One year down...

...where did the time go?!

I cannot believe that it has already been one full school year in my Lasallian Volunteer experience! Crazy! As with any school year, it gets extremely busy towards the end, and again that has affected my blogging. :/.

It has been so beautiful in NY it is sometimes hard to be inside school all day, but then when it comes to the weekend, I find no energy to go out and explore and be active. Its basically a lose-lose situation. In the month of May, it was non-stop action; proctor the SAT, LaSalle Days at Loughlin, a retreat with the faculty, clean out the office, Debriefing Retreat in Chicago, and a site visit from our new LV in community next year. It was all so much fun! From that month of May, I'm going to highlight events: LaSalle Days and Debriefing Retreat.

This year, for LaSalle Days, we focused our theme around Br. Dominic Jordan, a brother who worked for our sister school in Nyeri, Kenya, and sadly passed away earlier this year. We created a button of him for out-of-uniform day, celebrated his life through prayer, and highlighted the school as much as possible. We also participated in an international Lasallian project called "Many Stars, One LaSalle". The concept is to get all of the Lasallian schools and agencies around the world to create a human star (the Lasallian symbol) and have it be a part of a slideshow to be created and shown next spring! For the conclusion of our LaSalle Days at school, I made it a project to create a Loughlin Star! :D. We ended the week with an awesome assembly viewing the LVs Ride Documentary (the Lasallian movement, coast-to-coast bike ride, to raise awareness for the program and the break the cycle of poverty) as a student body, and then began our formation in the yard. In the end, we were able to create our star, and it truly represents Loughlin's personality in all that it looks.

Loughlin's "Many Stars, One LaSalle"

The other exciting moment for the month of May was our LV Debriefing Retreat. Looking from the outside, it is an exciting to come together with my LV family and see all my friends who I can only usually see through their facebooks when I stalk them, but this was an opportunity to share a weekend together! :D. We had a lot of fun, and were able to really take some time to come together and reflect and somewhat relax before going in for the home stretch of our year. I was most excited about this retreat because it was finally time for me to cut my hair! I'm not sure if I had mentioned it previously, but I decided after Midyear Retreat to not cut my hair, in support of donating it to cancer patients for wigs, etc. It seemed like a good idea initially, until realizing the time it would add in the morning getting ready and such, so getting it cut was a huge highlight. I shared in the moment with 8 other LV's and our director of the program! In the end, it all went to a great cause, I can say that I am proud I was able to donate such a significant to someone who will truly appreciate it! 

Before the cutting of the hair began; I had to have my hair put into small ponytails for the donation. 

Br. Fez came along for moral support as I am finishing up getting my hair buzzed off!! 

The whole group after our cuts.
 The signs represent who we did the hair donation in memory of/motivation to donate

With May being such a busy month, I was hoping for a calmer June, but that was wishful thinking. On June 2, we graduated 195 seniors from Bishop Loughlin, and what an exciting day to celebrate! Over the year, I really grew close to our seniors, and I kept telling myself that I would not be sad to see them go, and would be able to hold it together, but I was sadly mistaken. These students truly became mine over the service year, and I really appreciated all they did to help welcome me to Loughlin. It is a weird feeling without them in school, but I know they are all going to go far, and remember to come and visit Mr. Hueg when home on breaks ;). But really, it was a beautiful celebration, and they are going to really dominate their college experiences! 

After graduation, I got the opportunity to go see a show that night that I have been craving to see before the Tony Awards happened: Once. If you heard about the movie in 2006, it follows the same story line about a relationship between "Guy" and "Girl" through music and different ways of communication. Truly amazing. I was happy to be able to finally see it, and understand what all the buzz was about. As a bonus, at our performance, I had a great celebrity sighting, and feel it will remain at the top of my list for my years here in New York: NEIL PATRICK HARRIS! Just casually milling out of the theater, I literally ran into him and couldn't get my act together in time to say his name, his tagline, ask for a picture, etc. I definitely need some practice so I don't miss the next opportunity. Lol. Nonetheless, he seemed a nice guy, and later went on the next weekend to host an awesome Tony Awards, where Once took home 8 of the 11 nominations it had received! 

With this long post getting excessive, it brings us up-to-date of where I am today, enjoying this beautiful day in NYC and Father's Day. 

Tuesday will be my last day for the first year, and I couldn't be more excited. 2 friends will be coming out to visit, hoping to see some shows and just show them around New York. A much needed present after a hardworking school year. 

Until the next post (which should come before the end of my 2nd year...), thanks for checking back! :)

Live Jesus In Our Hearts. Forever!