Dear Saint Patrick,
The past four years at Saint Patrick High School have been the best years of my life. Walking into Saint Patrick High School I was a shy and quiet kid. Taking many acting classes, I was not afraid to talk in front of people anymore. Doing challenging math problems in front of my classmates I became comfortable being myself. Once baseball started freshman year, I found myself playing catcher and having to be a leader. Playing the position of catcher, you must be loud and confident in your decisions. Playing baseball was one of the greatest things I could do to help me grow as a man. Being a leader on Kairos will be the most memorable part of my four years here. Leading a group of kids and watching everyone grow and come together as one community will be something I will never forget. These experiences contributed to me growing into the confident man I am today.
“Brotherhood” is a word that is very important to Saint Patrick High School. When you go to the Open Houses here, you hear this word a lot. You do not fully understand what this means until you experience everyday life at St. Pat’s or cheer on a team in the Stud Section. The Brotherhood that we have with our classmates is what makes this school so unique. Although there are many students who come from diverse backgrounds, the moment you commit to attend Saint Patrick High School, you become a part of one very large family. St. Pat’s is unique in the way that every faculty member is trying to help you succeed.
If I was not blessed with great teachers and coaches, I would never have developed into the man I am today. When I first met Dr. Schmidt it was apparent how much passion he had for St. Pat’s. When asked why he has so much passion for this school, he said that you have to be happy in what you do, and that he would not trade his job for anything in the world. Through this, I learned that it does not matter how much money you make. As long as you are happy and serving others, it is definitely worth it.
At St. Pat’s we are taught the value of hard work. Whether it’s Mr. Kohl’s math class where you get homework every day or Mr. Doyle’s British Literature class where you have multiple projects and tests throughout the year, you really learn how hard you have to work to do well in these classes. Meeting many new people through these four years, you learn to respect everybody because you never know what someone is dealing with outside of school. Learning these qualities in high school, I am prepared to be successful in anything I do in my adult life.
Through classes, sports, and relationships, you are forced to be able to bounce back and keep moving forward. For example, I have an A in every class except for math. My sophomore year in Mr. Kohl’s geometry class, I barely got a C. After failing many tests, I knew things would have to get better, and I just had to keep moving on. That next semester I got a B+. In baseball, I was second string catcher for the first two years of my high school career. I knew if I continued to work hard, I would get my chance. Junior year came along and I got my chance. I started to play regularly. As a senior, I started the season as first string catcher. If coaches and teachers never taught me how to handle adversity, I would have never been able to bounce back from any hardship thrown my way. Being able to handle all things thrown at you is a very important quality heading into college. I owe this important lesson learned to the teachers and coaches who helped me through any problem I had.
When I first walked into Saint Patrick High School, I would have never guessed that I would have ended up going to college for free. I became close with Dr. Schmidt and he took me under his wing. Because of his guidance and support, I received the Chick Evans Scholarship for caddies. I will be attending the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and I plan to study history. Dr. Schmidt providing me with the opportunity to caddy is just another example of St. Pat’s helping their students to succeed. These four years have been nothing but special and I plan on taking these life lessons learned with me to adulthood.
Sincerely,
Michael Pasquale ‘18
