Aquinas High School means love to me. I find love to be the perfect word to describe Aquinas. Love can be scarce, especially in today’s world, but at Aquinas it is easy to find. This is what makes Aquinas so special.
Aquinas was always my first choice when asked where I wanted to go to school, but in the back of my mind I wondered if it was right for me. I decided to look into other schools to assure myself that Aquinas was the one. No other schools gave me the same feeling as Aquinas. Now that I am in my second semester of Aquinas, I realize that this “feeling” was the genuine love that filled the school.
Father Brian taught us St. Thomas Aquinas’s definition of love which means to “will the good of the other.” Observing the way Aquinas High School's family treats each other, it doesn’t take a genius to see all the love that Aquinas houses. I feel loved when I drop my books and someone stops to help me pick them up. I feel loved when I start a new sport and a teammate reaches out. I feel loved when my teacher was as heartbroken as I was when I failed to turn in an assignment. I feel loved when I walk in the office and Mrs. Hagler smiles at me like I'm the only thing that matters. This love trickles down to the entire student body because when one receives love, one tends to give love.
My mom has always said, “I admire that Aquinas's alumni are drawn back home to Aquinas. I like the way they desire to be an active part of the Irish family.” I think this says so much about Aquinas. The former students want their children to continue the legacy and walk the same Irish halls as they did years ago. When I am an alumna, I know in my heart I will be supporting the green and gold. Even though I am just a freshman, I have already created bonds that will last a lifetime.
Aquinas gives me so much love, joy, friends, and of course family; I will forever feel at home at Aquinas. I look forward to sharing the Irish love in all the years to come.