Upperclass Men

Boys State, Open House

2009-04-27T10:41:00.003-04:00

Hey guys hope your school year is going great even though I'm sure you are all excited as it is winding down to summer; I know that I am. Recently i was selected to attend American Legion's annual Boys State held at Rider University in June. American Legion Boys State is among the most respected and selective educational programs of government instruction for high school students. It is a participatory program where each participant becomes a part of the operation of their local, county and state government. I am so grateful for the opportunity that Union Catholic and the American Legion has given me because not many boys are able to experience this great chance to show your leadership skills in a governmental environment.
At American Legion Boys State, I will be exposed to the rights and privileges, the
duties and the responsibilities of a franchised citizen. My training is objective and practical
with city, county and state governments operated by my peers elected to the various
offices. The activities I will participate in include legislative sessions, court proceedings, law enforcement presentations, assemblies, bands, chorus and recreational programs.

This week on Wednesday night is our annual Spring Open House for prospective students and their parents. It is a great opportunity to see the school from not only the faculty's perspective, but also the student's perspective. I hope all of you that can come do attend because I love to see people looking at Union Catholic and seeing what a great experience all of the students have here with the academic but also social part of high school. I hope school and all your other activities are going great and hopefully I will be able to see all your faces and share with you all my experiences here at UC.

Back to School & Penn Relays!

2009-04-22T14:31:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone! I hope your spring break was as great as mine was, unfortunately it's time to get back into the swing of things at school. Having a week and a half off from school was great and everyone is moving just a little bit slower this week, but overall it feels good to be back in school again.

Union Catholic is full of excitement right now as we have many events coming up in the next few weeks. The Mr. UC Pageant is next week along with the SMAC Quarters for Cancer Dinner, and our spring sports are in full swing. In fact our track team will be competing at the Penn Relay Carnival this weekend at Franklin field at the University of Pennsylvania. This is an international meet that features the top athletes from around the world and it provides kids with an opportunity to run with the very best. Our girls will be running in two relay events and our boys will be running in two relays as well as one individual race. I will be running in the individual race as I will be racing in the 3000 Meter Championship Race.

In order to run in this race your entry must be accepted and you must be invited to run. Our relays qualified for Penn during the winter and we found out that we were accepted just last week! We are all very excited to race and I can't wait to get out on that track. Many of the other members of the track team will be attending the meet to come and support us which is awesome.

This meet is considered the biggest meet of the year (at least on the high school level) and you take what you learn from this weekend and use it to help yourself grow as a runner and competitor. The meet takes place over three days and last year over 140,000 people attended the meet over those days. I can't wait to run in front of a crown as big as that and I hope I can run the very best of my ability! It's going to be a once in a lifetime experience and everyone competing is going to give it everything they have. We're all pumped and ready to go, and I'll let you know how we do!

St. Patrick's Day, Lock In

2009-03-27T13:38:00.003-04:00

Hey guys hope everything is going well with school and your other activities. A couple of weeks ago was St. Patrick's Day, which is one of my favorite holidays because I am almost all Irish. During the day I went into New York City to see the annual St. Patrick's Day parade and two of my uncles were marching playing the bagpipes and drums, which is always an amazing experience to be in and I love seeing them play every year. After we came home from the city, I went over to Rahway with my friend DJ to a restaurant and we watched his dad play the bigpipes with his band. It was an amazing experience because I love hearing the Irish music they play and we got to eat a great meal at the same time. I hope next year I can have just as much fun on St. Patrick's Day as I did this year and I hope everyone has a blessed and healthy year until that time.

We also held our annual Lock-In for the class of 2013. The Lock-In is a night where we bring all the students who have registered for UC for the upcoming year and keep them at school till 11 where they compete in several different activities. Those activites included basketball, kickball, bingo, musical chairs, ice cream sundae making, and finally the video game bus. The video game bus is a huge trailer bus that comes to UC and has 4 huge plasma screen TV's with 16 gamer chairs facing the TV's. You are able to play XBOX 360, PS3, or the Wii and they have almost every game imaginable for each system. That was my favorite part of the night because i was able to play Rock Band and Halo and other games for a long period of time. I believe the night was a great success and all of the kids had a great time with the activities that were planned, while still getting to meet the people that will be their classmates for the next 4 years of their life. Hope everyone is enjoying the nice weather we are starting to get and I will keep you updated on the events of UC as we approach the end of the year.

