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The interesting life at an all-girls Catholic high school · Beyond The Beacon

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_04: Welcome to Beyond the Beacon with Bishop Kevin Sweeney, a podcast of the Diocese of Patterson in the great state of New Jersey.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_04: Join us for weekly converse of for conversations about our Catholic faith, and together let's strive to live a life of faith, hope, and love.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_04: I'm Cecile Pagliarullo.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_04: With me is Bishop Kevin Sweeney.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_04: And it's a little change of scenery here.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_04: You may notice.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_04: We are here at Mary Help of Christians Academy in North Halden.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_04: A little bit more on that later.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_04: But how are you doing, Bishop?
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: I'm good, Cecile.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: How are you?
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: Good.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: And wonderful to be here at Mary Help of Christians Academy.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: And uh you'll hear we have a little different episode today, uh, movement of the Holy Spirit, I think.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: And uh um maybe just before we talk about a couple things, let's uh hear who our guests are.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Can you introduce yourself, uh, where you're from, what year you're in, uh name, and anything else you want to share?
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_03: My name's Madison, I'm from Ringwood, and I'm a senior.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_03: My name is Gotziella, I'm from Wayne, and I'm a senior.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: And a swimmer?
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: And extracurricular or clubs?
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: I play tennis.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Tennis, great, great.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so thank you for being here.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: And uh we're happy to have this uh opportunity to be here in the wonderful studio of your high school, and I think some of the students uh have been involved in some media and communications uh learning in classes, right?
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: We can talk a little bit about that.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: But um we for our second year in a row, we've had our high schools get together.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: How long do you remember when it was?
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_03: Was it a month or two ago?
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it was something like that.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_03: March 3rd.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: March 3rd, March 3rd.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: So um why don't you tell us about uh what the experience was like uh getting together with uh the seven high schools?
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: We have three Diocin high schools, Morris Catholic, DePa, and Pope John, part of the Catholic Academy of Sussex, and then four high schools that are run by um our religious communities, very helpful Christians run by the Silesian Sisters.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we thank the Silesian sisters, uh Don Bart Don Del Barton Delbarton, run by the Benedictins in uh um part of St.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Mary's Abbey, uh and Villa Walsh, run by the Philippines Sisters, and the Academy of St.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Elizabeth.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: So the seven schools came together.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you can think about that for a moment as we just realized we should really begin with a prayer, right?
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: So uh it's the Jubilee year, and we've been praying the Jubilee prayer.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: So as we begin our time together, we'll pray together the Jubilee prayer.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Place ourselves in God's presence, name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Let us pray together the Jubilee prayer.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Father in heaven, may the Son Jesus.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: And the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: When the powers of evil vanquished, your glory will shine eternally reawakening.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: To our God eternally blessed, be glory and praise forever.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: Our Lady, help of Christians, pray.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Saint Don Bosco, pray for us, Saint Mary Marzzarella, pray for us, and Saint John Baptiste de La Salle.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_04: Pray for us.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: Being here at Mary Help on the feast of St.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: John Baptiste de La Salle, who is similar to Don Bosco in many ways, uh, but uh uh Saint John Baptiste de La Salle is the patron saint of teachers, so we pray for teachers, right?
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh uh so um you got invited, you uh to go to this day, and and and what was the experience like?
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um for me I was really excited to get invited.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: Stay away from school, right?
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that and also meeting new people that were around my age range, that shared the same um faith that I have.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: And I was also really nervous to to meet uh new people and to um go somewhere I haven't ever been before.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: St.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: Paul's inside the walls, it was a pretty impressive place, right?
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: It was very, very beautiful.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I was quite nervous to share my experiences too in the small groups, but I eventually opened up and I loved to hear other people's experiences and their struggles and their faith and really how it much it relates to my struggles too, as well.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: And it really just showed me that I'm not alone, like I'm not um experiencing those experiences alone.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, it was great.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_03: I also enjoyed it.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_03: I thought like meeting new people was fun because on like SLR, like I mentioned before, we got to meet like other Selesian schools from the S?
