Dear Archbishop Carroll,
I have sat and looked at this blank document for many hours today. How do I say goodbye to a school I hold so close to my heart? How do I say goodbye to my friends? How do I say goodbye to my favorite teachers? This all seems to not make much sense to me. As a younger sibling who has always been seen as the baby of my family, it’s weird to be doing something as “grown-up” as graduating high school.
I figure the best place to start is the beginning. As many people know, but in case you don’t, I transferred to Carroll sophomore year. I attended a school that was simply not for me and I was extremely unhappy. Upon coming to Carroll, I found it easy to find people to sit with at lunch and talk to after class. These same people quickly became my friends, who I truly believe will stay in my life for a very long time (and I’m not just saying that because this time of year has been extra emotional). These friends weren’t just people I could gossip to or go to the mall with, but people with whom I could tell my problems and get advice in return. I then quickly became involved at Carroll: varsity volleyball, Student Ambassadors, National Art Honors Society, and so on. I finally learned what it was like to be a part of something. I felt like I was truly a staple part of my school’s community.
My advice to underclassmen is to appreciate everything; every opportunity, every person you meet, every teacher you have, and every school activity that you can attend and be a part of. I was told in my eighth-grade year that high school would fly right past me, and I didn’t believe them until now. Nothing is ever as serious as our little teenage brains might think it is. No fight with your friends is ever worth starting. No; that shirt doesn’t make you look ugly. Nobody is staring at the pimple on your cheek. It’s not cringy to participate in school events and nobody cares that you dropped your heavy water bottle in the middle of Mass. If you focus on the things that don’t matter, you’ll miss all the parts of high school that do.
I feel as though because I didn’t start at Carroll, I have a different appreciation for the school. I am so grateful for the life I have lived inside this building and the people I’ve met along the way. These experiences I have had here have shaped me into the young woman I am today, and I’m proud to say I will soon be an Archbishop John Carroll High School alum.
Archbishop Carroll, you occupy a very major piece of my heart, and I truly have no idea where I would be without you.
Gratefully,
Tori Nocito