Decisions

2009-03-11T22:34:00.004-04:00

Hey guys hope your year is going great because our year here at UC is amazing even though i'm sure many of you like myself can't wait until summer gets here. Recently our spring sports season started and I had to make a decision on what sport i was going to go out for. I had played baseball all my life and my first two years at UC, but I joined cross country and winter track this year and absolutely fell in love with the team and everything that surrounded track. Even though I didn't think I could see myself giving up baseball, i followed what i believed my heart was telling me and chose track. The great thing about my decision was that either way I chose, I knew that I was going to be happy and successful. Those decisions are the hardest to make but also the best because you know that their is no wrong decision because both sides have many pros that will you can enjoy. In your time at UC you may run into a lot of decisions like the one I had where you have to pick between two different things, but the great part is there are people here to help guide you in the right direction and either decision you make will lead you to happiness and success in your UC experience. If our in the real world you are faced with a decision like this one, my best advice is to weigh the pros and cons of each side of the decision and then follow what your heart is telling you to do.

NEW YEAR, SAME UC

2009-02-05T14:26:00.001-05:00

My New Years resolution is to blog on a regular basis and as you can see it has taken me a little while to get it going, but I think I’m ready now. So far the New Year has been great and I hope yours has been good. UC is a very exciting place to be right now because we have so many different things going on. I’m a student Ambassador here at UC so I’ve been working all the recruiting events and that’s been a lot of fun.

On Saturday night I worked the Accepted Students Dance and that was a really good time. It was great to see all the 8th graders come out and try and meet some of their future classmates. I still remember when I went to that dance as an 8th grader and meeting my classmates. I was actually reminiscing with some of my friends about our dance. it wasn’t that long ago that I was in the same position as those 8th graders. It’s funny because it seems like yesterday that I was choosing a high school to attend and now I’m starting to look at colleges. It’s really crazy to see how fast time flies in high school.

Our Athletic teams are also making some noise in the building. Our basketball teams are doing well, our swimming team is under a new coach and they are seeing quite a lot of success, and our track team is representing our school like none other. I’m probably being a little biased because I’m on the track team but we really are doing well. We just ran at the Union County individual championships and our team took home 3 county titles. It was a good day to be a Viking! I hope all of you are staying warm in this cold weather and I’ll keep you updated on the UC news.

Meeting the Class of 2013

2009-01-27T11:17:00.004-05:00

This week represents the start of the most important week in Union Catholic because we get to meet the incoming freshman class which this year will be the class of 2013. First we have the Scholarship reception for those outstanding students who recieved academic scholarships.

Next we have the accepted students dance for all of the students that were sent out letters saying they were accepted to UC. This event is great and everyone that is thinking about coming to UC or even has some doubts, should attend, because you get to meet a lot of new people and make great new friends. When I was an incoming freshman and didn't know where I wanted to go, the accepted students dance helped make my decision a lot easier. I met so many new people and everyone was so friendly to me, even the kids that were helping out and already were attending UC and i realized that these were the people I wanted to be around for the next four years of my life because they would always be there for me and care about me which they have no matter what the situation is.

Next we have the Accepted Students Q&A in which students and parents have a final chance to ask questions and get answers from students and finally is Registration which is the best day of the year because we get to meet the new freshman class of UC. I will be at all of these events and I hope to see all of your bright smiling faces there.

Semi Formal, Midterms

2009-01-26T13:53:00.005-05:00

Hey guys hope your school year is going great even though it's already the middle of year. My school year has been flying by so fast and recently we just had our semi formal. Every winter we have a formal in which our gym turns into a winter wonderland and everyone gets dressed up. it was a great time this year and I had so much fun dancing and hanging out with all my friends and the DJ had the music going all night. Semi symbolizes the first part of the Christmas and holiday season and that is my favorite time of the year and also because my birthday is the week after Christams so i love spending time with my family and getting double presents is always fun. We recently took our midterms though which isn't the best part of the year, but a part that we all must go through. Midterms are a big test on all that you have learned from the beginning of the year to the middle. The tests are only really hard if you don't study but as long as you study, they aren't as hard as anyone makes them out to be, and once they are over you get a short little break and it ends the first half of the year. After midterms you realize that you only have about 5 months left until summer which is the best feeling in the world. School is great here and i'm excited to see all of the new freshman that come to register to attend UC and I hope I see many of your faces there because UC is a great experience for any student, no matter what you are into and everyone deserves the chance to experience UC.