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_03: SLR, the Silesian school.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_03: So I met like different students from the different Silesian schools, but it was nice to meet different students from like the ones in our areas.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_03: And I thought it was uh really like interesting because I joke like with my friends at like AOL out in Louisiana, like they're very like Mary Hope, but it was nice to see that also the other like girls from school, like even at the table, I had mostly girls, and it was nice how like we clicked, like it it showed that they also had like a sisterhood like we have here at Mary Haupt.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: Villa Walsh and uh the Academy of St.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: Elizabeth led her to all girls' schools, and I think then I heard in the van on the ride back you started talking about maybe coming on the podcast and picking a theme.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, yes.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_04: I think we made it so I guess at one point during that day, someone had made an invitation.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_04: It was you probably you yourself that made an invitation that oh we have this podcast, and I guess that inspired some conversation on the ride back.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_04: And then uh we get an email from one of the students that attended, she's coming on next and uh saying that you were interested.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_04: And the topic that came about is attending an all girls high school and what does that really mean?
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_04: And uh, I think that's a very pretty relevant thing to discuss because you probably experience a lot of maybe myths, misconceptions, or assumptions about attending an all-girls school, but what is so great about attending an all-girls high school?
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_03: Um, like I was talking about before with uh meeting new girls and seeing if they had the sisterhood, I feel that like so, so strongly, like at Mary Help.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_03: And before coming to an all-girls school, like around like sixth grade, my mom had told me about Mary Help, and I was like, I'm so sorry.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, Your mom was encouraging you to think about it.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_03: No, because my brother went to Don Bosco, and so that's how she had heard about it, and I was like, I'm so sorry.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_03: I love you so much, but I also like boys.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_03: I was like, and I I can't I can't go to non-girls school.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_03: But then Miss Caulfield, that's our admissions lady, she came to my school and she was talking, and I like met with like some of the girls, and I was like, Wow, okay, I'll give it a shot.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_03: Like, I'll come and I'll check it out.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_03: So I came and like even like the first time setting on campus, I was like, okay, like I'm gonna go here.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: For a visit, like an open house before making the decision?
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, like I just knew it because like the energy was like awesome.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_03: And like I would think like in class with in middle school, like the boys are funny, so I was like, I want to have like a good, like energetically experienced here in school, and like we get that done very easily.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_03: Like it's just so much fun being here, and like with girls, like we don't think, like we're just so comfortable with each other.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_03: It's like just one big family.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um for me, I came from a public school, so it was really different, not only uh because it was co-ed, but also how big my school was that I came from.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I really do love coming like coming going to Mary Help because of the support that I receive um through all my four years here and really like the relationships that I built.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: How did you hear about Mary Help?
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_01: I went to the summer camp when I was younger.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, and it it wasn't my favorite summer camp that I've ever been to, if I'm honest.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: But my mom loved it, and then my brother went to Don Bosco, and my mom absolutely fell in love with the Salesian community and and family, and so that's how I ended up, you know, being introduced to Mary Hal.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: And both of you are seniors, right?
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so how would you say you feel um your experience over these almost four years uh has helped you to be ready for college and maybe how I know you've said some of the ways about uh uh the less distractions or uh the the connection that you have as sisters to um uh um uh talk about maybe how that's helped you to pre in the decision making process for where you're gonna go to college and how you think it'll help you once you get there, God willing, in September.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_03: I think at the we're at like a smaller school, obviously.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_03: So I think that being in that close community, like I fell in love with it.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_03: So when looking at colleges, I knew I was like, I want somewhere that it's like small and that I'm going to a Catholic school, and that was like very important for me that it was Catholic.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_03: So that I fell in love like my faith here.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_03: Like I was encouraged too before.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_03: I wasn't like totally into it.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_03: Um but then when I came here and I met like campus ministry, pro life club, like the peer ministry, like everything made me like fall in love with that.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_03: So I knew that where I was going forward, I wanted that to like help me with what I already had and like see like how much like even more that I could grow.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_03: So like my college is also very small.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_03: It's around like eight, nine hundred people.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: Where are you gonna be going?
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_03: Uh St.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_03: Joe's College of Maine.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: And and so in your process of choosing a college, you d specifically wanted to attend a Catholic college, is that right?
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: And you found one you like.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I love it there.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: And you're gonna swim, is that right?
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, that's an all the thing.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_03: I also didn't swim before I came here.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_03: So it's kind of like Mary Hope, like it's a big athletic school, like 75% of them are athletes, but it's more of like a relaxed program.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_03: So they like make sure that academics are priority, like your faith is priority.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_03: So basically it's like Mary Hope, but college.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: And Seattle, right?
