Name tags hooked to their shirts, khaki pants pinned to their legs, the freshman class took their first steps into the Hall of Honors, embarking on the beginning of their Jesuit journey. In only the first 6 weeks of school, the class of 2017 has seemed to find where they truly belong, defining for themselves what their class is all about.
With such vast diversity in this year’s freshman class, it’s a wonder how close they’ve become as a community. Stemmed from 74 different middle schools, this year’s class of freshman is one of the most diverse Jesuit has ever seen. But despite coming from so many different backgrounds, they’ve shown what it truly means to come together as one, united group of students. According to Freshman Counselor Corey Marr, its amazing how open the freshman have been with each other: “They’re meeting new friends at lunch tables and hanging out with kids they didn’t know before.”
Elaborating on his point, Mr. Marr adds, “Typically freshman hang out with their old friends from their middle school” and that “they usually don’t open up to so many new kids the very beginning of school.”
Well it seems as if we’ve all been surprised because this class has taken the Jesuit profile and made it their own in what short time they’ve been here. 280 strong, these frosh have accepted opening up to a new life and a new experience at Jesuit by becoming more involved in clubs and sports. According to Freshman Counselor Mr. Tim Host, “the freshman are involved in the most unique combination of activities” ranging from ” football and art” to ” theater and medical society.”
When asked about the class’ unique qualities, counselor Mr. Host explained that “They’re surprisingly mature and independent. Something we don’t always see so quickly in Freshmen.” The envisioned shy, name-tagged kid wearing khaki pants, who seems to avoid new situations is exactly opposite of the freshman we have this year. According to Mr.Marr, “They’re meeting with teachers already” not to mention “we’re in only the fifth week of school and we’ve met with almost all of the class. Where in recent years I’ve had to chase down students after the ninth week!”
With such strong drive to grow not only academically, but physically and spiritually, this new Jesuit class is sure to continue to grow perfectly into the profile of the Jesuit Grad, adopting the qualities of being religious, open to growth, physically fit, loving, committed to social justice, and intellectually competent.
We’re told every year by Assistant Principal Fred Donahue or Assistant Principal Mark Knize that for every one of us here, there is someone else who didn’t make it and would take our spot. Some take it to heart, some ignore it, but this year’s freshman have accepted that as a challenge to go out and make their Jesuit experience worth the most they can make it. With 280 of 520 applicants accepted, the acceptance rate of just over 50 percent remained constant over the past couple of years, and according to Mr.Host, Jesuit foresees even more applicants and less accepted in the years ahead.
Hopes and expectations are high after such a booming start for this class, but as one counselor points out, we haven’t even seen who they truly are yet. Counselor Mr. Tim Murphy adds, ” We can look for what makes them unique” but the reality is, “it’s too early to decide who this class is. We need more time to see them really open up and show their true attributes.” So don’t get too complacent Freshmen, you’ve got a couple more years ahead of you, and trust me, you haven’t even begun to witness what Jesuit really means.
