红衣主教海斯高中 Celebrates Their Ivy League-Bound Students

像全国许多老年人一样, an 18-year-old honors student from the Bronx decided he would submit an Early Decision (ED) application. This process is an indication to the prospective university or college that institution will be his first choice.

曾经是阿法里爷爷, 红衣主教海斯高中的高三学生, 填好申请表, 校对他的个人论文, 上传教师推荐, 以及必要的财务信息, 只剩下一件事要做: 

他紧张地在笔记本电脑上点击了“提交”.

给每个高三学生, 这是一个学生的“信”, 谁会充满期待和焦虑, 急切地等待着收到邮件. With their hands trembling and the nervous system going into complete overdrive, he or she will finally open that long-awaited envelope or email from a potential college.

在与阿法里和他的同学交谈时, 贾登·Aracena, 杰克·迪亚兹, 约书亚Okwaning, 弗兰科·索尔扎, they seemed to agree with their close friend on how their morning began prior to receiving their college acceptance letters/emails.

“我的故事其实有点奇怪. The school day itself, from when I came to school and when I woke up, it was a gloomy day. 一整天. 我记得午餐的时候，我真的很暴躁. Anything someone would say would agitate me,” stated Afari matter-of-factly. 

Immediately, his classmates laughed wholeheartedly and nodded their heads.

放学后到家, Afari - who played varsity soccer and ran track throughout his four years - mentioned how he had soccer practice but also slowly began to receive text messages about his classmates’ acceptance into their respective Ivy League schools.

“I heard Jake got into UPenn (University of Pennsylvania), 听说杰登被宾夕法尼亚大学录取了, 约书亚被布朗大学录取了，我的第一反应是, 我的天啊, 我的认可还没有到来.’”

He continued nervously to refresh the page until the phenomenal news appeared on his laptop screen - Congratulations and welcome to Brown University!

除了阿法里，他的反应是松了一口气, who plans to major in Mechanical Engineering and minor in linguistics, he also had enough energy to run around his house…like a madman. 

令人惊讶的是, no one was home to witness the proud son of Ghanaian parents achieve this remarkable accomplishment.

These scholarly, young “Hayesmen” are Ivy-League-bound. They received their Early Decision acceptance letters and will be attending the most elite institutions of higher education in the Fall of 2022. 

Along with their immediate family and loved ones, they’re thrilled beyond words.

These seniors credited their parents and family members for instilling the value of an education in them but their unwavering faith in God was also of paramount importance. 在与贾登·Aracena交谈时, who will be attending the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, he shared a heartfelt story about his beloved grandmother.

“她每天都为我祈祷. Prior to opening the letter, she took me into the room to say a prayer. 我每天晚上也祈祷，”阿拉塞纳说.

Although 约书亚Okwaning was raised in the Pentecostal faith, 他的父母, 也从加纳移民过来的, were determined to enroll their son in a Catholic school. That journey began at Saint Simon Stock in the Bronx and eventually continued to another well-known institution on the Grand Concourse. 

And he’s extremely proud of his Bronx roots and 红衣主教海斯高中.

“As a student who has stayed in the Catholic school system, don’t take it as a joke. Because you may think, since I’m in a pretty good school, your life is laid out for you. 然而，你必须付出努力，”Okwaning说.

出生在迈阿密, 他来自佛罗里达，父母是多米尼加人, 杰克·迪亚兹, 谁会去宾夕法尼亚大学, 感谢父母对教育的重视. 

“我妈妈也是一名老师, and she stressed the academics a lot [because] it would be my way out of many things,” said Diaz who not only played sports but enjoys creative writing in his spare time.

I asked Diaz if there was a Plan B - if he wasn’t accepted to UPenn. 他解释说:“我是一个时刻准备着的人. Whether I got accepted or not, it didn’t define me as a person. 我还是那个老杰克.”

不过, these Ivy League-bound students also credited 麦奎德荣誉项目 at Cardinal Hayes.

每年, 一个特别委员会对未来的新生进行面试, who will attend classes consisting of all honors and AP-level courses for their four years at Hayes. This unique program also engages students to become critical thinkers and multifaceted leaders.

“There’s not just one teacher that really impacted my Hayes experience, but I think of Mr. guimar和Mr. Sarcone. I feel like they’re unorthodox teachers that made me think outside the box and challenge myself academically,” said Afari who described these veteran teachers from the program.

他补充说:“他们提供了非常好的人生建议. Mr. 吉玛尔斯是我在海耶斯生活中不可或缺的一部分. 他带我走过了大学的流程. Sarcone的课，我永远不会忘记他的课. 他们真的很有趣. 他们让我对生活有了更好的认识.”

在我们结束讨论之前, I posed this question to the group: Ten years from now, what’s the best advice you would give a future Hayesman who is applying for college?

尽管他还没决定大学专业, Franco Sorza was determined to attend a college/university where 他的父母 (who were born in Mexico) wouldn’t be responsible for any of his postsecondary expenses. 但他平静地, 用单调的声音, conveyed his story on how he received the news of his college acceptance. 

And I soon learned it didn’t happen exactly as planned.

“我没有正确阅读我的电子邮件. I thought the decision was on the 16th like everyone else. 我重读了一遍，是今天，14号. So, two days is not today, I was just nervous,” Sorza said.

但, he immediately wrapped up our conversation about what he would tell a future senior graduating from his alma mater in the South Bronx.

“最好的建议? 正确阅读邮件. 不要像我那样. 如果事情进展不顺利，总会有办法的. You might have to jump through some hoops but trust me it’s worth it.”