Bonham: Can you tell me about your faith journey?
Franklin: Religion was not important in my parents’ upbringing. Therefore I never had a church home. We occasionally attended a church service but I felt so uncomfortable and self-conscious as I didn’t know what was expected. Before my freshman year I visited Regis Jesuit High School. As I walked in the main door, I felt at peace and knew I belonged there. From that first moment, I knew God was with me. Every day over the last three years, my faith has grown. One of my favorite times is going to our beautiful school chapel and spending time with God. This year, I attended Kairos with my Regis Jesuit sisters and it changed my life forever. I now really work on keeping my faith strong.
Bonham: How has your faith in God specifically helped you deal with the challenges you’ve faced as an Olympic hopeful?
When I was a youth director in the Denver area, I knew a handful of students who went to Regis, most of which were impacted positively by the Kairos retreat she mentioned. I wish the reporter would have had her expand on that retreat, because it helps many nominal believers (both Catholic and Protestant) come face-to-face with Jesus, and I’ve “stolen” a few elements of that retreat in the trips we do with our high school students in our church.