Throughout our time at BSM, although we’ve had our fair share of rants, attending this school has instilled in us values and experiences that will stick with us for the rest of our lives, and for that we are honestly grateful.

As opposed to other high schools, students at BSM have been required during their Junior year to take a class that involves service of some kind, and although getting fifty volunteer hours done for Christian Service became a nuisance at some times, it benefited and forced us to grow and learn so much more than we ever could have in a classroom. Also, for many students, the required service becomes something they love to do, and historically many students have stuck with the volunteer jobs they initially began to get their hours done for the class.

BSM has opened the eyes of the students that go here to a world outside that of the typical Catholic-school-going teen. Not to say that all students have had life changing experiences or have experienced enlightenment, but many have worked with and helped people they never would have had they not been given the opportunity to by the Theology department.

Not only have we been required to participate in activities for the betterment of our communities to get credit for class, but BSM has provided a plethora of other events and opportunities to help those around us. Beginning in the spring of 2009, BSM debuted the Relay for Life, a “marathon” running all night with students walking around the track at all hours to raise money for the American Cancer Society. This event was totally optional, yet over 400 students participated.

Going a step beyond Relay for Life, every year, Senora Guzman chaperones a mission trip to the NPH Orphanage in Guatemala; a trip which fills up within moments of the permission slips being handed out. In more recent years, mission trips to Ghana and South Africa were also chaperoned by BSM teachers and spearheaded by students.

And finally, beginning this year, the Common Basket effort has showcased our student body’s ability and willingness to help others, even people they don’t know from places they’ve never been. After the earthquake in Haiti and before the mission trip to South Africa, students were touched by the causes and paid out of their own pockets to help others. Specifically, our last common basket, donated to Make A Wish, went exceptionally well and goes to show the lessons and values BSM have shown the students.

We can complain all we want about the strict, sometimes over the top rules, but that doesn’t change what BSM has done for us. We have all benefited from the service opportunities this school has provided for us. And it is that fact that will truly make us miss this giving community.