2025: Interviewing Br. Stephen Camara, MIC

What was your family like growing up?

First, I would say: Family discipline leads to self-discipline. Mom and Dad strove to be very consistent with our discipline--never disciplining us out of an outburst of anger or frustration, but having clearly defined rules. One of these I recall well was: if I "nagged" or threw a tantrum to get something, my mom's answer was first and always "no." It did not take me long to realize, when frustration and anger bubbled up inside, that letting it have its way was not how I would get my way. So I would tell my anger to cool down and ask politely, once, and state my reason if I had one. Mom would consider it, make a decision, and that was that.

How did your family approach learning?

My parents were great readers, and we were surrounded with books from an early age. We watched TV together most evenings, but I could read almost anytime. We had a generous selection of good clean fiction, re-tellings of old myths, and practical how-to books, but also many children's lives of the saints. Many of our books had been in print for over thirty years, but as a kid, I paid no attention to those dates. In fact, sometimes I was drawn to a crusty older volume that promised to deliver the wisdom of days long past. I still love a good fiction story, but the lives of the saints (and now, the Bible) draw me much more. Also when I was four, I learned to read in order to play the computer game "Oregon Trail" on our old MS-DOS computer. However, computer game time was strictly limited.

We had to earn it, in twenty-minute increments, by completing our homework. Mom told us over and over that "a computer is a tool, not a toy." That attitude led us to use computers to write essays, stories, poems, plays, and even computer programs, rather than simply getting hooked on video games for hours. Admittedly, the latter happened a few times, when we thought they wouldn't find out. But by the time I was 17, I was better able to self-regulate, and when a certain Need for Speed game stole almost a week of my life, I myself uninstalled the program. In regards to our faith, Sunday Mass was not an option: we were going, and Dad was driving. 

What was an activity your family had interest in?

One activity that stands out to me more than any other was our homeschool drama club. We were naturally drawn to theatre and play-acting, and were occasionally involved with other theatrical groups like Fort Bend Theatre. Our homeschool drama club was one of our most consistent events, though. We would do performances every fall and spring: everything from Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew" to one-act plays like "Poison Ivy." We even had a play written by one of our own members about St. Lucy, titled "Enkindled in the Spirit." I appreciate the dramatic arts particularly for helping me empathize with others by "walking in their shoes," as it were. Getting to play-act people I was not helped me to understand better who I really am, and who others are as well.

This article is republished from Volume 1 of the Annual Showcase Magazine "An Invitation to Wonder."

2025 Annual Theme | An Invitation to Wonder: A Culture of Learning at Home. Find more details on how to submit in the upcoming annual showcase magazine, more inspiration from the theme, and where to purchase a limited edition print copy of the 2025 magazine.