Robert and Catie Kasse

Catie and Robert Kasse

PhD, ’22 Materials Science and Engineering (Catie)

PhD, ’21 Materials Science and Engineering (Robert)

“Our closest friends are the friends we have connected with through CC@S. Even though we anticipate moving in the coming months, these friendships will endure the distance, and we expect our connection to these friends and the CC@S community to be life-long.”

Even though we were in the same academic department, we didn’t really get to know each other until we both started attending the Monday night Dinner + Discussion events for graduate students. And then you could say the rest is history – nearly four years later, we are happily married and have both completed our PhDs! Prior to our marriage, we were both very involved in liturgical ministry – choir/cantor (Catie) and greeter (Robert). Sunday Mass in Memorial Church, and in particular the choir, was the first place I (Catie) found a home when I moved to Stanford. As a married couple, we feel strongly about living out the call to serve together and be active members of the community, and CC@S provides ample opportunity to do that. We have been blessed to take advantage of the many opportunities CC@S offers for formation – small groups, spiritual direction, retreats, talks, etc. One of the highlights was forming a relationship with Common Roots Farm and the wonderful people there whom we have volunteered with for a couple years. Despite the rigors of grad school, our time at CC@S has really been a period of significant and unprecedented spiritual growth for both of us. We are so grateful for the many opportunities this community has given us to grow, to serve, to love and to be loved.