Junior Ring Ceremony, Discover UC, Start of New MP

2008-11-17T10:30:00.004-05:00

Hey guys UC is so busy and alive lately. Last week, myself and classmates of the junior class recieved our junior rings. It was a great night and helped us realize that we are upperclassmen now and we have something that can be on us forever that will remind us of our past and where we came from. It looks great with the blue stone and all the stuff i got written on there like my name, class, irish flag and baseball to represent the activities that i participate in. It's one of the great things you look forward to when you are younger here at UC and it's great to see that some of these are happening already.

Recently UC held it's "Discover UC Night" for perspective students who are thinking about attending UC. It was a very successful night because it gave students and parents lots of information on what UC is about and why every person that goes here finds something to do. It was also the first night that UC showed their new DVD which was done by an alum! It gave families a chance to see what our lives are like during the day because most of them can't come during the day to see the energy and atmosphere that UC provides for every student that walks through the door.

Times are flying by here at UC because first marking period ended the other day which means that we are already 1/4 of the way done with the school year. I can't believe that I'm already done with 1/4 of my junior year because it feels like just yesterday I was walking in so nervous to my freshman orientation and now I'm almost halfway done with my 3rd year of school.

Jr/Sr Trip, Notre Dame

2008-11-03T10:30:00.004-05:00

Hey guys sorry I haven't been blogging lately school has been crazy here with the end of the first marking period but I can't believe that we are already a quarter of the way done with the school year, its amazing. I hope your school year is going great too. Recently the juniors and seniors went on our annual trip in the fall. Every year the school picks a different city and this year was Philadelphia, PA. The trip was awesome, I had a great time hanging with my friends doing all the activities that were planned for us. One night we had a dinner/dance cruise on a boat which was great because all of us were up dancing all night and having fun. The next day we went to Hershey Park where we rode roller coasters all night and it was a great time. When we took a break from roller coasters, we went over to chocolate world and bought way too much chocolate but it's okay because no one can have enough of great chocolate. The next night was my favorite because we went to Eastern State Penitentary which is a haunted house but in a deserted prison and I got so scared at some points it felt like my heart was about to come out of my chest. On sunday we went to mass at Villanova and after toured the campus and it was a really pretty school to see. The trip was great and I can't wait till next year's when we go somewhere else.

This weekend my dad took me, my brother and grandpa out to visit Notre Dame college in South Bend, IN. It was one of the best weekends of my life. The campus and buildings were so beautiful that you were taken back as soon as you walked on. There was such a great vibe coming from all the students and faculty there. On Friday we took a tour of the school and looked at all the great things that Notre Dame has to offer for every student that wants or goes there. Saturday was the best day. We got to campus early so we could see the football players walk from church to the stadium then saw the band play all of the fight and victory songs and finally watched the game. Even though Notre Dame lost to Pittsburgh 36-33 it was in 4 overtimes and even though it would have been nice for them to win, the game was so exciting and the atmosphere inside the stadium was something I had never felt before in my life. On Sunday we went to mass in the church and walked around the campus again and everything looked so calm and beautiful. It was a great couple of weekends that I will never forget and hopefully more come up in the near future.

Junior/Senior Trip and XC

2008-10-27T11:29:00.000-04:00

Wow! School is crazy right now, and I apologize for not writing any blogs, but I think I finally have my routine down, so I’ll be blogging every week again. UC is busy as usual, and that’s always a good thing. As you know it’s fall and that’s when we have our annual Junior and Senior Trip. I remember being a freshman and watching all of the upper classmen board the buses to go on the trip, and I said to myself “I can’t wait until I get to go on the trip”. Well, it was finally my turn to go, and I had a great time. Every year the school goes somewhere new, and this year we went to Philadelphia, PA. The first night we were there we went on a dinner cruise that rode along the Philadelphia skyline. It was awesome! All of my friends were taking pictures everywhere, and we danced all night. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done.

The next day we went on a tour of “Amishville” or Lancaster, PA. We went to a farm, and a pretzel shop where they made the best tasting pretzels I’ve ever had. After that we went to Hershey Park for the rest of the day. That was definitely one of my favorite parts of the trip. I love going on roller coasters, and my friends were on them all night long! After we went on every coaster in the park we went to chocolate world, and I was in heaven. I love chocolate, and I bought all of my favorite candy. The day as a whole was great, but the next day was even better.

