Not On The Transcript

I spent four years at Brophy without fully understanding what the place was giving me. I was a teenager, after all, and not always an especially well-behaved one.

Looking back, much of what I believe about how we should move through the world began there.

I learned discernment. Not just how to make a decision, but how to sit with one. To question my motives. To look beyond what I want and consider how my choices might affect someone else.

That required understanding something both simple and difficult: the world does not revolve around me.

That is a lesson most of us have to learn more than once. Everyone is carrying a story we may know nothing about. Empathy begins with meeting people where they are.

That idea changed how I understand love. Truly caring for someone cannot always be about what comes back to you. Sometimes you give what you can simply because you love them, without keeping score.

I also became thirsty for knowledge. Not simply to know more, but to think more deeply. To question what I had been told, remain curious and keep searching for truth, especially when it challenged what I already believed.

I learned that gratitude and hardship can exist at the same time. A life can be difficult and still be beautiful. You can be worried about tomorrow and grateful for today. You can carry disappointment and still take in the small moments that often matter most.

I have missed plenty of those moments. But I have learned to look for them.

I learned to accept growth, especially when it is uncomfortable, and to understand that the work is never finished. I also learned to be nice, a quality that is underrated and too often mistaken for weakness. Simply making someone feel seen can make a positive difference in their day.

I have not always lived these lessons perfectly. That was never the expectation. The expectation was to keep examining, keep growing and keep trying to become a man for others.

That experience also gave me lifelong friendships, shaped my family’s story and connected generations of us to the same place. But that is another story for another day.

The Brophy community shaped my core in ways that have stayed with me. The fact that I have never been particularly devout only makes its influence more meaningful to me.

-E