Special Place

Trojan Pride

St. Catherine Laboure Parish to me was my home away from home. I attended school there from first to eighth grade, went to mass every Sunday, and if that was not enough, I was going to Vietnamese School there every Saturday from the age of nine to thirteen. The teachers, coaches, staff, schoolmates, and priests of St. Catherine Laboure Parish all helped in my becoming the person I am today.

St. Catherine Laboure is a Roman Catholic Church and school. There is a class in every grade that teaches students about the Catholic faith. From God creating the world, to Jesus turning water into wine, and curing the sick and blind, was what I learned straight from the books read and the words heard in of these St. Catherine Laboure classrooms. The reason why I have such a strong faith now is because of these classes and the teachers who taught them. The subject was not just about learning what had happened two thousand years ago, but also to teach us moral values such as treating others the way you would like to be treated, and following the Ten Commandments.

There are many great memories I have of St. Catherine Laboure. One of them was flag football in the eighth grade. We were called the St. Catherine Laboure Trojans. Our arch rival was Nativity, and there had been plenty of talk going into the upcoming meeting. I took it personal when my friend told me a player from Nativity called us an obscene name. Let's just say they called us something that girls have, but boys do not. The game was held at Bishop Montgomery High School. The weather was sunny and the wind was just right. Our starting running back had a dentist appointment so he had to miss the first half of the game. When he came back for the second half he asked, "Why is everyone leaving?" I answered him, "Well if you are beating a team by more then 30 points than the referees end the game right then and there." What did that player from Nativity call us again? He probably had a change of heart at the end of that game. We finished the season 14-3 and lost in the quarterfinals of the playoffs. Our coach, Coach Hand, told me something that I would never forget for the rest of my life and that was "Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda". He taught me that no matter how bad things go, you should not regret it, but just learn from it and move on. I say to myself that everything happens for a reason and