On Saturday we took a tour of all of downtown Philadelphia, and it was great. We went to all of the historical museums, and we had a real “Philly Cheese Steak” lunch at Gino’s in downtown Philly. It was the best cheese steak I’ve ever had. After some more tours and dinner we went to the Eastern State Penitentiary, which was recently voted the most haunted place in America. We went on their haunted tour which was awesome! The set up was really clever, and the actors on the tour really scared me good. Visiting that place was my favorite part of the trip. The next day we went to Villanova University for Sunday Mass, and then we took a tour of the campus. It was a great way to end the weekend.

Once we returned it was back to the real world, and school work. The first day back was tough, but it was worth it. Getting back in the practice mode after school however, was tough. A couple of kids on my team went on the trip as well so we were all struggling, but it got better. Our fall sports teams are in the peak of their championship seasons, and we’re all doing well. Recently our cross country team ran in the Mountain Valley Conference Championships at Warinanco Park in Elizabeth. We all ran well, and we placed second as a team. We were hoping to come away with the win, but the other team was better than us that day. We’re hoping to get some revenge at the Union County Championships this coming Wednesday. I’ll keep you updated, and I’ll let you all know how we do.

National Honor Society, Freshman Field Day

2008-10-16T09:07:00.003-04:00

Hey guys how is every one's school year going?? I hope it's going great because mine is amazing and flying by fast as anything. Last week some of my fellow classmates and myself were iducted into a group that is called the National Honor Society. It is a very hard thing to get into and only a select few have the requirements necessary to get into it. I am so honored and grateful to know that it's nice to be rewarded for the work I do. Hardwork never goes unrewarded although you may not see it, in some way it will help you in the short or long term. It was a great night to be with my friends and family as we recieved this great honor that will go with me throughout my entire life. A couple days later UC held it's annual Freshman Field Day. This is when freshman compete against one another in activities such as basketball, kickball, 3 legged race, hola hooping and other fun activities. They were broken up into teams based on their homerooms and every one had an awesome time because they didn't have to go to classes and got to spend the entire day just relaxing and doing activities with all of their friends which everyone likes. It's just one of the things that freshman look forward to during the year and events like this make freshman and everyone else included love coming to UC everyday.

OPEN HOUSE

2008-10-06T10:49:00.003-04:00

Hey guys hope your school year is going great. Ours is flying by in what seems like no time at all, I can't believe it's already October and a month of school is already under our belt. Last week we had our annual fall open house for perspective students and their parents. It was a wonderful night and we had an amazing turnout there were so many people in the halls that at some points it was hard to walk through everyone. There were tours given, which the ambassadors including myself led. We took a group of students and their parents around the buliding and showed them our facilities and talked about what makes Union Catholic a great school to come to. Other parts of the night included going to classrooms and talking about different subjects and levels of academics in our school. There were tables set up in the gym for all the sports teams so that people were able to see what kind of sports are offered here and they got to meet the coaches. In the cafeteria there were tables set up for all the clubs we offer here at UC. There were a lot of tables because we offer so many clubs and there is usually a club that can fit anyone's needs. It was a great night and the atmosphere in the buliding was so lively that you felt like you were in a great experience whether you were a perspective student, parent or even a current student in the building. It was great to see everyone so happy and i hope the class of 2013 is as great as every other class here at UC.

8th Grade Day of Recollection, Welcome Back Dance

2008-09-29T12:05:00.004-04:00

Hey guys hope everyone's school or work year is going good. Mine is going great even though its really hectic and there isn't much time for things ater school and sports. I joined the cross country team like fellow blogger DJ and it's a lot of fun. Earlier this week UC held an 8th Grade Day of Recollection where about 160 kids from all different grammar schools came to recollect at UC and to see what our school is like. I was able to get out of school to work it which isn't so bad because everyone needs a day off once in a while. There was lots of fun with speeches and group activities and we all got lunch by Wendy's which everyone loved. It gave the 8th graders a chance to see some of what the high school experience will be like and what will happen through your 8th grade year into freshman year, which is good because it's always good to know somewhat of what is coming towards you. On friday night we had the annual welcome back dance for all uc students. It was a lot of fun to be with your friends all night at school and we were dancing and grooving to songs all night long. It was also a great place for freshman and new transfers to meet people that they didn't know and make some new friends which is always helpful. Soon a lot of you 8th graders are going to be choosing what high school you want to go to and all i can say is visit as many schools as you can and you'll know in your what school is the best for you to succeed in.

Where Did Summer Go?!

2008-09-18T13:37:00.001-04:00

Wow!

