Teammate Spotlight: Grace M. Buchheit

Resides In: Needmore, Pennsylvania

Before NET: Graduated from community college with an associate's in Chemistry. She was planning on attending Ave Maria University, but it dropped their Chemistry major the day before her official visit, so she looked elsewhere and found NET.

First Encounter: On arrival day, we played games together. She originally is from Mt. Airy, Maryland, where I put a retreat on last year, so I connected with her about that. Later, during Wapo, we watched a sunrise together with two other friends. It was super pretty, and I loved spending that moment with her before we got paired up as Team Leaders.

Initial Thoughts: She seems very chill and very fun, but it's really hard to tell... I don't know, I couldn't really read her well at first.

(Left) Grace, holding an orange with some sort of leaf-crown thing on her head, at the Talbot's in January. What you probably recognize is her infectious smile, which rarely left her face on the road this year. She found so much joy in everything this year, from leading retreats to making strange memories in the van, to doing the most random things such as posing for this photo. She is always so authentic, and open to everything thrown at her, from joys to sorrows. (Right) These two hooligans were the ones who lead the team this year. We scheduled everything the team did, we told the 10 other peeps when we are doing something both on and off the schedule, and we pastorally cared for our team as well. We were in constant communication, making sure the team was always in a good position to go and grow. Our tandem was special; our team told us multiple times how grateful they were to have an amazing co-leader pair, and how this year would be so different without our leadership, care, and love for the team. They're not wrong, we were an incredible duo, and I'm very grateful for all we did to make this year so successful. In the photo, at an RV Camp in Louisiana, Grace finally had the height advantage on me, and was very proud of it. We had many inside jokes and quirks, this being one of them, which showed the team and all we ministered to how strong our relationship was.

Favorite Memory: All of our fun meetings. As co-Team Leaders, we are required to have a fun meeting every other week, and we did various things over the course of the year. We did jam sessions, walks, hammocking, games, and ice cream. My favorite one was either our hike in Pennsylvania in December or our game session while listening to Morgan Wallen in January while the team was doing the Scavenger Hunt. These meetings were very special, though, because it would allow us to unwind from team life and really dive into our relationship as friends and brother/sister in Christ, which was difficult to do when you are leading a NET Team together and things can get very business-oriented. We cherished those moments, and always looked forward to them even if we pushed it off.

Something Grace taught me: Patient Love. Grace and I got along really well, very quickly. It was not hard for us to love each other, especially in the first semester. But we were tested this year in many ways, from lack of fun time together to random things coming up on the guys' and girls' sides, where all we could do was say, "I love you and I support you", without going beyond boundaries. It was difficult for both of us, and I really had to be patient while she sorted out her personal things. As much as I wanted to know how my co-leader was doing, I knew many times the best thing to do was give her a hug, pray for her, and let it go. She did this for me, too, and this helped our bond grow more than if we had shared something, and I'm so grateful for it.

What the world should know: Grace is a kick-butt cowgirl who knows how to get stuff done. She knows her priorities, and nothing will stop this hard working woman get to her goals. At the same time, though, she is the life of the party. Her wacky sound effects and hilarious remarks followed by her contagious laugh would sometimes leave me in shock, thinking, "Wow, this is Grace Buchheit in her truest and most wonderful form." Furthermore, she loves people until it hurts, then loves them harder through the pain. You can always rely on Grace for emotional support and being an incredible friend.

What’s next?: Grace is returning to NET next year as a supervisor for NET Scotland! She will be watching over the team that NET USA send over to Scotland for the whole year, meaning she will be in a different country this upcoming school year doing behind-the-scenes work for the team. It's a very high honor, and she is super excited to be doing mission work in another country.

To Grace:

I love you so freaking much! I am so grateful for all we did this year, this year would not have been possible without you. Our influence was so powerful, and I am thankful for everything that came out of this year in ministry and team life, especially our beautiful friendship. I am so excited for you to kick butt in Scotland, knows of my constant prayers as you are across the ocean. Love ya sista!