The lessons I learned at St. Hubert Catholic High School for Girls go way beyond what I was taught in the classroom. While I definitely gained extensive knowledge about Jane Eyre, World War I, geometric transformations, all aspects of chemistry, and my faith, I learned so much while sitting in the halls before my first period class.
Some friendships are forever.
Many times, high schoolers go through friends like middle school boys go through Axe cologne. But at St. Hubert, we are constantly reminded about a sisterhood. Like any sisterhood, we may fight and disagree or stop talking for a period of time, but if it's a true sisterhood, you'll never forget it. While some friendships in high school may be fleeting, true sisters will be by your side at the best of times and at the worst of times. I catch myself scrolling through Facebook or Twitter and seeing one of my classmates mention that they’re going through a hard time, or transferring schools, or falling in love. And I catch myself reaching out to them because I truly care about them, even if we didn’t consider ourselves to be in the same group of friends in high school. I met some of my truest sisters inside the walls of St. Hubert.
I learned to be myself. Completely and truly myself.
High school is often considered to be a time of finding yourself. I may have spent my entire freshman year trying to fit in with a group of people that I didn't even necessarily like. By sophomore year, though, I had found my people. I was surrounded by girls who made me feel okay about being a little sarcastic all of the time. I felt great in my own skin, and as I go through pictures from freshman year to senior year, I can watch a transformation I didn't even notice before. I watched an honest happiness appear. A half smile turned into a cheesy, genuine smile. I learned that once I stopped trying to be someone else, and embraced ME, I could be happy. St. Hubert was a community of people who made you feel okay to be smart or athletic or not smart or not athletic. The point was that it was okay to be whoever you were and that as long as you were being yourself, you would thrive in life.
No one will ever judge you for getting fries. Ever.
It doesn’t matter if you have a lunch packed from home, already bought a wrap or buffalo chicken pizza, or didn’t have a lunch today, there is always room for fries. In fact, even if you brought a lunch from home and bought a wrap and buffalo chicken pizza, fries are still okay. Fries were a staple at every lunch. If you forgot a lunch and money, you could always scrape together $1.75 (are they even still $1.75???) from your friends for some fries. And they were definitely going to steal their fair share from you, because they were terribly delicious.
It is extremely important to fight for what you believe in.
“What you do matters.” We were reminded every single day that we were in control of our lives. Everything that we do matters in some way. From my freshman year all the way through my senior year, we were fighting for something. Freshman year was spent fighting hard to be able to have the next three years. This is when we learned that we actually had a voice. We were able to fight to save the school, which was a lesson that we never could’ve learned in the classroom. Once we realized that we could actually be heard, we fought for everything. We fought Aramark when lunch prices went up, and then up again. We fought administration for knee socks, and then against knee socks. We fought administration on prom dresses, because our prom dresses were NOT indecent and are nonreturnable!!! We fought administration on wearing our ID cards around our necks. Even though we did not always win these fights, we learned that making the effort for what you believe in is what matters.
You don’t need boys.
This was a lesson that I can’t stress enough. From the moment you walk through the front doors, you realize that you are enough. What might seem strange to many people is that Hubert’s girls don’t take dates to dances. At Freshman Dance, Soph Hop, and Winter Formal, you might see 20 guys in the whole room. These nights were to be spent being yourself with your girls. You’re constantly reminded that you can do anything. Not anything that a boy can do, but completely unrestricted anything. I remember one teacher specifically saying to us, “Do what is right for you. If you want to be a mechanic, be a mechanic. Don’t let anyone make you feel bad for doing what is right for you.” Thanks, Ms. Graf. We didn’t feel as though we couldn’t answer questions in the classroom because a guy might have the answer first, which increased our confidence. Now, as I sit in my college classes surrounded by fellow St. Hubert alumnae, I notice that we are never afraid to ask questions or answer them. We never had to feel like we weren’t as good as boys or as smart as boys or as athletic as boys. We didn’t have to look cute for anyone unless we wanted to. It was freeing.
I couldn’t tell you the first thing about The Scarlet Letter (sorry, Ms. Lewis), but I can say that I learned more at St. Hubert Catholic High School for Girls than I ever realized. I will always consider these walls to be home, and these girls to be sisters. As Dr. Walls used to end her announcements with, I’ll end this article the same way, “Remember. What you do matters. Make it a great day or not, the choice is yours.”