Summer flew by as usual, but it seemed to go by even faster this summer. It seems like yesterday I was taking my last final and getting ready to kick off my summer. However, all things must come to an end, and summer is no different. I was, in a way, looking forward to school starting, but in another way I wasn’t. I couldn’t wait to get back and see some of my friends again, and I was also looking forward to my Cross Country season.

Our team is looking to do big things this year, and everyone put in a good summer of training. Our coach told us that if we wanted to do great things we would have to have a good base of mileage, and we all listened. This past Tuesday we had our first race, and it was a Dual-Meet vs. ALJ (Clark). Everyone was pretty excited and nervous at the same time, including myself. During school that day all of the guys were joking around with each other to get loose before race time. I have to say that the team chemistry is awesome this year. Everyone gets along with each other and we don’t mind going to practice everyday.

School ended and we all got changed into our new uniforms that we fundraised for over the summer. I love the new uniforms, they’re really comfortable and they look great on everyone. We warmed up, stretched, and put our spikes on. We were ready to run! The gun went off and we all sprinted off the line. The race went by really fast, and before I knew it the race was over. We counted the points and we won the meet! Dual-meets aren’t a big deal in Cross Country, but it was a great confidence booster for all of the guys on the team. Our first big meet is on Saturday at Warinanco Park in Elizabeth. It’s the Bernee Magee Class Meet. It’s a meet where freshman race freshman, sophomores race sophomores, etc. I always love running at that meet because the atmosphere is great, and we’re all really excited to race there. I’ll let you know how we all do!

Back To School

2008-09-15T08:42:00.004-04:00

Hey guys!! I can't believe we are back to school already it feels like just yersterday we were getting ready to have a great time in the summer. My summer was great and filled with lots of exciting things and I hope yours was too. I'm looking forward to having a great year and I wish all of you luck no matter where you are in your academic career. I'm going into my junior year and it's a really big year for me. I have to take everyone's favorite test in the world the SAT'S and i'm starting to look at colleges that I want to attend. All the seniors are excited to begin there last year of high school, the sophmores are grateful that they are still not freshman and are looking to become role models, freshman are just starting there high school careers and they might be very scared or excited and juniors are glad to be known as the older kids of the school and they are looking towards stuff like the junior/senior trip and junior prom in the spring. And if there are any freshman you shouldn't be worried about school because I'm sure wherever you are you'll do fine and if you are at UC there are tons of people that can help you along your way if you feel like you need someone there to help you. There are also a lot of transfer students this year and they might be scared too, but don't because UC is a great school and has programs that can help everyone out. I will be blogging weekly about the events that come up during the year. I hope everyone has a safe healthly and great school year and remember that you can do anything you want too as long as you put your mind to it.

NATIONALS...BON JOVI!

2008-07-16T09:16:00.003-04:00

It’s crazy to think that we’re already a month into summer vacation, but summer wouldn’t be summer if it didn’t go by fast. Even though school is over, UC is still buzzing. The track team is always the last team to finish their season. We recently went to Greensboro, North Carolina for Nike Outdoor Nationals. Our goal throughout the whole spring track season was to qualify for this meet, and sure enough there we were. The atmosphere there was awesome! There were college scouts everywhere and the crowd was electrifying! We were all so excited to race.

Our 4x800 meter relay team was the first to race. We were the first race of the day on Friday, and we were ready to go. We ran in what was called the Emerging Elite Division which allowed teams who didn’t make the fastest qualifier to still run at Nationals, and it was still National Championship race. Our leadoff leg was Ryan and he did a great job. He handed off in first place to our second leg Alex who also ran a great race. The pace was getting faster and Alex fell back to third place, but we were still within striking distance. Alex handed off in third to Danny who ran to the front pack right away. He opened up a lead and handed off to me in first place. The race was getting more and more exciting and as we came up to the final lap of the race there were about 5 teams in striking distance. As we came down the final straightaway it was between 3 teams, and UC was right in the mix. I was giving it everything I had, and I started to pull away from the other two teams and crossed the finish line in first place! We couldn’t believe it, we were National Champions!

The next day our sprinters ran in the 800 meter sprint medley. It was by far one of the most exciting races of the meet. We were in third going into the final lap and our anchor Garrett was in striking distance. Coming down the final straight he passed one team into second and then blew by the next team into first. He crossed the finish line and threw his arms in the air. Union Catholic just won two National Championships! It was a great way for our seniors to end their high school career, and for the younger guys like me it was a great experience that we’ll use throughout the rest of our high school career. That night we went out to dinner and just had a great time. The pressure of running was off and we were all able to let loose and have a great time.

