School Story:
Like many of us, I have too many great stories to mention in this space. However, I have yet to find a community since graduation to rival that which I experienced at SJHS. I didn't matriculate until my junior year, yet I was embraced by this community in a way I haven't encountered since. When I arrived after leaving behind a rather nefarious crew at ZBTHS, the St. Joe's community adopted me into their lives, both classmates and parents alike and it made all the difference for me. Perhaps we'll speculate about this at the reunion, but I suspect this rare kinship can be sourced to a sense that everyone was invested in keeping the school going and hence, in one another. I've found this connectedness mostly absent in modern life, save for pockets of kindness one finds along the way, the small things that remind us that while we may rejoice our diversity of experience, there is much more that makes us the same than what makes us different. Among the many lessons I've learned during those formative years, this is perhaps the greatest.