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: For me, it helped me um really develop my core values so that you know, whatever step I have next, I I have my firm beliefs, and um I'm definitely stronger in my faith with this four years.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: Do you remember back being a freshman, a little culture shock coming from a public school to Yes, I have, yeah, yeah.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely um it was hard for me too to find new friends because I didn't know anyone coming in.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um but they were very That's taking care of itself in Chelsea, right?
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, definitely.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um so maybe uh we're gonna get the other students on, but um uh uh maybe a word uh if there's anything else about that you maybe we would say to a uh um a young uh an eighth grade young lady um thinking about uh going to an all-girls school or a parents, um uh what um you would say to them that is is best about being in an all-girl school, but possibly in addition to what you've already said.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: And then also um what you feel makes um uh Mary Catholic, uh Mary help as a Catholic school um uh uh uh identify as Catholic?
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: What's what's been how does the Cat Catholic identity maybe communicated or lived here in your experience?
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_04: Well you mentioned being in a pro-life club.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, I think that's uh it's wonderful that you're so how has your experience been being in the pro-life ministry?
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_03: It's been great.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_03: So I started a little bit rocky, I didn't know too much about it, but I like that they didn't like come at me.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_03: Like it was more of like an open experience because it's very controversial, especially now like being young and being pro-life is like difficult.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_03: So I liked how it like smoothed me into things.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_03: It wasn't like wow, you're not 100% sure of what you know, like you can't be in here.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_03: It was like very welcoming, and they they taught like with facts.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_03: It was like very like reassuring.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_03: And then now I'm like the secretary prolife club, and like I helped like make things open and told like my friends to make pro-life club something that like is like attractive and like interesting for even if you don't know about your beliefs, just like some place that has like nice people, snacks, and like just a nice environment to learn in.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: Snacks or the whole thing, right?
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um but welcoming, welcoming, right?
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh without uh imposing, right?
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um and Graciela, um uh what would you say to a young eighth grade girl that was thinking about uh or their or her parents uh um or her siblings uh about the the considering coming to an old girls' Catholic school?
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um I guess I would say to really be open-minded, you know, coming in.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um while it was rough probably for the first couple years, um they also had their you know positives towards going to an all-girls schools.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um so yeah, I would just say um have faith, I guess, yeah.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_01: In yeah.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: Good advice.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: Good advice.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: Anything else, Cecile?
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_04: I think that's it on my end.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you very much.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we'll be praying for you as you're uh you're excited about senior year.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure you're saying that the academic pressure is gonna go down a little bit, hopefully, in the coming months.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_04: This is a fourth market, fourth quarter.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, we're gonna be able to do that.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_04: So this is like uh in the home set.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you so much for coming on.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: Really appreciate it.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: God bless you.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_04: And we're back, and here we have two sophomores among us.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_04: If you will kindly introduce yourselves.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Samantha, I'm a sophomore, and I live in Hawthorne.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Roxy, I'm a sophomore and I live in Clifton.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome, welcome.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for being here.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so uh like the previous uh guests, um uh Graziella and Maddie, right?
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: Uh uh uh you both attended the high school forum day, right, with the other uh the schools from the diocese.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: Uh what was what do you remember about it?
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: What was it like?
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: Good?
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: Not so good?
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_02: It was really good.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_02: I liked it.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_02: It was good connecting with like other students and like getting to know more about like other schools from our um diocese.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_05: Um it was like kind of like my first experience, especially like meeting with other schools.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_05: Like I've never branched out as much.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_05: Um Had you been to St.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: Paul's before?
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: No, never.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: It was really beautiful though.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: Your first was that your first time there?
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_02: No, I've been there before, yeah.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh anything surprising or that you're particularly memorable about uh there were small group discussions, right?
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: Uh conversations in the spirit, right?
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: Father Mary was leading us.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, what was that experience like?
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it was really nice.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_02: I liked hearing a lot of the other students' like perspectives and it like really um like inspired me because there was like a lot of like um really strong believers in their faith, and it just like seemed really nice to hear like their like way of believing and knowing God and stuff.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_05: It was like really nice to see like especially like other people my age that like felt strong, like Sam said, but like I'd never met somebody that had like spoken very openly about their faith and they were willing to share and just talk like freely without any embarrassment.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: Nice, nice.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and then uh the uh now famous van vi van ride on the way back uh that led us to be here today.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: What would what's your memory from that?
