, Mass, and Adoration. I like the quiet parts of Adoration where I can just listen in prayer. And experiencing an arena where thousands of teenagers and adults are completely silent in front of Jesus is pretty incredible.”
Here are their pro tips on keeping your faith alive after experiencing a Steubenville conference:
Dan: “Reflect on what impacted you most from the weekend, and then look around your parish for ways to experience those opportunities again and again. To me, Steubenville is all about experiencing the joy of God’s love through the sacraments. Take advantage of those sacraments in your parish, and bring your friends!”
Julie: “Make time to sit with Jesus in Adoration.”
Julie’s favorite memory from a past conference: “When I went as a chaperone, one of the girls forgot her toothbrush. We walked to Walgreens, not thinking about the fact that we all had matching t-shirts with a can of shaving cream pictured on it. (It was our youth group shirt from the messy game night during Christpower) and the cashier asked if all of us girls were in town for a shaving cream convention!”
Dan’s favorite memory from a past conference: “At the second SteubySTL conference at SLUH, I was a late addition to volunteer staff. As such, they did not have sleeping arrangements for me. My plan was to drive home each evening to St. Charles, but at the end of the night, I was too tired to make the drive. So, I considered my options and wound up sleeping in the bed of my truck (which had a bed cover), using a backpack as a pillow and a jacket as a blanket. Let’s just say, I found the accommodations quite lacking overall, but especially when it came to bathroom facilities!”
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