Andrew Ranaudo

Dear Carroll,

Thank you, sincerely, for the last 3.5 years.

I came in the day after the Eagles won the Super Bowl to pure elation, but only knowing two people. That quickly changed. The people I have met and been able to become friends with over the years have been some awesome people who have helped make high school a better place.

High school is stressful and it is plenty of long, tireless nights thinking about all the work you have to do in the next few days, and oftentimes you wonder what will come out of it. The teachers at Carroll were always understanding of your situation and what you may have had going on. They were there to help you get through it and succeed.

It was a hard couple years we had to go through — scandals, deaths and pandemics — but we made it to where we are now, and it has forged what our class is. Up to this point we have not all been together since mid March 2020, that was 14 months ago. Some kids who left school that week were 16 and are now 18.  It is unreal what we have experienced. We came back at the start of this year not knowing what to expect, and it was bad for a while. We weren’t able to see our friends every day, or even see each other’s faces. Half of our class was online in some far away land but we had to make due. There were no events for the first six months of the year as the pandemic reared its head. In late March things started to get better and the administration has tried to make it as normal as possible for the end of our school year.

It has been pleasure to be a Patriot during these high school years, and I will remember these times.