On this episode of Always a Raven, host Janelle Menz sits down with 2010 Benedictine College graduate Dominic Paolucci to explore a Raven story rooted in family legacy, faith, and an unexpected calling. Although Benedictine had always been part of his family’s history, Dominic originally planned to attend Gonzaga before a conversation with the Archbishop of Denver changed his course just days before classes began. That last-minute decision would ultimately shape his friendships, career, faith, and family in ways he never could have anticipated.

Dominic reflects on the experiences that transformed him during his years at Benedictine—from the brotherhood he found on the rugby field and professors who challenged him, to helping launch Holy Grounds and discovering what it meant to make his faith truly his own. A semester abroad became a defining turning point when a commitment to daily prayer challenged him to look beyond himself and reconsider what it meant to genuinely love God and others. That transformation eventually led him somewhere he never expected: FOCUS, an organization he initially resisted but has now served with since graduating, ultimately becoming a vice president overseeing hundreds of missionaries.

The conversation takes a deeply personal turn as Dominic shares his recent journey through a thyroid cancer diagnosis, two surgeries, radiation, and the uncertainty he and his wife faced while raising their seven children. He reflects on how decades of learning to surrender his own plans prepared him to encounter suffering through his faith—and how inviting others into that experience created unexpected opportunities for healing and connection. Through every chapter, Dominic’s story illustrates how the foundation built at Benedictine continues long after graduation: a lifelong call to grow in faith, community, service, and the person God is calling you to become.