Choices.
When I was 14 and entering High School the next 4 years of my education had been planned out for me. I Had attended Catholic school my whole life and so continuing a Catholic education was non negotiable with my mom. Or so she thought.
My heart was set on attending Scared heart cathedral in San Francisco. I had sent out an application to them and also to 3 different Catholic high schools. But my mind was set on Sacred Heart. When the acceptance letters came much to my surprise and utter disappointment I was put on the wait list. Convinced I was still going to get in I waited until the deadline came to make a decision. The deadline came and I realized I was not going to be going to the high school I had dreamed of. The grades were there and all the requirements had been met but for a reason I will never know I was not accepted. The runner up school was an all girls catholic school. Immaculate Conception Academy (ICA). As a requirement to be accepted I had to attend summer school to get acquainted with the school.
Summer school went well. The school was beautiful. The nuns were nice and I knew I would be getting a great education. Plus, my best friend and a lot of classmates I had grown up with would be attending with me as well, but for a reason that to this day I still question I didn’t want this to be my home for the next 4 years. I knew my mother would not accept me attending a non catholic school and so I began sabotaging my acceptance. Attendance was a very big factor so everyday I would arrive late to class. The nuns took notice and addressed the issue with me but I continued on arriving 10 minutes late one day 5 another and so on. Summer school came to an end and the principle set up a meeting with my mother and myself to discuss my acceptance. Essentially the were revoking it. The principal let all the information behind the decision bare. How despite them addressing the issue with me I continued arriving late to class. After she had finished speaking she looked to me to have a response. I full heartedly knew my grades were in par with their requirements and so what they really wanted from me was an apology and an honest promise that I would arrive to class on time once school started. I knew this one response was saving grace from being expelled from school. I sat there in front of my mother and the nuns with no response. My mother did have a response for me. She informed the nuns she would personally make sure I would arrive on class on time. To show her dedication she pulled out her check book and wrote out a check for the full tuition for the next 4 years. All that needed to be done at this point was for me to accept. Yet I didn’t. I sat there mute with a blank stare on my face thinking about how this wasn’t even the school I wanted to attend in the first place and how I didn’t want to be stuck at an all girls school for the next 4 years.
These were the thoughts of a naïve and very foolish fourteen-year-old. I didn’t know back then this one decision would set into motion a rippling effect of choices that would affect not only myself but the ones around me. Essentially my life could be very, very different had I just promised to arrive to class on time to the nuns. I honestly don’t know what type of life I would be living right now. My best friend stayed at ICA and went on to attend Notre Dame De Namur University where she double majored in business. I, on the other hand went on to attend Galileo High School were I was met with being a little fish in a very big pond. A type of pond I had never experienced before. Public school. The freedom that came with this was too much for me and it led me to very, very poor choices for the next 3 years. Wait, high school is supposed to be 4 years right? Well yes, but you see I turned into a slacker. All the principles that had been instilled in me went out the window. By junior year I was no where near the path of graduating. So I made the decision to drop out and get my GED instead.
This one choice of getting expelled did affect the rest of my life. It also affected people around me. It is from this choice I later realized your choices in life not only matter to yourself but they matter to those around you. What I thought was a choice that would only affect me had a ripple effect with those around me. My best friend met her current live in boyfriend through me. He was a friend I met at Galileo and I introduced them. They would never have met had it not been for me. Through him I met my husband, his cousin. We have now been together for 10 years and have 2 kids. I still look back at this choice and think about how I would be living a completely different life had I stayed at ICA. Would I have a family or would I have been more career focused like my best friend was/is, I don’t know. I do know I would have not experienced so many things that have led me down this path I am today. I still go back and forth whether the choice of getting myself expelled from ICA was bad. I know I wouldn’t have made a lot of idiotic choices I made in high school and most importantly I would have received an education. You see, I rarely attended high school. It was more of a meeting place for me. I didn’t allow myself an education I was more interested in experiencing a type of freedom I had never had before. Although I still look back at getting expelled as a mistake I also realize I wouldn’t have the family I have had I stayed at ICA. Choices, I learned the really do matter. Like, a lot.