However, my summer has not been just about running. It’s been great hanging out with all my friends and not having to worry about school! Recently one of my buddies Kevin (who is a fellow blogger) invited me to go to the Jon Bon Jovi concert in Central Park. It was my first concert, but it was a great one! We got there really early and we had a great spot about 50 yards away from the stage. My whole family was jealous that I was going to the concert, because we all love Bon Jovi. The concert was amazing, and I’ll never forget it. My summer is going great and it’s only going to get better. I’ll try and post as often as I can, but if I don’t talk to you before school starts again, have a great summer!

BTW... you can visit Coach McCabe's website for pictures and track stats...www.uctrack.com

ACADEMIC AWARDS, ICE CREAM SOCIAL, SENIORS

2008-05-27T10:04:00.003-04:00

Last week we had our annual academic awards for the sophomores and freshman. It’s a night where the school rewards students who have excelled during the first three marking periods of the current school year. It is a great night where students receive awards for Math, Science, English, and Social Studies and for their GPA. It is also determined at this point who is #1 and #2 in the class. Even though I didn’t get very high up in the class, I still did pretty good and got awards for Math because of my outstanding achievements. It is great to see all of the people that are being rewarded for their academic excellence. After the awards were given out, we all met in the cafeteria for an ice cream social. It was a great way to top off the night by rewarding us and our families again by giving us ice cream and allowing us to make our own sundaes which always taste good. Everyone looked very good with the guys in suits and the girls in nice clothes or nice summery dresses. It’s a great night and is sort of the start to the end of the year which makes us all happy because summer is almost here.
The seniors are done here at UC and its very sad to walk through the halls without having them there. I was friends with a few of them, and one had a very special impact on me. He was like my big brother and he watched me throughout my time here at UC and I thank him very much for it and I hope all the seniors have a great summer and a great college experience and hopefully we get to see you around when you can come back for spring break and things like that.

TRACK COUNTIES

2008-05-12T12:14:00.002-04:00

Wow, May is already here! It seems like yesterday that I was just beginning my sophomore year and here we are almost juniors! Our spring athletic teams are in full swing. Our track team is having a great season so far so let me get you caught up.

We recently competed in three meets over the course of a week. We had Conference and County Relays, then we had Conference individuals. The first half of our season is mainly relays, and then the second half is the individual part of the season. We ran well at the Conference meet and the two relays I was on we placed first. At the County meet was also did very well. Our 4x100 meter relay team placed first and set the meet record in the event! The other relays I was on placed first. It was a very exciting meet. The following Tuesday we competed in the Conference Individual meet. Our coach told us that we had a very good chance to win and that every point we earned meant a lot. It was a two day meet and we went into the second day with a five point lead over second place Rahway. After exciting races and great throws we came out on top and beat Rahway by ten points! It was so exciting to win and run a victory lab around the track. It was the first time in school history that we won an outdoor track meet! The team we have this year is very special and the chemistry between all of us is great. We have the County Individual meet coming up this weekend, and hopefully we can bring home another trophy.

As for the rest of the sports, our Baseball team just defeated our rival Roselle Catholic in extra innings! All of our teams are doing great as they come to the end of their seasons. I’ll keep you posted on how the end of the year winds up!

Open House, Beating RC!!!!!!

2008-05-09T13:08:00.003-04:00

Hey readers there has been a lot going on at school lately. Everyone is excited because school is almost over and summertime is just around the corner

Last week UC held its annual spring open house for students who want to know more about the school. Being a new ambassador, it was my first opportunity to be able to give tours of the school to families that had students in younger grades that may want to attend Union Catholic one day. It was a great turnout and there were a great number of students which is unusual for the spring open house (our fall open house is usually the one everyone attends). After tours and academic presentations we had a student panel where kids at the open house directly asked current UC students questions about life at UC and what happens on a daily basis. It was a fun night and it was great to see all of the kids and their parents really learn about what UC is and what a great atmosphere it is.

Yesterday the varsity baseball team played Roselle Catholic, who happens to be our school’s rival. In a great thrilling game the Vikings pulled out on top 4-3 in 8 innings. It was an amazing game, UC had fought tough all game but they were still down 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh. They managed to score a run and tie up the game and force it into extra innings. After shutting down RC in the top of the 8th, Union Catholic’s star catcher Jimmy Thornton came up with one out and runners on first and second. He hit a ground ball through the right side and the winning run scored from second to secure the victory for UC. Everyone was jumping up and down and yelling at the top of their lungs. It’s a great feeling to win, but it’s even better to beat our rival RC. The varsity team is having a great season so far with their record being 11-3 and 2 losses by only 1 run. Come out and support the Vikings and show your school spirit.