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um so we basically got in the van and we were like, oh, we all want to go on the podcast.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_02: And Ms.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_02: Nancy was like, Really?
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_02: I could get you guys on.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_02: So then I just like remembered you saying that if like any of us wanted to go on the podcast, we could just like reach out.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_02: So then I just like emailed Sister Teresa, and then I was like, Do you think it could get me and the and our other like classmates on the podcast?
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_02: And then she like emailed me to like you, and then that's how it all got started.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_02: It was it was mostly Sam's doing it.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_05: I didn't know about it until Yeah, and that was emailed you guys about it.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: Do you remember anything from the conversation of the Van Right on the way back?
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_05: Um I just remember Sam being like, I'll do it, I'll do it.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_05: She's like, I'll figure out a way to get us on there.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_04: Why was it so important to because again the focus is on attending an all-girl Catholic high school?
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_04: Why would why is that so important of a subject to talk about or topic to talk about?
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um so I feel like so like attending like an old girl school, like how is it important?
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_02: Well why why did the how what inspired this to be the topic?
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I feel like not like a lot of people know like how it is to attend an old girls' school.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_02: Like they just like have so many assumptions and stuff, but like they don't like understand how it truly is to like go every day to school with old girls and like no boys and stuff.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_05: Um I feel like sometimes like when you tell people you go to an all-girls school, their first response is, uh oh.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_05: Like it's like a kind of a negative thing.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_05: So I feel like it needs to be like kind of shared, like some of the more positive sides of it.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what would be some of the more positive sides for yourselves?
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_05: It's like so much more comfortable.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_05: Like Maddie was saying before, like it's like you don't feel the need to like really like go all out.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_05: Like you still obviously like want to do good in school, so you focus more on that instead of like the way you look or like little things like that that would like ruin your day normally if you were busy with boys.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, I mean, I guess that's that's just the reality of being a teenager is uh worrying about things like that.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_04: So yeah, like I could see there there's a sisterhood here for sure.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_04: Belonging.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: Where where did you uh how did you you remember first how you first heard about Mary Help and what what what the decision was making process was like in eighth grade to that you were this was gonna be the place where you were gonna come?
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_02: So um actually when I was in seventh grade, I went to public school my whole life.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_02: And so then, like, you know, being in public school, it's like really different.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_02: So um my mom just like noticed a few changes in me and was like, nope, this is not good.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_02: So she was like, um, okay, you're gonna go to Mary Help, and she like knew about this school.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_02: It was already late, and she was like, So you're gonna go to Mary Help, and she like no questions asked, you're just going.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_02: So um I really like didn't want to go.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_02: I was like crying and all that stuff.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_02: So I didn't want to come.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_02: Mama, mom, I'm like, that's a good mom.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, so um, so basically, yeah, I was forced to come here when so I came here eighth grade eight.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and um, yeah, so I never went to open houses, I never shadowed, so it was just like I was put in here.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_02: And but like, yeah, um, I met a lot of like my friends from eighth grade and we're like the closest ever now.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_02: And um yeah, so like we really did like um what I found here was like a lot of like sisterhood and like um being really grounded in your faith and like I don't know, it's just like a home here, and that's like how it is now.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_05: Um for me, my experience was like I just kind of um well actually somebody came to our school and like visited, and it was like somebody who had like previously gone to like my school.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_05: I went to St.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_05: Catharines.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_05: Uh-huh.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_05: Um they came to visit, and one of the now seniors, she like visited and she had like gone to my school, and I remember being like, Oh, well, she was really nice when she was here, so like I'm sure she went to a good school.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_05: And I decided to look into it, and then from there my parents were just like, Yeah, this is the school you're going to.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_05: Um, same thing like Sam, they kind of like forced me into it.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_05: I was more willing than Sam, I think.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_05: I was like, okay, well, maybe because I had gone to a co-ed Catholic school, so I was like kind of fed up with everything that happened because like my school was like there was just so much drama, so much drama, so much stress for no reason.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_05: So I was like, well, it might be easier.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_05: So I decided maybe that was a thing for me, and I was right.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_05: I shadowed and like immediately fell in love.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_05: Like there was just I remember sitting with a group of like girls and they had all been like juniors in like their AP US class, and I was just like, they get like learning done here, and they're just like work together really well.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_05: And it's like the school itself, like academics-wise, it's like very much like ahead than my school.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_05: Like, I never thought I would be in a class where I like actively participating.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_05: So yeah, the school itself is really, really good.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and uh the being in a Catholic school, like um uh how is that lived out?
