The Final Countdown

After classes ended on Thursday afternoon, a group of the men took to the ponds on the lower campus for a greased-watermelon battle, in which teams attempted to bring said watermelon across the pond and to the opposing team’s goal:

Meanwhile, several of the women took a trip into Santa Paula with their prefects, enjoying coffee at a local beanery and browsing a local thrift store:

That evening, after the last study period on Thursday evening, students gathered in front of the Chapel for a Rosary procession to the Lourdes Grotto, which prefects had prepared ahead of time with candles. Upon arriving at the grotto and completing the Rosary, the group fell silent, deep in prayer. The silence only broke several minutes later, when the students headed back toward the upper campus, singing hymns along the way.

In the remaining time before curfew, some students held an informal dance practice, while others visited in the coffee shop or the recreation room. At 10:30 p.m., all returned to their residence halls, where they enjoyed pretzels with mustard.

The night was not quite over, though. About 15 minutes later, the ladies of St. Monica’s and their prefects arrived outside the men’s residence hall, bearing cakes and singing happy birthday to Summer Program student David Sherwood. Mr. Sherwood gladly accepted the cakes, and then shared them with some of his very pleased friends.

Friday marked the last day of classes, with Euclid in the morning and Boethius in the afternoon. There was a certain exuberance in the air as students departed their classrooms and moved across the quadrangle to gather several gifts from their prefects — Summer Program t-shirts, a book bag, a book, and pictures of their sections and the entire group.

For the remainder of the afternoon, some headed down to the basketball courts for a 3-on-3 tournament. A small group took a trail run with Admissions Director Jon Daly, who found the students to be in far better shape than he! Mr. Daly reports, however, that the run was exhilarating and a wonderful way to round out a great two weeks.

As of this writing, students and prefects are readying for tonight’s banquet and dance. A slideshow with pictures from the dance and entertainment will come soon!