My heart was set on attending Scared heart cathedral in San Francisco. I had sent out an application to them and also to 3 different Catholic high schools. But my mind was set on Sacred Heart. When the acceptance letters came much to my surprise and utter disappointment I was put on the wait list. Convinced I was still going to get in I waited until the deadline came to make a decision. The deadline came and I realized I was not going to be going to the high school I had dreamed of. The grades were there and all the requirements had been met but for a reason I will never know I was not accepted. The runner up school was an all girls catholic school. Immaculate Conception Academy (ICA). As a requirement to be accepted I had to attend summer school to get acquainted with the school.
Summer school went well. The school was beautiful. The nuns were nice and I knew I would be getting a great education. Plus, my best friend and a lot of classmates I had grown up with would be attending with me as well, but for a reason that to this day I still question I didn’t want this to be my home for the next 4 years. I knew my mother would not accept me attending a non catholic school and so I began sabotaging my acceptance. Attendance was a very big factor so everyday I would arrive late to class. The nuns took notice and addressed the issue with me but I continued on arriving 10 minutes late one day 5 another and so on. Summer school came to an end and the principle set up a meeting with my mother and myself to discuss my acceptance. Essentially the were revoking it. The principal let all the information behind the decision bare. How despite them addressing the issue with me I continued arriving late to class. After she had finished speaking she looked to me to have a response. I full heartedly knew my grades were in par with their requirements and so what they really wanted from me was an apology and an honest promise that I would arrive to class on time once school started. I knew this one response was saving grace from being expelled from school. I sat there in front of my mother and the nuns with no response. My mother did have a response for me. She informed the nuns she would personally make sure I would arrive on class on time. To show her dedication she pulled out her check book and wrote out a check for the full tuition for the next 4 years. All that needed to be done at this point was for me to accept. Yet I didn’t. I sat there mute with a blank stare on my face thinking about how this wasn’t even the school I wanted to attend in the first place and how I didn’t want to be stuck at an all girls school for the next 4 years.
These were the thoughts of a naïve and very foolish fourteen-year-old. I didn’t know back then this one decision would set into motion a rippling effect of choices that would affect not only myself but the ones around me. Essentially my life could be very, very different had I just promised to arrive to class on time to the nuns. I honestly don’t know what type of life I would be living right now. My best friend stayed at ICA and went on to attend Notre Dame De Namur University where she double majored in business. I, on the other hand went on to attend Galileo High School were I was met with being a little fish in a very big pond. A type of pond I had never experienced before. Public school. The freedom that came with this was too much for me and it led me to very, very poor choices for the next 3 years. Wait, high school is supposed to be 4 years right? Well yes, but you see I turned into a slacker. All the principles that had been instilled in me went out the window. By junior year I was no where near the path of graduating. So I made the decision to drop out and get my GED instead.
This one choice of getting expelled did affect the rest of my life. It also affected people around me. It is from this choice I later realized your choices in life not only matter to yourself but they matter to those around you. What I thought was a choice that would only affect me had a ripple effect with those around me. My best friend met her current live in boyfriend through me. He was a friend I met at Galileo and I introduced them. They would never have met had it not been for me. Through him I met my husband, his cousin. We have now been together for 10 years and have 2 kids. I still look back at this choice and think about how I would be living a completely different life had I stayed at ICA. Would I have a family or would I have been more career focused like my best friend was/is, I don’t know. I do know I would have not experienced so many things that have led me down this path I am today. I still go back and forth whether the choice of getting myself expelled from ICA was bad. I know I wouldn’t have made a lot of idiotic choices I made in high school and most importantly I would have received an education. You see, I rarely attended high school. It was more of a meeting place for me. I didn’t allow myself an education I was more interested in experiencing a type of freedom I had never had before. Although I still look back at getting expelled as a mistake I also realize I wouldn’t have the family I have had I stayed at ICA. Choices, I learned the really do matter. Like, a lot.