#LasallianLife
Fences - A Student Reflection
April 19, 2024
As a school community, we consistently seek out ways to better understand each student and be responsive to each of their unique needs. On occasion, this leads me to read our senior students' college essays. This morning, I want to share an essay that truly touched my heart. It is written by a senior student who is extremely resilient, extraordinarily faithful, and a wonderful blessing to our community. She gracefully allowed me to share her reflection with all of you! I think that you will be equally as touched by her words...
The walk from my school to my home is 2.2 miles. Along the journey I pass house after house surrounded by fences - some wrought iron, some wood, some chain link, and some barbed wire until I come to my house. Outside my house, there is no fence, at least not one that you can see. But I see the fence, the fence that separates the worlds I live in, the fence I straddle every day, the fence that keeps one Debora in and one Debora out.
On one side of the fence is my home. The path to my home is surrounded by bikes, barbie dolls, basketballs, and old pacifiers. Inside the fence I live a life of a caregiver, a second mother to my younger siblings, one that cooks, cleans, and kisses all the boo-boos away. Inside the fence I dry tears and help with homework, and welcome my mother home after her third shift at her second job. This fence holds memories of nights helping with younger siblings, soothing crying babies, and soothing myself, reminding myself that one day life will be different and that I will be able to live the life I always dreamed of. I would rock her as I rocked myself repeating my mantra that as each day ended a new day would begin and a better day would be waiting for me.
Life inside that fence wasn’t always bad. Baby giggles and hours spent blowing bubbles fills the summer days. Watching my siblings grow up, knowing they felt love every single day, made all the tough nights worth it. Even though I wasn’t always able to put myself first, I never allowed myself to be put last. I found a deep sense of peace from my faith and no matter how much I had on my plate, I always found time to pray which always gave me the strength to carry on when it felt like the fence was closing in on me and trapping me. My faith allowed me to believe there would always be a way out.
And that way out was the other side of the fence with the path to my school. CBA allowed me to be me, not the second mom, not the housekeeper, not the one who has to fix everything and everyone. It has opened my eyes to opportunities I did not think I would ever have. It allowed me to see that I can be a part of whatever I want to be a part of and that there is no fence that can ever keep me out. I can cheer and sing and laugh down the hallway with friends, finally feeling carefree for once. It took me a long time to find the strength to be the person that I have become. It was not an easy path to walk and sometimes I still stumble, but I know now that my dreams are not just dreams but goals. I have friends who think I’m funny and teachers who think I am smart and there is nothing holding me back from a future that I once thought was unattainable.
So as I sit here writing this essay I look out the window and I see that imaginary fence I have to straddle and realize that’s all it is, imaginary. It’s in my mind and instead of seeing it as something that keeps me out, I see it instead as something that surrounds me and I realize that I am surrounded by love and support and that that fence holds it all together. And so while my life may not be a white picket fence, it’s a life where I am a little something to everybody and the path I walk down is one that leads to an amazing future.
I am pleased to share that this young woman has received multiple full scholarship offers to extraordinary colleges universities. We will be immensely proud to have her walk across the stage this spring and present her with her diploma - recognizing her true Lasallian spirit!
Miraculously, when we seek to touch the hearts of the young people entrusted to our care, our hearts are truly the ones that are touched.
Sincerely,
Mr. Matthew Keough
President, Christian Brothers Academy
