O, Say Can You See Those Star-Spangled Sophomores: Remembering Year Two On Hill

Well, I love America I wasn't too thrilled when America was the class theme sophomore year of high school. Yet, that was ten years ago. So much has happened in those ten year, yet I can't deny that year was extremely important for me. However, I want to focus on three major events which took place that year. Let's jump into the first one

1. Giving Up Sports (this was relatively easy)

Let's start with the softest landing of the three key moments of Sophomore year. This year was the first year I was not involved in ANY sports. The very last sport I did was cross country and I only did it for a year in high school after spending seventh and eighth grade running. I was by far not the best runner and was unlikely to ver be on varsity perhaps even if I was diligent about training, so that definitely made the choice easier. However, the real reason I chose not to do cross country was because over that previous summer I'd turned 16 which meant I was old enough to volunteer at the local NFL stadium; woking the football games, and maybe some other events, was a primary way in which the band fundraised to go on their trips throughout the years (they may not do this anymore). Given I was an honors student, and in theatre, doing a race on Saturday and then volunteering on Sunday would have, likely, left little time to do homework. So there went sports. Though that year was also the school year which the the band trip would take me across the pond (but not to England) and that's our next stop.

2. Ireland: A St. Patrick's Day Adventure

March 2016 was the first time I was international (and I haven't been oversees since). This trip started as a trip for the band, but it became, for reasons I don't quite remember, a trip for the choir and orchestra as well. This meant I got to enjoy this experience with some of my friends who did not do band. I remember getting off the bus and going into a restaurant and being very surprised beans could be a breakfast food. One thing I remember the most about the trip was the bus driver, Danny; he was an older Irish man. I will never forget how much it meant to him when we all sang Danny Boy. Though the main event was the parade, which I will remember it always, what probably more memorable are some of the other events of the trips. The trip stopped a Blarney, site of the famed Blarney Stone; I chose to make the long trek up to kiss the Blarney ston.; I won't ever forget how those who made the trek with me were so understanding of my nerves (I am not one for heights, generally).While this was a generally, positive experience, yet, the end of the previous semester, came with much pain and suffering, in the form of facing death in the face.

3. Losing A Classmate, the Unexpected Pain

In my reflection on my freshman year, I recalled how within in a month two students took their lives. Little did I realize that was not the only cases of student death I would face while at Cathedral. On December 9, 2015, from our kitchen, my mom, who was on her laptop (the reason I do not recall), told me that my classmate, Jen Maginot was in the hospital as I headed upstairs to take a shower. I planned on praying for her that night, yet when I came down, I saw a post, I believe on Facebook, that Jen's soul needed prayers, at least that's what i think it said. I took this as Jen was dead, though she would not actually die until the following morning. I remember arriving to school the next day and there being a prayer service in the student center. So many people were crying and that day I don't remember classes being technically required. Jen's death shook me in. a way I would not have expected as I knew her only vaguely in truth. Yet, this kind soul whom I remember inviting me to sit at her lunch table when I was alone in the student center. While that first prayer service I mentioned, which took place here was I believe for those who were in my class, but we did have a prayer service in the gym where I remember as we sang "Love Will Hold Us Together", the senior class exited the bleachers (where the rest of the school was as the sophomore class was on the floor) and surrounded the sophomore class. It was one of the most beautiful moments of empathy I have ever experience, while the detail differed slightly, they knew the pain of losing one of their own, regardless of how well you knew this person. During the funeral, the sophomore class processed in together placing a rose in a vase I believe in front of a statue of Mary. After the funeral, I sat on the floor of my bedroom and listened to the entirety of The Thirsting's "Universal Youth". For years after this event, I addressed my journal to Jen, but once I began college I was led to stop doing this and begin writing my journal to St. Faustina (my confirmation saint), but this experience was one of the most formative of my life,

High School may be long gone now, and fast approaching is the 10 Year anniversary of my high school graduation, but these three experience define to a degree my sophomore year experience. Giving up sports was easy, yet also necessary. From passports to foreign airports, the Ireland trip taught me the joys and sorrows of oversees travel and gave me the memories of places such as the Blarney Castle or the Cliff of Mohr. Losing a classmate quietly brought forth the importance of mometno mori though I was not cognizant of the concept at the time. Hope you've enjoyed this recollection of the second year of the Hill (well at least my first hill), come back soon for another adventure in this merry journey of life.