After four years, the time has come to finally be able to close a chapter in my life that has had a major impact on the person I am today. My time at DeMatha Catholic High School has been filled with lots of highs and lows and I would like to take the opportunity to talk about how being a DeMatha student has affected me over these past four years.

One of DeMatha’s strengths is that it recognizes what it stands for and shows this through its six pillars: faith, community, service, academics, arts, and athletics. Faith and service, I feel, go hand in hand and DeMatha has helped me grow my faith through the act of community service. Before I attended DeMatha, I was already someone who went to church every Sunday, but outside of that I never really did much to carry out my faith and act on it. At first, the requirement to do Christian service hours felt unnecessary and a waste of time. But they helped me realize how many people out there are in need and how I can help them. This helped me grow as a person and helped give me a new understanding of what it means to be a Christian.

Being a part of DeMatha has also shown me what it’s like to be a part of a bigger community. From attending sporting events with friends to having conversations and debates at lunch, I feel I have built friendships at this school that will last even after we graduate. Being an athlete at DeMatha has also helped me create close relationships and has taught me lessons that will help me in the real world. Sportsmanship, humility, learning to accept defeat and to be a good winner are all lessons I have learned during my four years of playing soccer at DeMatha and I will continue to use the lessons I have learned from teammates and coaches as I continue to play soccer in college.

Academics has obviously been a big part of my time at DeMatha and the way I have been challenged in the classroom has helped me to develop habits that will also help me in the future. Not only have the core classes like math, English, or science affected me but also the selection of classes outside the norm have allowed me to walk into school knowing that I will be able to learn something different and get a different perspective on major events or social issues that are happening in the world today. This has helped me form my own world view and to become more of an independent thinker.

My experiences at DeMatha have been unmatched and without them I certainly would not have turned out as I have today. They have been successful in their mission to help me become a faith-filled gentleman and scholar. Thank you, DeMatha.