"I keep up with the nuns through correspondence and email," she said. "This year I've been down to visit twice, with another trip planned this fall."
A native of Wasilla, she grew up and did her post-high school education in Washington and Oregon. After college she worked for an Anchorage law firm, briefly founded her own firm, and now she works as a paralegal, all the while chipping away at a mountain of debt, which at one point topped $114,000. She has reduced that to under $100,000 and hopes her involvement with the Laboure Society will pave the way for what she feels is her true calling.
The very existence of the Laboure Society underscores the growing problem of pursuing a religious vocation while straining under oppressive student debt. Founded in 2003 by two Minnesota Catholic businessmen, the Laboure Society is a non-profit organization that has assisted over 230 people in paying off loans before entering religious life.
Clemens belongs to an "aspirant class" at Laboure. Stories about Clemens and the 10 other people in her Laboure group are on the organization's website. Members of her class met in Minnesota, and they continue to support each other through correspondence, calls and prayer.
"We all meet once a month via telephone. It's been a way to support each other, and build our relationship as the Body of Christ."
Each member of her Laboure class has a goal to raise $45,000 this year. Clemens has about $38,000 to go. Grant determinations will be made in January or February, and Clemens has her hopes set on a positive outcome.
With the crushing debt burden and the realization that she won't be practicing law, does she regret her law school education?
"Sometimes, because of the debt, I wonder," she said thoughtfully. "But I see how God used my law school education to bring me to the Catholic Church. Law school teaches you to think analytically, and it developed my logic and reasoning skills. This helped me in my search for the truth."
Posted with permission from Catholic Anchor, official publication of the Archdiocese of Anchorage.