The Paradigm of Catholic School

People think it is weird that I went to a Catholic school. Either I spent most of my time being a raucous cock tease or I am a nun in training. Many people leave a Catholic high school education never wanting to go to church or even hear the word Jesus again. Surprisingly, although for sometimes counter-intuitive reasons, this was not my experience. Catholic school taught me God was okay, and here's why...

The first day of Catholic school seemed like the biggest joke ever. Here we were talking about making service and education an important part of our lives and we were wearing teeny tiny little outfits reserved only for Go-Go in Kill Bill. Chastity, my ass, I thought, and I was only eleven. Also, everyone seemed angry like they hated God and they were being forced to talk about it like a little kid is forced to go to Sunday school. They thought everyone else should suffer just because they had to. From this, I learned that life is not easy, and sometimes you just have to sit back and earn your place.

This proved to be difficult. As a snarky brunette with loud opinions and a penchant for breaking the rules, toeing the line was not my strong suit. Looking back, I needed firm guidance, and this was exactly what I got. What I actually needed was a swift kick in the ass. It was later that I realized my school and church community cared about me much more than my tween brattiness could understand. I realize now that if the Brothers that taught my lessons had been as nice as I had hoped, I would have walked all over them. This is the way of a teenager, pushing as far as you can.

We had mass during school hours as well. Public school students cannot fathom that, but we did. We would all gather in the gym and have a full prayer service for an hour and a half. At the time, it only served as a way for me to goof off or avoid doing my homework for the class I knew would fall at that time period. During college, I missed it. I am pretty sure my teachers knew that no one paid attention, but it was the association between God and tranquility that was important. Now, whenever I go into church, I feel relaxed, like I just got out of doing my homework. God made me feel sneaky.

Through this sink or swim community, I was fortunate enough to make friends in an experience that only we shared. Say what you will about Catholic secondary school, but until you live it, you cannot realize what a different path it is. I ended up respecting and caring about my classmates in a way that has carried on way past graduation. It seems that my high school had a way of keeping friends close and as community. A recent tragedy in my school community has proved yet again how quickly we can all come together.

But what does this all have to do with God? I guess I do not know for sure. But what I do know is that any God I would ever seek to believe in would have to bring people together. God would have the ability to teach people in ways that are unexpected. God would also help people that love each other reach out in times of need. It seems funny that I would find God in a place as mundane as high school. But that is the paradigm of Catholic school, sometimes you find a little bit of heaven in a place that seems like hell.