St. Xavier
“Every day is a great day.” That is the mentality I strived to live by for the past four years at Saint Xavier High School. Even if that C period calculus test didn’t go too well or the coil built clay bowl in ceramics class didn’t look perfectly symmetrical, the opportunities to improve presented themselves abundantly each day at Saint X. Those ways to improve descended from the Xaverian charisms of compassion, humility, simplicity, trust, and zeal.
The brotherhood of Saint X lives on campus, on sports fields, and throughout the world with alumni across the globe. Those brothers represent compassion. Service is valued greatly at Saint X and those lessons of helping others I’ve learned across my four years will enable me to better the community I live in.
One project that really stands out to me is visiting the Abbey of Gethsemani. The grounds are beautiful and it’s incredible to see how the brothers live their lives of devotion to God. Because of the service performed by students, faculty, and alumni and the examples they set, I’ve learned to show compassion to everyone.
The humility of Saint Xavier derives from the earliest of the Xaverian brothers. They took upon themselves lives of faith, servitude, and honesty to help build a community of good faith for young men. From their guidance, I’ve learned how to remain humble in times of significant triumph and stay positive during troubling times. For example, after an exciting victory or a close loss with the Tiger volleyball team, I always remember to be thankful for the opportunity to play and to thank the other team for a good game.
The Xaverian Brothers also lead the example of lives of simplicity. Their lives set the example of a life truly built for others. They dedicate themselves to building up communities of faith. They’ve done so here at Saint X, but also in other parts of the world. I recall the stories that Brother Mike Foley would share with my chemistry class of his experience in Kenya. I relate those stories to my own experiences on our Sophomore Crossroads Retreat. We went into our own community of Louisville to serve others and see life from an entirely different perspective.
During my high school experience, I’ve come to know a great number of different people. Beyond just being friendly, they are people whom I trust greatly. Trust can be difficult to build between two completely different people because it takes effort from both sides. The men at Saint X learn to be both trusting and trustworthy and I’m very glad to have built trust with many of my classmates. I know that the relationships and memories I’ve made with my brothers will last a lifetime.
The last charism to reflect on is zeal. I am beyond blessed to have attended a school with such incredible teachers, faculty, and staff members. They represent zeal each day they enter the building, join a Google Meet, or host a Zoom call. The teachers bring energy and joy to the classroom. There are many teachers in the world, but the teachers of Saint Xavier High School really help make every single day a great day to be a Saint X Tiger.