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and what are some of the ways that maybe you find helpful or uh that um that uh bring this you've I guess you've heard a little bit about Don Bosco, right?
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: And Mary Masarella and getting to know some of the Salesian sisters.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: Uh uh how how do you feel about the Catholic identity and and how that impacts the kind of day to day um school life and even maybe the feeling of family or community that that you've described?
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um so here, like every morning we have the morning show on and we like always pray or pray.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: Morning show.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: Is it from the studio?
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_02: And um I think everything here is always like oh our faith stuff is always from like the oratory model.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_02: So anything we do, yeah, is like based off that.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_02: So we always have like oratory nights, um, we have like confessions like a few months or like once a month or something.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_02: We have mass every month.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_02: So we always have like a bunch of like opportunities to like always like grow in our faith and like it's always like applied here.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_05: So um I think especially I've always had kind of a faith like integration with my schools, but like especially here, like you see it more, like people are more invested in it, and the teachers like kind of send you on the right path, especially.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_05: Like at my old school, it was just kind of like go to church and then come back to school, and it's two separate things.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_05: Here it's like very much faith is in everything.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_05: Like she said, we do the oratory model, like in our religion classes.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_05: I think last week we just went to confession for class, and it was like it's nice how they kind of send you in the right direction.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_05: I know I said that already, but like it kind of just sets you up to not see it as like a chore.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_05: It's like kind of just like a thing you do, and it feels right because it's like in your everyday.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: But in general, the student body, the st the the the students are um don't feel like they're being um you know forced to do this or that they they respond well to the invitation to we we were uh just on our way up, we stopped for the Angelus, right?
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so you were mentioning prayer in the in the in the in at the beginning of the day.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: And then we did an angelist, yeah.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: Right, right.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_04: And I mean you still have two years for are you thinking of college yet?
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: Well and then what some of your extra curriculars here?
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um so I'm a cheerleader for the Don Bosco um football team, and I also swim.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_02: And um I played a violin for here and Don Bosco, and I'm also part of HOSA, which is a medical club.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: How do you say it?
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_02: HOSA.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: H-O-S-A.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_05: Um, yeah, like Sam said, I'm actually a part of the swim team too.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_05: Uh we swim with Maddie.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_05: Um I'm also a part of the Mary Help choir.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_05: We sing with Don Bosco.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_05: We go to Radio City.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, really?
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, for the what is it, Christmas?
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_05: Did you perform there?
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's great.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_00: What was that like?
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_05: It was really like nerve-wracking at first, but like this year it was like a lot less anxious.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_05: It felt like really fun and exciting.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_05: I was so excited to perform, and then we got to see the show after.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_00: So and in addition to uh some of the extracurricular activities you've talked about, uh I'm sure service is emphasized as well, right?
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: Trying to put our faith into action by serving others, serving the church.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: Uh uh, we met uh this past Saturday, right?
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: Because you're an altar server at your parish, St.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: Mary's.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh is service emphasized as well uh here in school?
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_02: Definitely.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_02: We're actually starting a liturgical ministry, which they're like gonna like start putting altar servers and like lectors and like um I think sacristans to like help out during the mass for like next year.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I think there were already um that's here for mass in the fall and we installed some of the ministers, yeah.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um Roxy, you see you also see the emphasis on service.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_05: Oh yeah, definitely.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_05: Um matter of fact, I was a part of campus ministry club last semester, I think.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_05: Um I think like definitely like we have so much of it.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_05: It's like there's also like more clubs now, like especially this I think semester.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_05: We have like a service club specifically, where it's like you like get to like make sandwiches and like donate things to like people in need.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's really like And uh maybe say a little word about your impression of the sisters.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to thank uh Sister Kelly, the head of school, for allowing us uh this opportunity.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_00: Sister Teresa, who serves at our diocese, has been mentioned as also a Silesian sister, or Chancellor and Delegate for Religious.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: What's your impression of the Silesian sisters that you've met here at school?
