California
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July 23, 2022
With gifts in hand and memories to cherish, the students on the California High School Summer Program have enjoyed an afternoon and evening of celebration and farewells. The last two weeks have been ones to hold on to, a time of forging close friendships and delving into the spiritual, intellectual, and social life of Thomas Aquinas College.
During the afternoon recreation period, the athletic fields shook as teams sought final glories, cheering each other on with every move. A stone’s throw away, the pool filled with groups of students staving off the heat. All across the campus lawns, circles formed in the shade of trees.
Around 5:00 p.m., programmers took to their residence halls and set to dressing for the night’s events. Men donned ties; women, dresses. Outside of St. Monica’s, the men waited to escort the women one by one to St. Joseph’s Commons. There the farewell banquet began with laughter and conversation around tables draped in white tablecloths and adorned with flowers.
Students enjoyed a salmon dinner served with glasses of sparkling cider and culminating in a dessert of chocolate cheesecake garnished with strawberries and blueberries. Toward the meal’s end, Director of Admissions Jon Daly took to the dais to address the students and thank everyone who contributed to the last two weeks. “This has been one of our best Summer Programs,” he said. Program Chaplain Fr. Sebastian spoke next, recounting the events of the Summer Program: classes, friendships, dancing, and other highlights. “That’s a piece of Heaven on Earth,” he promised students. “It’s a preview of what’s to come.”
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With that, Program Director Brian Dragoo spoke about the program’s curriculum and goals. “Here, for the last two weeks, you have all had a chance to live the examined life, asking the big questions and exploring reason.” He posed some of the curriculum’s questions to the students once more: “By what standard do we know something to be pious?”, “How much of man’s future is it his business to know?”, and “Is it possible for reason to proceed hand-in-hand with faith?” As he finished, students stood to applaud the three speakers for their sacrifice and efforts.
Students then moved to the Our Lady of the Holy Trinity Chapel for a Holy Rosary, benediction, and adoration. Before the Blessed Sacrament, the Chapel hung in prayerful silence, then prefects filled the space with beautiful chant. Fr. Sebastian offered the Sacrament of Confession afterward.
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Gathered next in St. Cecilia Hall, Head Men’s Prefect Dillon Raum (’21) entered the darkened space to cheers. Behind him, the stage was lit up, ready for performers. “We have an entertainment for you all to warm you up for the dance,” he said. “Enjoy!” The stage sparkled with skits, violin, and duets. Students filled the room with rip-roaring laughter time and again, rising to applaud each act. When the curtains closed and the lights came on, the group spilled ono the St. Gladys Patio for the night’s dance.
Putting their newfound skills to the test, dancers took the floor. At one point the DJ cried, “Snowball!” bringing everyone out, and a student-original waltz composition nearly brought the group to tears. Prefects and programmer alike danced the night away, spinning and stepping in time to music, filling the patio with excitement and joy.
Around 11:15 pm, prefects gathered the students back into the Fritz B. Burns Auditorium to watch a slideshow of photos that captured the program’s best and funniest moments. Tears were shed, and much laughter shared. Students lingered afterward to say goodbye and good night, many embracing and exchanging phone numbers.
Thus marked the formal end of the 2022 California High School Summer Program, but many more farewells and memories are doubtless still in the offing, up until and after the first vans depart for the airport Saturday morning. The Summer Blog is not quite over, either! Expect at least one more post chronicling the morning’s goodbyes!
