Students snacked on cake and coffee as Tom and Meghan Mogan shared how God and faith helped them navigate difficult decisions in their relationship.
“Going into our marriage, we had different needs and different interests, but what we shared in common was our faith,” Tom Mogan said. “We have a deep, abiding faith in God, in what he has planned for us, and we’ve been able to rely on the power of prayer and conversation and reflection when we’ve been faced with difficult decisions.”
Tom Mogan, interim associate dean of the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, and Meghan Mogan, assistant dean of student services and academic advising at the Carroll Graduate School of Management, spoke about God’s influence in their marriage and careers in higher education on Valentine’s Day in Hillside Cafe.
“[A professor] asked me a question I’ll never forget: ‘Despite the work that you want to do, what kind of life do you want to have, and what kind of person do you want to be?’” Tom Mogan said. “And I did some discernment after that and really found that higher education was more of my calling than going into the law profession.”
Tom and Meghan Mogan said they first met when they both received jobs as assistant directors at Villanova University’s Office of Student Activities.
“I’m a big believer in everything happens for a reason,” Tom Mogan said. “So, once again, this felt like part of God’s plan for me.”
The pair developed a relationship outside of work when Tom invited Meghan to a New Year’s party, they said.
“Little did I know, I was about to shoot my shot,” Meghan Mogan said. “I didn’t know it at the time, but I showed up at the party, because I knew the address … It was really fun, and we got to know each other, obviously, outside of work, and we started hanging out. So days went by, weeks went by, and we were just hanging out more and more, and the rest is history.”
The couple said the beginning of their relationship shows the importance of “shooting your shot,” both romantically and in career endeavors.
“Don’t be afraid to shoot your shot,” Tom Mogan said. “We don’t just mean that in terms of a relationship with a significant other or a partner. Think back to the conversation I had with my professor: I would probably not have been in that situation if I did not put myself out there to develop a meaningful relationship with a mentor.”
One example they mentioned was their decision to move to Boston College when, after working at Villanova University for 20 years, Tom Mogan felt a connection with the BC community during a visit and applied for a job at BC.
“A month or so later, he calls and says ‘I got the job,’” Meghan Mogan said. “So we marched immediately over to the St. Thomas of Villanova Church, and we prayed and we took the time to reflect and talk to each other. I remember specifically praying and asking for my heart to be open, my mind to be open, and to have clarity and make decisions.”
Meghan Mogan said that, at the time, she unknowingly utilized the Ignatian discernment practice—the process of praying and weighing options when making a big decision. Through the practice, the two said they realized they wanted to maximize their impact and serve the greater glory of God.
“Where can you make the biggest impact, and where can you also be there for those who need it?” Tom Mogan said. “We felt that this was something for us, in particular, to try and impact the BC community.”
According to Meghan Mogan, God ultimately helped them be a stronger team, which has allowed them to keep “shooting their shots.”
“I think what I am most grateful for is how [God] has continually helped us to see our marriage as a partnership, and helped us to continually work to help the other be the best person that they can be, so that individually, and as a team together, we will find the courage to continually shoot our shot,” Meghan Mogan said.
