Notre Dame Сatholic High School Application

I believe I am a very good applicant for Notre Dame High School because of the many personal achievements, skills, and characteristics that have made me the person I am today. I believe my cultural and spiritual family upbringing, mixed with my own life experiences, has molded me into a person who will not only thrive and grow at Notre Dame, but will also contribute to the success of my schoolmates and school.

Both of my parents are first generation Italian-Americans who have raised me to value and cherish my cultural and Catholic heritage. This combination of a strong immigrant work ethic and deep roots in our Catholic faith has resulted in my growing up with a strong sense of who I am and where I come from. From the minute I was born my mother and father spoke Italian to me, and to ensure my continuous fluency in the language my mother started an Italian language school where I still attend classes every Saturday. Also from the day I was born I have been taught all of the rich traditions of our Catholic faith by my mother and grandmother who are lifelong Catechists. This has given me deep faith that I turn to when I am stressed or feeling down. I have been active in my church since I was little, singing at Sunday mass, helping with children’s dismissal, and assisting our Italian club with their events. My involvement at choir led me to study piano, which I have done with our music minister for three years. In addition to studying piano I have taken various art classes and participated in both art and photography competitions. My mother has taken me to museums and theatrical productions since I was very little so the arts are a very important part of our lives. I am hoping to put my cultural, religious, and artistic abilities and sensitivities to work at Notre Dame.

I experienced several challenges when I was small that helped me to grow tremendously. When I was younger I was bullied at school. At first it started as just teasing, but then grew to something bigger. I became deeply depressed and I struggled with feeling confident about myself. Luckily when I moved from public school to Catholic school I had a chance to start over. Over the years I have become strong and resilient and very passionate about sticking up for anyone being mistreated. When I was in third grade my grandfather was diagnosed with lung cancer. My family spent a lot of time caring for him, making him meals, cleaning for him, taking care of the house, and making sure he was happy and comfortable until the day he died. He died at home when I was in fourth grade and I was very sad because he was the only grandfather I had ever met. From this I learned about the harsh reality of death and I started to become more grateful for my father and appreciate the gift of health and life. By overcoming these difficult experiences I have learned to channel my energies in a positive direction. I am now involved in decathlon and it is very challenging and difficult at times but instead of going crazy, I take a break and draw or play piano or simply listen to music. With hard work, comes happiness; I know I will be a Notre Dame student who is not scared of a challenge or working hard.

Currently, I am in my second year of decathlon, my third year of school volleyball, and my third year of being on Honor roll. In the past three years I have received an art award, music award, student of the month, and………….In my free time I like to visit with family and friends. We regularly have people over for dinner parties and I love to stay up late and talk with the adults. Our dinners often involve people of various cultures and political views so it is always entertaining. I often read the paper or watch the news with my Mom to stay current on world events, and I like to discuss news stories with teachers and friends. I have a passion for learning that I believe will serve me well at Notre Dame. Not only am I intelligent, but I am caring, creative, friendly and mature for my age (or so I am told!). As such, I look forward to all of the opportunities that Notre Dame will offer, and possibly joining the Debate Team.

In conclusion, I would like to say what I love about Notre Dame. I love the variety of people, classes, clubs and opportunities. I was impressed with the counselling department. I plan to explore different career paths and prepare for college and I think that the NDHS counsellors will help me with that. I am a very energetic person and I love how much spirit the school has. I also am very impressed with the professionalism of the staff and students that I have met. The thing I like best about NDHS is that every student you see has a smile on their face and you can tell that they really like being there.

I am proud of my personal and academic achievements and hope to achieve more as a Notre Dame Knight.

Works Cited:

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