24 years ago...

This past weekend, I celebrated my Plant High School 20 year reunion. More importantly, though, that also meant celebrating my CKS 24 year reunion! Rather than regaling our students with captivating stories from my childhood, I gave them the top three things people really want to know after not seeing someone for a long time:

What do they look like now?

Looks, of course, are not the most important thing, but we are human and that is the first thing we notice about others. To help our 8th graders figure out what they would look like in 24 years, I told the boys they just need to look at their 8th grade yearbook photo, subtract hair from the top, add hair to the face and mix in some gray--I think the example below justifies my advice: 

For the ladies, I told them to take their picture--and leave it alone--because they will not age and will still look the same! 

What are they up to now? 

For just about everyone, the common answer to this question was "not what I was doing 24 years ago." Pictured below, I thought I was well on my way to a career as a professional athlete: 

At NO point in my CKS career--or high school one--did I imagine I would ever be at CTK for anything except Sunday mass, let alone be the principal of the school! My friends were very surprised. My career, however, was not the biggest surprise of the night. That honor went to my 4th grade best friend, J. Ben Hooks--or as he is referred to now, Father Hooks. He is a Jesuit priest, teaching Spanish in Dallas. 

Although neither of us saw the path our careers would take us, we were well prepared because we gave our best effort in everything we did. My advice to the students was that no matter what you think you will be when you get older, put in the preparation now so you can be whatever you want to be. 

How will people remember me? 

The final thought on everyone's mind was how will people remember me. As I told the students, people did not remember the clothes I wore, the type of car I drove, the type of backpack I owned or some embarrassing thing that happened at lunch. I encouraged our students that while these things may seem like the world to them now, they are less important than what people really remember: how you make them feel. The only regrets shared were for not keeping in touch or wishing that they were nicer to some people. 

I know how I must have sounded to the students and hope that at the very least they remember the two most important things I told them about CKS: learning how to better love God and better love each other. If we do that, then we can look back with pride on our days at CKS.