Today’s first reading is from Isaiah and includes this line:Then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the dumb will sing. Streams will burst forth in the desert, and rivers in the steppe.I don't know that I'm lame or leaping, but I do have the distinction of being a stag. A DeMatha Stag to be exact. Those of you from the Washington, DC area may be wondering how that is possible.
You see, DeMatha is one of the premier Catholic High Schools in the country (as an alum, I have to say that but it is also true). It is well know for their academics, sports (especially basketball) and music programs. It also happens to be an all boys school. And yes, I have always been of the female gender.
So how did I end up a Stag? Sadly, my fabulous but struggling all girls school (run by another group of groovy sisters) closed at the end of my Junior Year. Some of us were already taking classes at our brother school, and so a deal was struck where we got to stay together for our Senior year by heading across town to DeMatha. 700 boys, 21 girls. It was an interesting year to say the least.
The other day I had a lot of traffic from the DeMatha Alumni e-mail which included a link to my blog (courtesy of my big brother who is also a Stag and I guess alerted the Alumni office to the existence of my musings). The Alumni office has been planning to do a story on me - religious vocations from Catholic Schools are news, even when they are delayed by 15 years. Plus, as the e-mail said, I "could very well be a true original - the first DeMatha graduate to become a nun." I'm willing to bet I'll be the LAST DeMatha graduate to become a nun.
4 comments:
I can see all who don't know the story about the 21 girls being very curious. My roomie's little bro went to DeMatha befor being accepted at Phillips Exiter
I too lived through The Closing Of The Girls Schools in the late 80's. Academy of The Holy Names closed at the end of my junior year but I ended up at Blair. I went from 20 something in my class to over 500...and a new appreciation for school uniforms!
Enjoying the novitiate insights! The first snow on the east coast is something to look forward to! Hang in there.
Yup that was the time. I think something like 7 or 8 All Girls Schools closed in 1989? My alma mater was Regina in Adelphi.
You threw me there for a second, because when I taught at Seton, DeMatha was our brother school.
Suddenly, though, I'm trying to remember dates ... b/c my bro-in-law taught at DeMatha somewhere around that time.
We got a couple Holy Names folks at Stone Ridge .... and then there was the Immaculata closing, and then reopening elsewhere run by parents, and then (I think) closing once more.
I'm pretty surprised, though, that I didn't know the briefly co-ed time of DeMatha. Although that was the standard mid-year rumor at Seton -- the two schools would be combining.
Learn something new everyday!
Post a Comment