Houma/Thibodaux Students at Pulse

The second annual Houma/ Thibodaux PULSE Immersion was hosted this past Saturday, October 14th at E.D. White High School. It was an awesome retreat with 15 students from the area, led by Louisiana Right to Life Youth Programs Director Southeast Ashley Gilliam and a team of four other young, passionate pro-life leaders. 

At PULSE, students were able to spend the whole day growing in their knowledge of the pro-life movement and developing their skills as leaders in the post-roe generation. They started off the day overviewing why we’re pro-life, discussing the innate human dignity of all people, and learning about the violence of abortion. Then they got to know their small groups and competed in our famous Game of Games, in which everyone had a blast! 

The students spent a large bulk of their day learning about how to have compassionate and effective pro-life conversations through our pro-life persuasion student curriculum and their small groups. Their small group leaders reported that their students improved considerably in their pro-life apologetics throughout the day. After persuasion and lunch, Hope Restored pregnancy resource center visited PULSE to talk about the resources they provide to vulnerable people in our community and how students can get involved with them and volunteer!

This was followed up by a discussion on student activism, led by our new college director, Harlee! After learning about how they can be proactive advocates for life, the students learned the Option Hope adoption curriculum from director of adoption education, Sarah Zagorski Jones. They thought it was really interesting to dive into the ins and outs of adoption and understand the difference between infant adoption and foster care.  

At the end of the night, Louisiana Black Advocates for Life executives, Pastor Mike and Tara Wicker, came to share their testimony of the impact of abortion. The students, some of whom had previously seen the couple’s Men For Life video, were ecstatic to be able to meet Mike and Tara and ask them questions. It was a great discussion about the actions and mindsets that lead to the abortion, the lasting effects it had, and what could’ve possibly changed the outcome. During the commission ceremony at the end of the day, many students reflected that the Impact of Abortion talk opened up their eyes to the importance of constant pro-life activism.

Overall, it was an awesome PULSE Immersion and we hope to see these students continue their amazing pro-life activism in the Houma/ Thibodaux area!