by Lindsey Valdiviez

When some of the juniors mosey into the chapel at 7:40 am (after Joe LaScala has practically begs us to go in there), we look like a bunch of confused ducklings looking for their mother. We try to figure out which side of the chapel to sit on or whether to sit in the front or in the back. We look to our friends for reassurance as we hesitantly take a seat. We even jump from one seat and run to another when we realize our friends are sitting five rows over from you (awkward). Why is it that STA girls have so much difficulty in choosing a place to sit in the chapel on Wednesday mass days? It’s not like the person you sit next to is gonna be the maid of honor in your wedding. It’s not like you’re going to the feel the presence of God any stronger from the left or right or back or front of the chapel. All you have to do is find a chair to sit your rear end in for a max of 40 minutes. Seriously.

You’d think that somebody had just kidnapped you, flown you to a Hindu mosque in Africa where everybody speaks some weird dialect of African, and asked you to worship some strange being. But that’s not the case. When we walk into the gorgeous new chapel that isn’t even a year old yet, you’re walking into a community where everyone, in fact speaks English. Where there are roughly 140 girls that are in your grade. 140 girls that if you shook hands with during “peace”, you might break the awkward tension that exists between you. It’s not like you even have to talk to the person you sit by at mass (hence the mass).

Sometimes it seems that we forget how little time we have together. The juniors only have four class masses left this year. I know most of you are thinking, what a drag, I have to go sit at mass while the rest of the school gets to sleep in for another 30 minutes.  But honestly, is taking 6 out of 31 Wednesdays a school year that terrible?

All I’m asking you to do is to walk into the chapel, sit down and be satisfied with your seat. You’ll survive if you don’t sit with your friends for 40 minutes of mass when you’re not supposed to even talk. If you sit by someone you don’t really know, embrace it. Get to know your class. God forbid you have to hold their hand for the 60 seconds it takes to say the Our Father. Embrace the monthly 30 minutes less of sleep and take the opportunity to get to know someone you don’t normally talk to. In a couple of years, you won’t regret it. Rather, you’ll feel satisfied that you were that much closer to your high school class. After all, we only get to spend four years together.