The eighth grade was a year full of awkward boys, mean girls, and big decisions. The most important decision that fell upon me this year was what day I should buy my lunch in the school cafeteria, it came down to taco Tuesday and pizza Friday. Ultimately, after a long process of tests and studies, I chose pizza Friday. But the second most important decision I had to make this year was the choice of attending public high school or private, and this decision is something that really made me the person I am today.

All my friends from my middle school would be attending public school. Private school had a bad reputation with my middle school friends.

As the closing weeks of eighth grade were winding down, talks of high school really started to heat up. Every recess and free period I had throughout the day someone always seemed to bring up the question, “ Where are you going next year?”

The problem for me was I really had no idea.

My parents were strongly encouraging me to attend private school because they both came from very religious backgrounds, went to Catholic High Schools and took pride in it. My sisters, on the other hand, really wanted me to go to public school just like they did.

Ultimately, the decision came down to me.

I had to weigh all of my options. I knew that if I went to public school I would have the comfort of seeing familiar faces and not have to go the struggle of making new friends. But then again, I thought, maybe that’s what I needed, a chance to meet new people and make new friends. I also knew my cousin would be going to private school in a couple years too, and that would be kind of cool. Private school offered me new chances to meet a whole new group of friends. My parents kept telling me the decision was mine, but would try and lay subtle hints like what a great chance it would be to learn from priests, meet more kids from the city, and how nice it would be to go to a school with only boys with no “female distractions”! My sisters were just the opposite. They both chose public school over Resurrection and were really happy they did. They were persuading me very strongly. They would tell me that they would “make me the popular guy in school” and “introduce me to older girls”. They also said stuff like “Catholic school boys are awkward when they get to college because they don’t know how to act around girls”. I obviously knew that these things weren’t all true, but either way I did like the idea of meeting older girls a little bit more than learning from a priest!.

The deadline for me to decide on the school I was going to was May 1st. Every single day for the two weeks leading up to that I was faced with either a friend, family member, or teacher who was trying to persuade me one way or the other. The day before I had to make my official decision my whole family sat down and tried to help me figure out my reasons and help me come to clear conclusion. It eventually came down to an argument between my parents and my sisters. My sisters highlighted their argument with the point of girls. They said having girls in my classes is something that seems stupid but will actually make my high school life ten times more enjoyable and my college life an easier transition. My 5’ 10” 230 lb. dad tried to rebut this by saying, “Hey! I went to an all boys high school and look how I turned out”!

Exactly! That made my decision a whole lot easier: I would be attending public school!

My decision has really paid off for me. I found a great group of friends that have a lot of the same interests as I do. I joined the MS Lacrosse Team and found a sport that I love playing, have gotten pretty good grades in my classes, and think the school offered everything I needed and wanted (including girls)! I also got pretty involved with the CRUX group (a teen religious club at Mary, Seat of Wisdom) which has made my parents pretty happy too!

Next big decision - college!