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like they're the most happiest people you'll ever meet.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_02: They're always so joyful, happy, they're always smiling.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and they like also like act like one of us.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_02: Like, like, yes, they're like sisters, and you would think, oh, like there's strength and stuff, but they also have like such a cheerful mood.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_02: They like love Jesus, like Sister Pamela, she's just like the most joyful person ever.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: And you have some of the younger women who are just beginning in their formation process, right?
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: Have you met some of them?
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_05: Oh yeah, the aspirants, they're so kind.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_05: They like if you come sit in the cafeteria before school starts, they'll always come talk to you and like try and see what you're up to.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_05: Maybe if you need help, they'll always willing to like talk to you.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_05: It's really kind of them.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_05: Like, honestly, I feel like it's such a strong bond, even though like sometimes like they'll just like come talk to you and you'll be like, oh, what a surprise! Like there's people here at 7 a.m.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_05: doing just dance.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: So well, uh, thank you so much for uh taking time, Cecile.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_00: Anything else?
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_04: No, I think that's it.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, great.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: Well, um, you represent uh along with uh Graziella, Maddie, uh, and uh um the faculty and administration.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'm grateful to them for making this possible and uh and you really do a great job representing your school, so uh hopefully it'll help to get the word out and encourage um uh our young people.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um uh would you have a word to say to an eighth grader, eighth grade girl that was thinking about maybe coming to Mary Kelper and old girl school or the her parents or siblings, or what would you what what would your advice be?
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_02: Um I feel like my advice would be to like I feel like always trust in God, like any like option that is like put out there for you, like you can just like go for it because like everything is always in his like plan for you and that's what he has for you and he's like always good, so he never feels like it's even if it feels like you're being forced to go to logo.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_00: God has a way of working things out, right?
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, uh Rexy.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_05: Um I think maybe the big thing for me is don't be afraid.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_05: Like, especially like be if you're excited to go like live out like truthfully, be like proud of your faith and don't like try and hide it or like change the way you think because you're afraid of how other people might see it.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_05: Um just be like very welcome to like explore your faith and like live your life without any fears because everyone's very like, especially at the school, they're all like willing to talk about it and very open.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: And Jesus says again and again, don't be afraid, right?
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: Uh well, thank you so much, Cecile.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for leading us and uh for bringing us together.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: And uh we thank Jay behind the cameras there.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_00: So uh um thank you so much for your time and your energy.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: Great, God bless you.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_04: Well, we have a big week coming up, us Catholics.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, yes, Holy Week.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: And uh in this Jubilee of hope, uh, we're gonna have a pilgrimage to uh the Holy Land, not the Holy Land, but Rome for to uh to go through the Holy Door in the Jubilee year in uh the end of September and beginning of October.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_00: If you want more information, uh we'll put it in the show notes uh so there's still open seats to join me and a group of uh faithful from our diocese on pilgrimage to Rome uh during this holy year to go through the holy door um and uh and and maybe even see Pope Francis as we continue to pray for his health and and recovery.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_00: So uh, and yes, um we're recording this on April 7th.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_00: You ready for Palm Sunday?
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna be serving for Palm Sunday.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um and uh you said uh you're gonna have Station Lacrosse next week, right?
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_00: I think before um Wednesday.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: There's a break coming up too, I think, right?
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so um we invite everyone to um check out their parish uh mass schedules for uh Palm Sunday, especially, and then uh our most holy week coming up in in next week, uh Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and and uh the Easter Vigil, and looking forward to celebrating the resurrection.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_00: So um thanks everybody for being with us and uh God bless you.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: We have a very blessed and prayerful holy week and uh and a joyful Easter.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, and thank you for joining us.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_04: Please subscribe, comment, and leave a positive rating.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_04: Get to know us better by following Beyond the Beacon on Facebook or Instagram.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_04: Email questions and podcast topic ideals to be on at pattersondiaces.org.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_04: Discover our other podcasts, Coffee with Cupkey and the Paul Street Journal.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_04: See you next time.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, everybody.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_00: God bless.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_00: Well done.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_00: Great job.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks.
• 31:43
  unknown: Bye.