Adviser’s Note:  NDA celebrated Catholic Schools Week with a special Mass on Wednesday.  Bishop Ricken officiated at the Mass, but prior to the service two seniors, Milena Schwitzer and Nicholas Gruesen, explained what a Catholic education has meant to them.

Good morning everyone, I’m Milena. I’m a senior this year and I’ve been lucky enough to attend Catholic schools my whole life and I’m here to talk a little bit about what these experiences have meant to me. 

My favorite part about attending a Catholic school is the ability to openly express my faith. In a world where many seem to be far from God it has become more important to have a place where faith can be talked about without judgement. It’s such a privilege to attend a school where God is integrated in all that we do, allowing us to live out our faith daily. 

With opportunities like morning mass and adoration in the chapel, I am constantly reminded of God’s presence in my life. I’m more and more grateful for these experiences everyday as they provide me with a strong foundation for not only my studies, but also for the values that I will carry with me after high school. I’ve learned that faith isn’t just something I practice, but the most important part of who I am. 

When I reflect about what it means to go to a Catholic school the thing, I always think of is community. At Notre Dame I’m constantly surrounded by role models that set amazing examples about what it means to live a life that honors God. As Catholics we are called to be an example of Christ’s love in and out of the classroom. 

Catholic Schools Week serves as a great reminder to take time and appreciate how blessed we truly are to be surrounded by a community that takes pride in our faith and God–a community that will always inspire and support us as we grow closer to Him.  –Milena Schwitzer

Notre Dame, to me, is a place where I am able to grow my faith in Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior. Catholic school allows me to grow using my faith as an outline to find the person I am meant to be. In a world where Jesus is pushed further and further away by people who don’t want to open their hearts, it is more important than ever to have Catholic education.  We have at baptism a spark for Christ in our hearts; it is our job as Catholics to ignite that spark into a great blaze. Catholic school has equipped me with the tools I need to turn my spark into a massive fire.  It is those tools that I will use for the rest of my life to be a strong Catholic in the world.  

Notre Dame Academy will not hold your hand through life and be there every step of the way once we graduate.  But the Catholic education I have received here makes me confident that I can walk a path  knowing I have the knowledge and fortitude to make it to any destination I am called to.  

Notre Dame doesn’t just teach math, science, and history; Notre Dame teaches the lessons needed to face the world and become the person God has called us to be.  But Catholic school means more than just the bricks and mortar. It means more than the teachers and staff too. It means all of us. Students, parents, siblings, and alumni, for it is our job as a community to educate those who need it so that they too can have the tools needed to set hearts a blaze.  

Catholic education in one word would be “love.” Love. It is that simple. Notre Dame has taught me love isn’t just between a married couple. Love is the hours spent creating lesson plans to teach us how to reach heaven.  Love is the extra help for a student who is struggling.  Love is when we stop whatever it is we are doing so we can pray.  Love is all around me at my Catholic school.  

A Catholic school lives and teaches what Jesus Christ taught and that is LOVE, TO LOVE GOD WITH OUR WHOLE HEART, MIND, AND SOUL, AND TO LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR AS OURSELVES.  That is what Catholic school means to me.–Nicholas Gruesen