Making memories together

By Sophia Ellis- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

My parents wanted to give my sister and me a good education, so they thought Catholic schools — St. Jude the Apostle and Catholic Central High School — would be good options. Catholic High has given me the opportunity to learn in smaller classes with fewer distractions, but it also gave me a chance to meet a lot of amazing people and have unforgettable experiences.

Thanks to my time in Catholic school, I’ve made some good friends that I would not have under different circumstances. My friend group is a mix of old friends from St. Jude’s and new friends from Catholic High. We’ve made a lot of memories together.

This Christmas, we decided to do a Secret Santa gift exchange, although everyone knew who everyone had, so it wasn’t all that secret. The person I ended up drawing was one of my old friends from St. Jude’s. I’ve known him for 11 years now, so I decided that one of the gifts I would get for him would be a scrapbook. I also got him another gift, just in case he didn’t like the scrapbook, but I’m pretty sure he ended up loving it.

The book was full of different pictures of our friends and all of the adventures we’ve had. Writing this testimony made me think of that scrapbook because when I was done putting it together, it was full of memories that we’ve all made as a group. There would not have been nearly as many pictures in that book if not for Catholic Central High School and the friendships it has helped foster.

My friends and I often look back and joke about the experiences we’ve had because of CCHS. For example, earlier this school year our entire class took a trip to Pyramid Life Center for a religious retreat. While we were there, we got to appreciate the scenic landscape that was around us.

Throughout the day, there was a lot of prayer and reflection, but whenever we were given free time, we would go out on the lake together and kayak. It was raining all day and everyone was soaked by the end, but it’s now an amazing memory we will always have. We would not have that without Catholic High.

In addition to the wonderful friendships and experiences that Catholic High has given me, it has also helped me prepare for the future. I still have two more years to complete, but I look forward to going to a good university and the career that I will make for myself afterward. I know some of that has to do with Catholic High.

My next two years of school will most likely be spent at Catholic Central School, which is a little daunting because everything seems so uncertain. Regardless, it’s a change that I’m willing to undertake because of the friends and good teachers that will be there. I’m not sure how the CCS experience will be for me, but going into college afterward. I’ll be more prepared because of the people I have met and the experiences that I’ve had at CCHS.

Sophia Ellis is a sophomore at Catholic Central High School. She has attended CCHS since the seventh grade. Prior to that she was a student at St. Jude the Apostle and adds, “I’ve been going to Catholic schools for my whole life.”