Bill Keenan '00
Christmastime at St. B’s meant three things: Ms. Rhodie’s Santa Lucia Assembly, Carols at the church, and exams. Song, celebration, and tests—the St. Bernard’s trinity. And while the singing and celebrating were fun and festive, they were mainly well earned after all those tests.
I must have had eight exams before winter break during eighth grade. Each subject required a different color binder so my bookbag contained chartreuse and magenta folders among countless others, all overflowing with looseleaf papers smudged from the graphite of number 2 pencils.
At St. B’s you work. You study. And you learn. A lot.
Wearing an Oxford shirt, I learned the Oxford comma. At St. B’s, you not only look the part, but you can play the part too. You memorize every country, capital, river, and mountain range in Europe so precisely that you can draw them from memory. And grammar—you don’t just learn the pluperfect tense. You learn how to conjugate irregular verbs in the pluperfect tense. In Latin. You learn how to look someone in the eye and shake hands. You learn how to cram for algebra tests by creating notes that nestle perfectly in your Hymnal.
Not everything sticks. And that’s the point. At St. B’s, you learn to fail too. You learn that exposure is the first step to growth and the importance of sticking with things if they’re a struggle, especially if they’re a struggle.
And with each year that passes following your time at St. B’s, you learn gratitude for the school that provided you a lifelong leg up.
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At St. B’s you work. You study. And you learn. A lot.
Wearing an Oxford shirt, I learned the Oxford comma. At St. B’s, you not only look the part, but you can play the part too. You memorize every country, capital, river, and mountain range in Europe so precisely that you can draw them from memory. And grammar—you don’t just learn the pluperfect tense. You learn how to conjugate irregular verbs in the pluperfect tense. In Latin. You learn how to look someone in the eye and shake hands. You learn how to cram for algebra tests by creating notes that nestle perfectly in your Hymnal.
Not everything sticks. And that’s the point. At St. B’s, you learn to fail too. You learn that exposure is the first step to growth and the importance of sticking with things if they’re a struggle, especially if they’re a struggle.
And with each year that passes following your time at St. B’s, you learn gratitude for the school that provided you a lifelong leg up.
