California
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July 26, 2024
It’s the final day of the California High School Summer Program! Two weeks of classroom discussions on some of the Great Books of ancient and modern history have introduced students to the life of learning at TAC, but their adventures, both in and outside the classroom, aren’t quite finished yet. Although already starting to feel nostalgic for the past two weeks and looking forward to tonight’s celebrations, students walked to class this morning as usual, still humming the tunes from last night’s serenade on their way.
In the morning math class, they presented their very last demonstrations, Propositions 16, 29, and 32 in Book I of Euclid’s Elements. It was a satisfying finale to their hard work of studying Euclid, as students were able to prove properties of parallel lines and triangles that many took for granted in their high school geometry classes. They now know, without doubt, not just that but also why the exterior angle of a triangle is equal to the sum of its two interior, opposite angles and why the three angles in any triangle have a sum equal to two right angles. They do not merely know, they understand.
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At the midday Mass after class, some of the high schoolers joined prefect and choir director Anna Santine (’22) to elevate the sacred liturgy with beautiful choral music. They sang “Spirit Seeking” and “Anima Christi,” gently drawing the hearts of their listeners up to the Lord in prayer.
After Mass, all went to the dining room for lunch, where they stayed for a long time, chatting over plates of egg rolls and fried rice. In every moment between classes throughout the day, students have gathered together in groups, sitting on the lawn, on common-room couches, and around tables in St. Joseph Commons, treasuring their last day living in this community of friends. “I’m going to miss this so much,” said student Katie N. “I’m going to miss these people. Everyone is just so kind and welcoming, and the time has flown by.”
Before the high schoolers returned to their classrooms, they formed a huge circle in the middle of the Academic Quadrangle. Swaying arm in arm, they sang “Swing Lo, Sweet Chariot” and “Roll the Old Chariot” at the top of their lungs, filling the quad with their music. Then, as the prefects cheered them on, the programmers headed inside for their final class. They found a surprise waiting for them, left at their seats as goodbye gifts from their prefects: a TAC swag bag and a copy of C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters.
Photos: Before the Last Class
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Having completed their discussions of man’s search for happiness and the highest good in The Consolation of Philosophy, the programmers turned their attention to a text which builds upon a similar theme, though in a very different genre. They discussed “Parker’s Back,” a short story by Flannery O’Connor, which follows the life of bitter, atheistic Parker, whose desperate search for beauty and meaning in his life leads him to cover his body in tattoos. Moved by a strange grace he both longs for and resists, Parker feels compelled to have an icon of Christ tattooed on his back, leading him to question Who He is. Students dug into the striking account of Parker’s conversion and God’s powerful call on his life to become a prophet, witnessing to Christ even under persecution.
Though now finished with classes, the programmers still have the rest of the day to celebrate the end of their time together before bringing it all to a close at tonight’s farewell banquet and dance. Come back tomorrow morning for a post and pictures of the festivities, here on the Summer Program Blog!