ANOTHER SIDE OF UC

2008-04-22T10:13:00.001-04:00

Hey everyone! I just wanted to get you caught up in what’s going on in the UC community. I am a very active member in the club SMAC (Student Movement Against Cancer) and every spring we participate in the Relay for Life at Scotch Plains High School. We do a number of different fundraisers to raise money towards our funds for the relay. We recently had one of our fundraisers.

Every spring we have a fundraiser called “Quarters for Cancer”. How it works is you walk into the cafeteria, which is decorated, and you give a donation (Example: $20), and they ask you how many tickets you want. The tickets are used to get your food, and each ticket represents a quarter. Every scoop of a dish or a dessert is a quarter. So if you want ten tickets, you can get ten things of food. It’s a great event and everyone has a great time. When I got there and saw all the food I was amazed. It was great to see everyone come together and donate all that food. It was also great because all of the sports teams had just come from either practice or a game, and they were all starving. I sure was, and I ate a ton of food.

At the end of the event everyone went over to the Auditorium for the Mr. UC pageant. I went and saw my brother perform. It was really funny see all of those guys get up on stage and dance. My friends and I were all hysterically laughing the whole night. My brother performed well and placed second. He was a little disappointed, but he had a great time doing it and that’s all that mattered.

The next day we all found out that the “Quarters” dinner raised $618!! The dinner was a huge success, and it was our best year ever. We are all excited for the Relay for Life coming up in two weeks! I’ll let you know how it goes.

AMBASSADOR ACCEPTANCE...LOCK-IN

2008-04-21T14:35:00.002-04:00

A couple of days ago the new ambassadors were chosen and I was lucky enough to be one of those people. My fellow blogger DJ was also chosen as one. An ambassador is a leader of the school who is always at the out of school events that UC runs and is seen as the face of the UC. I’m very grateful that I was chosen for this spot because it’s a very high leadership position here at UC. I’m glad that I get to work with my classmates and people of older classes in helping younger students and parents to see how great a school Union Catholic is.

One of the perks of being an ambassador is getting to work events like the Lock-In that we held last Friday for the class of 2012. Incoming freshman come to UC from 7 until 11 at night. We split them into about 10 groups and have them do different activities with each other, so that people can meet each other. My brother was one of those incoming freshman and he said it was good to meet some of his classmates so he didn’t feel like he was going into the year not knowing anyone at all. Some of the activities that the kids did was play guitar hero, kickball, basketball, musical chairs and they had to go on a scavenger hunt to find people that liked the same things that they did. This was a good icebreaker and it helped kids who didn’t speak that much start to talk to some of their soon to be classmates. It was a fun night working with my friends and seeing all of the kids that are going to soon be my new schoolmates in a couple of months. It’s been great to update you guys again and don’t forget on April 22 which is a Tuesday night UC is having their spring open house and I would strongly advise that if you have the time that you come and see what a great community UC is.

Ambassador or Peer Ministry?

2008-04-10T13:26:00.001-04:00

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven’t been blogging for a while, but let me catch you up on all the news in UC. As you know it’s the start of the spring season, and everyone has some spring fever. The weather is getting nicer, and all of the sports teams are in full swing. Our Track team is running well, and our Baseball team is off to a 2-0 start.

Spring is also the time when applications for leadership positions for clubs and activities are due for the upcoming year. I decided that I wanted to apply to the Ambassador, Big Brother/Big Sister and Peer Ministry programs. I was selected to be interviewed to be an Ambassador, and I had to make a decision between Ambassador and Peer Ministry. Ambassadors work open houses and visit grammar schools to talk about UC to prospective students and their families. Peer Ministry works more with the kids in our school. They help spread their faith in God to others in the school, run our Days of Recollection and school masses. I evaluated all aspects of both clubs and decided to try and go for Ambassador. I chose that because Peer Ministry holds most of their meetings right after school, and with my track schedule I wouldn’t be able to make most of the meetings. Ambassador events normally take place at night so it worked better with my crazy schedule. However, I also felt I my talents and abilities fit the Ambassador Program more than they would in Peer Ministry.

