Dear Mom, Dad, my senior friends, Mr. Cim, Mrs. Mulligan, Mr. Scanlan, Mr. Woehlcke, Mrs. Young, Mr. Fryberger, Mrs. Gimpel, Mrs. Amlin, Mrs. Volpe, Mr. Waters:

When I first heard about this school from my parents, it was an easy no for me because I wanted to go to a public school where all of my friends would be attending. They wanted me to go because it was a smaller school and they thought I would excel easily, especially with academics and sports. My parents, along with some great men from Gospel Reflection, which is what my dad was a part of, prayed and provided an opportunity for me to switch schools to Archbishop Carroll to start my 9th grade year, which to this day I’m very thankful for. I pleaded, wrote persuasion letters, and begged them to please not make me change schools. Ultimately, it ended up being a great decision.

Thank you, friends. All of the friends that I’ve met and connected with have made a great impact on my life. During my freshman year, at the very beginning, I didn’t know anyone in the first couple weeks of school except for a small group of people. I remember going into picture day with people asking me, “What is your name?” which ended up being a reminder that this isn’t so bad after all. The kids in my class have made me feel a way in which I’m never going to forget them when I leave. Playing sports helped a lot, especially meeting the upperclassmen who were already on the basketball team. They brought me in and accepted me with open arms to make me feel like I belong. These people have taught me numerous ways of how to be a great person and how to inspire others. 

Thank you, teachers. There are so many teachers I have loved since I got here. Whenever I used to struggle as an underclassman with tests and especially homework, I would go to them and ask for assistance. No matter how their day was, good or bad, they would always be there for me and smile every day. For example, during my senior year, whenever I would struggle with math homework, I was able to go to Mrs. Volpe and especially Mrs. Amlin, who is a phenomenal teacher. Mr. Fryberger is by far the best teacher I have ever had. Every day I see him, he will always talk about basketball with me and how he needs to fix his golf swing. He is one of the few teachers I look forward to seeing every day, especially Mrs. Gimpel. Lastly, I would like to say thank you to all the teachers I mentioned, all of the friends I’ve met, and to my mom and dad who got me here to help me expand my social life. THANK YOU. 

Sincerely, Sal Louis Monastero