Graduation

This morning, 188 young women graduated from St. Mary's Academy, marking tthe 150th commencement exercise of this school. I was so inspired to see such incredible, achieving, and dedicated young women walk across the stage and recieve their diplomas. This celebration reminds me how quickly time goes by during high school, and that in just a year, I will be the one walking that stage. The thought of that simply makes me want to appreciate every moment I have in the St. Mary's community as a high schooler. That being said, I truly believe that once you're a St. Mary's girl, you're always a St. Mary's girl. I am so proud of the class of 2017 and I cannot wait to see all the amazing things they accomplish. And with that, I sign off for this year. My finals are next week and in four days, I will officially be a senior in high school!

Senior Assembly

Last week marked the last week for the seniors at SMA. Every year, their last day of classes in high school concludes with an all-school assembly filled with hilarious student-performed impressions of teachers in a skit. Peppered between such performances were song performances done by seniors. Several small groups sang together, and it is not uncommon for students to get terry at these sweet moments. The senior Rose Choir and Marian singers performed a song together beautifully, marking their last performance at St. Mary's. At the end of the entertaining and bittersweet assembly, Teacher Advisors read off their TA list as the seniors file up onto the stage and sit in one big group. Some teachers cried, demonstrating just how much they care for and love their students.

While this assembly is bittersweet, it is a favorite among most students. I cannot wait for my own senior assembly to get a chance to say goodbye to my entire school. Of course, graduation comes next, but the senior assembly is the final day of high school for seniors, making it memorable every year.

National Honors Scoeity Induction

This week, St. Mary's hosted several events in the evenings. One of them was the National Honors Society Induction for rising and graduating seniors, as well as the Award ceremony where scholarships, awards, and chords are awarded to seniors. These chords will then be worn on the day of graduation. Before the award ceremony, there was the National Honors Society Induction. Students, including myself, were welcomed to the stage where we were given a certificate, and a pledge to read aloud. There were almost 90 students from my junior class, which is about half. It was very exciting to be inducted among so many of my lovely peers and I couldn't be prouder to be part of such a hard-working and involved commity.

The finals days for the seniors

At this time of year, most students are looking forward to summer and hopefully some blue skies and warm weather! Thankfully, second semester finals are usually easier than first semester because many classes require projects instead of exams, which lightens the study load and makes it more manageable during the last few weeks of school when students are slightly less motivated. As a junior with many classes with seniors, I can see how excited they are to graduate, and frankly, to be done with high school. That being said, I've also conversed with many of my senior friends and have noticed how nostalgic they get at some point during the conversation.

Just recently my sister, a St. Mary's graduate, returned from her freshman year of college and attended the Spring Concert to watch me sing in the St. Mary's rose choir (the concert was a huge success), and she told me that she was moved to tears just by sitting and watching St. Mary's students sing together. She told me that while most of the girls who are graduating this year are extremely excited and ready, a part of them is already missing SMA. It is certainly a memorable experience and arguably different from most high school experiences in the country. St. Mary's is a special place where girls learn inclusivity, service, love, integrity, and the skills to be ready to take on the world. There is not a doubt in my mind that our seniors are ready to move on, despite the sadness that accompanies that change.

Spring Break!

The past few months, the Portland weather has been...dismal. I know that many SMA students, myself included, were extremely ready for Spring Break when it came around. Even now, a few weeks later, many of us think fondly of our sunny vacations or just a nice break from school. That being said, I know that I was very excited to come back to school after Spring Break. That first day back, we had a recognition assembly for athletes, and SMADCO danced! It was a great way to begin quarter four. Now, many of us our counting down the weeks till summer, but at least SMA is always interesting. There is never an uneventful quarter.

Women's Empowerment Week Begins!

Tomorrow is the first official day of Women's Empowerment Week, however, our opening assembly was last week. Two students and one teacher spoke about their experiences with becoming empowered and how they learned to feel strong and confident in themselves. Each speech was incredibly thought provoking and inspiring. The SMA dance company (SMADCO) has been working on a hip hop dance to "Freedom" by Beyonce, however due to some time constraints, could not perform at the opening assembly, but plan to perform at the next opportunity! Seeing my peers and an authority figure up on our stage explaining how they became part of a community and found their place was inspiring and necessary for young women in this world, and I am incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to see that.

Tomorrow, as women's empowerment week begins, we will have many workshops and activities to help empower women and give them the tools to take care of themselves when faced with sexism or any degrading attention in their lives, and we will have a drive for femenine hygiene products. I'm incredibly excited to see how supporting and storng my community is, and to witness my generation of women standing up and empowering each other.

Winter Musical

Every year, at the end of February, a portion of the school walks into the mayhem that is tech week for the SMA Winter Musical. And yet, every year, it is worth it. The musical is always a success, and we have our Theater Director, Shannon More, to thank for that. This year, our school is performing "The Sound of Music." The opening night show was a huge success, and the second show drew an enormous crowd as well. Personally, I was in awe most of the show. Our school has always been strong in the performing arts, and this year, about a third of our entire school (just over 700 students) is a part of a choir in or outside of school. This staggering number of very talented singers was well represented in the musical! Iris Cohn, who plays Maria, performed beautifully and engaged the entire audience seemingly effortlessly. Fiona McInnis, Samantha Lahey, Grace Hermes, and many other very talented actors and singers contributed to the incredible performance with their stage presence and palatable love for the show. Furthermore, the dancers, set, backstage crew, makeup/hair, and costuming was equally as impressive and carried its weight in the performance as well. I'm so honored to have been present for such an incredible performance that so many people put effort and time into, and I know that the next three shows will be huge successes.