The Legacy of 15 Years Larger than Myself

My thoughts turn back toward three extraordinarily significant years in my life as today I mark 15 years since my graduation from Percy Julian Middle School.

Wednesday, June 8, 2005, was the day that capped off my middle school years, a time that was truly more than about being at school, but an experience that shaped me so greatly.  As I walked across the stage at approximately 8:25 PM CDT that evening, based on the timestamp on the photo from that day, I had so much to recall.

Furthermore, that evening was a bit bittersweet, for as I looked back, I realized how special middle school was for me, and I was sad to leave it, knowing that I would never have anything quite like it in my life again, especially before adulthood.

In the midst of all my mixed feelings and emotions that evening, I could have never realized that while I was leaving my time as a middle schooler, I would have the incredible opportunity to go back to middle school, even reliving it vicariously through teaching Religious Education to middle schoolers at Ascension Parish, starting over 8 years later.  

As I constantly acknowledge, teaching Religious Education is such a profound experience for me because it is the convergence of so many significant parts of my life, especially middle school and college years, when my character was shaped so significantly, especially my faith.  Certainly that's why being in the RE classroom touches something deep down inside of me.  And in no other experience in my life have I given of myself so much as I have done with my RE students, who, based on counting just now, number 178 students over the course of 7 years.

It's incredible to think that 15 years ago, those 178 youths were either small children, or, as has now become the case with those I just had in class this past RE year, hadn't even been born yet.  The ways that I grew as a person, especially in faith, laid the foundation for how I would make an impact on them years later.  It's just like how my Julian Middle School experience as part of the first group to graduate after 3 years in the brand new middle school building, laid the foundation for what has come for all those who have followed my classmates and me as middle schoolers in Oak Park in the years since, including many of my students.

Just as with how I laid that foundation for the Oak Park middle school experience, I am able to take my part in something much larger than myself by handing on this gift of faith I have received to my students.  Certainly, being part of something much larger than me is a major legacy of my middle school year.

Teaching RE has given me the chance to impact those 178 lives by making an investment that will surely last for eternity as its goal is for them to reach God's presence in Heaven.  And that's what has driven me in my ministry to the students.  Furthermore, it gave me so much reason to celebrate back on May 19 as we gathered virtually to honor and affirm the 8th graders for their participation in the RE program as we sent them forth into the next stages of their lives.  In spite of the loss of time spent together in class for the last few weeks of the RE year, I was so glad to have the chance to connect virtually, especially for a prayer gathering as we would have typically upon the conclusion of the year.  It was special to do it on May 19 as the anniversary of my college graduation, as I could reflect on how my college years converged with my middle school years to bring me alive in the faith that I worked to hand on to those youths over the past year.  The prayer gathering certainly helped me feel a sense of closure, and I sure hope it did for those gathered.

Watching the virtual graduation ceremonies for the Oak Park middle schools this past weekend really touched something deep down inside of me as I recalled my own graduation, and what it meant for me to celebrate my middle school years that day, even as I celebrate the new group of Julian alumni, as well as at Brooks Middle School.  (I tell my students that I almost ended up as a student at Brooks.)

June 8 has indeed been a special day in my life for these past 15 years.  And as I recall the events of my last day at Julian, and then graduation that evening, I think about all that contributed to giving this day its meaning, which has lived well beyond that day for 15 years and beyond. 

Dad got this photo of me after the conclusion of the virtual prayer gathering for the RE 8th grade students on May 19, 2020, as I finished off another great year of RE and the chance to engage with the faith that was brought alive back in middle school for me.