Well I had my interview on Monday, and I thought it went very well. Two days later there was an announcement calling a few students who were interviewed down to the Admissions Office. Mr. Luciano (Head of the Ambassador program), and Mrs. Thornton (Director of Admissions, and fellow blogger) told us that we were selected to become Ambassadors. I was really excited, and I can’t wait to start training.

I have a track meet today at Governor Livingston. I’ll let you know how it goes in my next blog as well as how the rest of the spring sports are going.

SPRING BREAK AND BASEBALL

2008-04-04T13:55:00.001-04:00

For those of you who don’t know last week was spring break here at Union Catholic. We were lucky enough to get 8 days off from school which is always good because everyone needs a break. Over those days I had the lucky opportunity of going to Arizona to visit my aunt and uncle who I haven’t seen in a year. It was a great experience to be out there and see how much life is different. First of all, I was three hours behind of everyone back here so for the first couple of days it was hard for my body to get used to it. It was beautiful weather out there. Almost everyday it was around 90 degrees, but it wasn’t humid so it felt amazing and getting to swim in my uncle’s pool made it even more amazing. Later in the week we visited the Grand Canyon. It was amazing to see how water, weather, and time can shape such a huge thing into one of the world’s most famous wonders. It was cool to look all the way down and see a river flowing through all the twists and turns and know that it formed because of the canyon. The beautiful part had to be the sunset though. We watched the sun set over the Grand Canyon and when it was nearly about to disappear was probably one of the most beautiful places ever.

This week is opening week for our spring sports season. On Wednesday our varsity baseball team opened up against New Providence and won in decisive fashion 5-0. It was a great way to open up the season and gave all the players a lot of confidence for the games that are coming up. I am on JV and we hope to open up today if the weather permits against JP Stevens and it looks to be a good game. I can’t wait to get out there because playing baseball is one of my favorite things to do. I will keep you updated during the season on how the JV and varsity teams are doing. That’s all for now hope everyone has a great week and I’ll be back soon =].

BASEBALL TRYOUTS, COURSE SELECTIONS

2008-03-11T14:55:00.001-04:00

This weekend was amazing because baseball tryouts were held for the JV and varsity teams this weekend. Baseball is my favorite sport out of all of the sports and I couldn’t wait all year for it to come. I made the JV team and although we have a lot of young kids we have good potential and I’m hoping for a great season for both JV and the varsity teams. The spring season is very exciting because the weather gets warmer and this year for the first time in Union Catholic history there will be a varsity girl’s lacrosse team. It started as a JV team last year, but this year it has moved up to varsity and everyone is very excited to see how they do. Even though we couldn’t go on the field because it was wet, it was still great to be with all the guys and know that the season is just around the corner.

Recently the freshman, sophomores, and juniors got to select what classes they want to take for the next year. I love this idea because instead of having someone choose the classes for you, you get to control what specific classes you want to take and what level you want to take them on. You can pick your classes by how much time you think you have to put in the time needed for the amount of work for each different class. I think this is great because it allows you to choose your future and what you want to be able to study for the rest of your high school career and on into college. High school is a very important part of your life and to be able to control it yourself is a great feeling

The College Search

2008-03-07T13:43:00.002-05:00

Here at Union Catholic students are allowed to register for their own classes online from the UC website. Teachers have been explaining to all of their students how the registration works. There are requirements however, for the classes that you register for. If you are for example in the honors program you must have at least a “B” average in your class to stay in the honors program for the next school year. The same goes for the Accelerated program. However, if you want to move up in a class (Honors to Accelerated) you must have at least an “A” average to move up. It’s pretty cool to be able to register for your own classes.

All of this has sparked our teachers into talking to us about looking at colleges. They all said that you have to start looking your sophomore year so that you have an idea of where you want to apply in your junior year. I listened to their advice and started to look online for different schools. The UC Guidance Office has connected us to a website called COIN which allows you to search for specific schools. For example you can say you want a Division I school on the East Coast and it will give you a list of different schools. Every college in the country is on this website, so it helps you find the perfect school for you.

Since I am a runner I started looking for Division I schools not too far from home. I have come across a few good schools that I will continue to look at. I was looking at COIN at home and my older brother (who is home on spring break) said it was really scary to think that I was already looking at colleges. He goes to the University of Mary Washington in Virginia, and it’s a great school. All of this is pretty exciting and I’m looking forward to find the best school for me. I’ll keep you updated on the college search as it progresses further.

Next week I’ll let you know how the first day of spring track and the spring season goes.