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My UC Experienceby Jacqui Arce "Welcome to Union Catholic High School." Those were the first words that were spoken on freshman orientation day in 2002. This somewhat small school that only housed about eight-hundred students was the place that I was going to be spending the next four years of my life. I didn’t know what to expect. I was coming from a one-thousand student public middle school where there were no uniforms and not as many rules. Union Catholic was everything that my previous school, Burnet Middle was not. There were uniforms, good teachers, laptops, wireless internet, a smaller building, retro teal blue desks, a very tight nit community, and not to mention 80% of the Class of 2006 came from Catholic grammar schools. Union Catholic was new and scary to someone who had no idea how to "go" to Catholic school. I was a public school girl in a uniform for the first time in her life. The teal blue walls were covered with posters of the clubs that Union Catholic sponsored, pictures of UC students participating in the "UC Community", college posters with application forms, and the most undersized lockers I had ever seen in my life. Each one of the lockers in the Freshman wing had a magnet with each freshman’s name. I was looking for mine and finally I came across it. As I was struggling to open the two locks a senior Big Sister came to help me open it. She had on special maroon polo on that was imprinted with Union Catholic Big Brother/Big Sister in the upper left hand corner. Should I talk to her or not? That was the question. As I tried to make the hardest decision everyone else in the class seemed to know each other. All catholic school kids and I knew one person. A single lone person in a whole high school that was completely foreign to me. I had no idea how this day or the next four years were going to progress. So I decided to talk to her and ask her to help me open my locker. However at this point I felt so silly for asking for help. As those thoughts were going through my head the bell rang. The freshman wing consisted of ten homerooms with homeroom 202 being the first based on last name. As I walked into the classroom I saw one of my classmates talking to the teacher. It turns out that the teacher was the girl’s aunt. Great another thing that spread me further from the community; it seemed that everyone had a relative who either taught or went to UC. The Union Catholic Community was going about their first day of school business. Every student was walking through the halls talking about the summer and how they needed to get their laptops reconfigured, something that I soon learned was the norm at UC. There was a genuine sense of community and unity between not only the students, but the teachers as well. The majority of the people loved being at Union Catholic. I walked to my classes, but really didn’t feel like I was a true part of that culture. Everyday there were announcements that spoke about all the great things you can do here. Part of me wanted to get actively involved and the other didn’t. The days, weeks, and months went on and I slowly jumped into being a student at Union Catholic. As my freshman year went on I decided to run for student council and won. I was elected by my homeroom. Student Council is a vital part in planning all the student activities for the year, becoming a member allows for great involvement in all school events. That’s when I became an active member of the UC Community. I went to every after school activity ranging from soccer games to planning sessions for the semi formal. As soon as I was hooked I never again wanted to leave. I began to stroll confidently down the teal hallways that were now being painted in the school’s official color of navy blue. I was a member of more then half of the clubs and organizations that were plastered all over the walls in brightly colored paper. Not to mention as the year progressed the pictures on the various blue cork boards were plastered with pictures of me and my friends. This place was a loving environment where everyone cared about your personal wellbeing. At first I was reluctant to jump all in, but by the end of freshman year I had no reason not to. They reeled me in: I was hooked on UC. As my freshman year finished up I was not looking forward for the summer, but rather for the coming school year. I could not wait to return to the place that I called home in September. The summer came to a close I found myself back at Union Catholic planning the activities with Student Council for the upcoming school year. I returned with a confidence that I did not have at the same time the year before. As the school year developed, I was becoming an upperclassmen. I was able to join more of the junior and senior-only clubs. These included Peer Ministry and Yearbook. Who knew that by the end of senior year I would be both the editor of the yearbook and school newspaper as well as a Peer Ministry leader? But that comes later. Junior year was here and the Class of 2006 was on fire. Through Peer Ministry I was able to organize a project which sent twelve care packages to our soldiers actively fighting in Iraq. This was the first class in Union Catholic history to do so many good things ranging from amazing athletic wins to service projects that went above and beyond the call of duty. I was a part of that class I was a part of that accomplished group of people. It seems like in the blink of an eye we were attending our Junior/Senior courtyard rite of passage day which took place the last day of junior year. The members of the Class of 2006 were now seniors and could use the courtyard and the parking lot which were both senior privileges. The courtyard was known as the best spot at Union Catholic. It is used as both a lunch and free period hang out spot. Located right in the middle of the school it is home to beautiful trees and breath-taking flowers. Picnic tables are always filled with the seniors talking out their college applications and their weekend plans. There is always a football or Frisbee game going on. It was the perfect location for the Class of 2006 to spend its final days at Union Catholic. This was the spot in school that many relationships were sealed for life. The friends and sense of community one gets at UC is something that will never leave you. As our senior year was coming to an end everyone was experiencing mixed emotions. Sure we were glad to move on to the next step in our lives, but at the same time it was hard to leave the place we had called home for four great years. I lived and breathed Union Catholic. I was no longer a public school girl in a uniform. I was a Union Catholic student which became a huge part of my identity. There were no longer catholic school and public school kids we were all one. We were all united. As graduation came I found myself extremely sad to be leaving UC, until I heard a speech that put it all into perspective from our alumni speaker at graduation practice. "No matter where you came from you joined the UC community and became a life long member. Union Catholic, your alma mater will always be there for you. The community you have come to love and be an enormous part of will always welcome you back," said Dave Thornton ‘75 We were the 211 members of the class of 2006 covered with blue and white caps and gowns. In our gym filled with all of our friends and family watching us take out final walk at current Union Catholic students. We had all become unique members of this most special community. Just as the first day of our high school career began so did our last. The gym was packed as we were welcomed to the commencement ceremony for the Union Catholic’s Class of 2006 by our Principal Sister Percylee Hart. I had come to adore this place and if I didn’t take a risk of jumping in I would have never experienced some of the best years of my life. The experiences that I gained at Union Catholic are something that I will always carry with me. I became one of those students walking down the freshly painted halls talking about my laptop being reconfigured and how awesome my summer was. More importantly I enjoyed being one of those students wearing the special Union Catholic Big Brother/Big Sister polo and helping the new freshman class a freshman class that was dear to my heart because it had my little sister as a member. Union Catholic opens many doors for every one of its students. I took advantage of all the great activities, teachers, and community they had to offer. It became home. Each and every day I looked forward to going to school to see my friends and teachers. This is a place unlike any other. Any person who attends Union Catholic will tell you the same. Union Catholic High School |
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