Meet Brian! {Summer Intern Series}

Being pro-life is something that is just kind of expected in my family. I have relatives that were involved in the pro-life movement from the beginning, and my mom worked at a crisis pregnancy center for a few years. Coming from a large family, and always having kids around, we had a unique insight into the joy (and struggles) that all children bring.I was blessed with parents who were willing to drive me and four of my good friends from youth group to the National March for Life in 2013. We all had a blast, and our decision to be pro-life was renewed, but I left it there. I thought I had done my duty for the movement and that would be all that was required of me.Fortunately, at the beginning of my Junior Year of college at UIUC, I was invited to an SFLI conference. I looked at my calendar and couldn’t find a better excuse than “I want to watch How I Met Your Mother,” so I decided I should go. The conference lit a fire inside me. I started to see how much abortion had affected me, even without me knowing it. One-third of my generation will never have the opportunity to feel the warmth of a sunrise. Immediately following the conference, I became active in SFLI, going to every event I could, and I ran for the Social Chair position for the pro-life group on campus, Illini Collegians for Life. During one of the ICFL meetings, Kevin Grillot, the Executive Director of SFLI, was giving a talk about what the organization did, and who was in charge of all of the different departments. I learned that SFLI was not only made up of the mentors I saw, but they had people working behind the scenes on the business side. I thought that was awesome, and how I’d never thought about how the Mentors were able to be on campus with us because they have support from people like Kevin. Throughout Kevin’s talk, I felt an intense call to approach him and ask if I could be a summer intern and help with organizational development. I knew I was not doing everything I could do for the pro-life movement, and God has blessed me with a love for reading business books and talking about business principles. Working in the behind-the-scenes business side of SFLI seemed like a perfect way to use the gifts I had been given to further the mission! I approached Kevin right after the meeting and he said he would think about it.Eventually, Kevin invited me to be an intern in Development for this summer!  This development internship is a new path for SFLI and an exciting one! I am lucky enough to be the first intern to work on the development aspects of SFLI. With my entrepreneurial background, I look forward to what I can give to SFLI, as well as the training, support, and love that SFLI has already shown, and will continue to show me.Watch out! You may be getting a call from a (217) or (309) number or an email from brian@prolifeillinois.com. That will be me, and I cannot wait to tell you about all of the amazing things SFLI has in store for the coming year. Together, we can all make abortion unthinkable.Brian Kearney is a summer intern with Students for Life of Illinois. He is a senior history major at the University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign.