This year, you spent time on the DLSA faculty as a leave replacement. How was it being at DLSA as a teacher?
Teaching at DLSA was such a surreal experience. It felt so strange at first to come back to the community as a member of the staff rather than as a student but I could not ask for a more welcoming environment. DLSA has always held a special place in my heart, but to be able to experience DLSA from both sides just proved to me why it is so special. I was truly blessed to be trusted enough by Dr. Gonzalez and Mrs. Carroll to be given the opportunity to work with students who were just like me when I sat in their seats: eager to learn, caring for others, and wanting to make the world a better place.
What do you think the students are like today in comparison to when you were a student?
Today, the students are so resilient and I am so proud of them all! Having to experience a pandemic in the middle of their educational career and transition back to “normal” and to be as amazing, caring, and fun as they are is something remarkable. Also, having been exposed to so many new changes in technology, society, and ways of learning, they experienced DLSA differently than I did, when times were just a little “simpler”. However, this only makes them stronger, well-rounded, and ready to take on the world.
What is your favorite thing about DLSA now?
While I will always prefer the jam-packed, crowded, one-floor DLSA, I am so proud and happy that the school has expanded. I think the students deserve an amazing space that they can call their own to learn, interact, and grow. While they will never know what it is like to play in the literal street, sit on the credenza every morning with Brother Brian, or sing our holiday service carols and prayers in the hallway, it is amazing that DLSA has been able to keep the same spirit alive in a new (and MUCH bigger) space.
Anything you’d like your fellow alumni to know about DLSA now?
No matter the changes that DLSA has been through or the changes in the outside world, DLSA is the same home that it was ten years ago when I was a student. Dr. Gonzalez and the faculty and staff have done an amazing job keeping what makes DLSA so special, and that is its family; not just the family that the students make amongst themselves but the idea that someone like me who graduated ten years ago can come back and feel like I never left and be reminded of the amazing times that I had. DLSA opened many doors in my life and my experience at DLSA as a student were the best three years of my educational career. I know that many of my fellow alumni can agree with me when I say that DLSA deserves nothing but the best because it has done nothing less than the best for its students! Thank you, DLSA, for all you have done in my life and the lives of others!
De La Salle Academy 