And they all lived Royally ever after…

Up until seventh grade, Mandy Puga ’24 went to public school. After seventh grade, she transferred to St. Juliana’s, the private school down the street. Eventually, she had to decide which high school she was going to go to. Her parents were allowing her to pick from many options, including public schools such as Sunny Hills, Troy, and Fullerton High School, where she knew she would already have friends. But Mandy “knew [she] wanted to have a different kind of education.”

She began to look into private schools, such as Orange Lutheran, Whittier Christian, and Mater Dei. In fact, Mater Dei was where her two best friends were set on going, so she decided to shadow. But even though she loved her friends, she knew that Mater Dei wasn’t the school for her.

“Then,” Mandy said, “I looked over my shoulder from St. Juliana’s, and I saw Rosary. It’s just right behind St. J’s. I shadowed, did every event possible, and fell in love. This was the school for me. Red and Gold, a Catholic education, spirited school rallies, the small student body… Even though I had no close friends going in, I knew I wanted to go here. So I applied, got accepted, and the rest is history. I’m now a student athlete, a member of Trinitas, and I’m going to apply to be a Royal ambassador and Thespian.”

Senior Brooke Medina also never thought she would wind up at Rosary. Because her sister had previously attended Connelly, Brooke was on track to do the same ever since she was five years old. She used to cheer on her sister’s volleyball games in a koala costume, representing Connelly’s mascot. She watched class plays, went to the family picnics, and watched as her sister painted her senior locker room “Tangled”-themed. Her entire life, she pretty much thought she was going to stay at Connelly.

Which did happen. For a while, at least. Brooke attended Connelly during her freshman and sophomore years. But then, as many of us know, Connelly unfortunately shut down. Brooke admitted, “The nuns came in, and we tried to save it. We tried going on TV, the radio, the news–we even tried to go on ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ to help the school. But it didn’t end up working out, which is why I am here currently giving a quote to the Royal Reporter.”

Rosary was her next choice since it would be the smoothest transition from being at an all-girls, private, Catholic school. Brooke said, “I was honestly very nervous coming in because I didn’t think I’d fit in, or I would have to change myself. And I also didn’t really know a lot of teachers or students, except for some people in Trinitas.”

“However,” Brooke continued, “coming here has turned into such a positive experience for me. I have still been able to immerse myself in different activities, clubs, and sports, which I have enjoyed since freshman year. And I am so grateful to have met so many driven and kind people here.

“I started my ceramics journey at Rosary. I have also met so many people whom I’m now friends with, like Katie Fang ’22, whom I found out lives approximately 27 seconds away from me by car, all my soccer and mock trial teammates, Finch Taylor ’21, who taught me to be my most authentic self, or Trinity Delacruz ’22 who was in the same AP Lang class as me last year.”

Brooke learned a lot from encountering this new experience: “To anyone who is going through change, or, you know, if your school is closing, talk to people and try to venture out into new things. Rosary has taught me that having support from others is an awesome way to overcome obstacles and adapt to change around you.”

Senior Isabella Dascanio didn’t expect to attend Rosary either. She transferred to Rosary during her sophomore year–about a month into the school year. Isabella stated, “At the start of summer 2019, I had decided that I wasn’t enjoying the environment at my previous school (mostly due to the large environment), and I needed to make a change for my mental health. The only problem was that I had no where I wanted to go.”

Isabella continued, “I spent the whole summer thinking I would do online school and stop worrying about what school I would go to all together.” It wasn’t until the beginning of August that her mom brought up the idea of me going to Rosary. Many of her cousins and extended family had attended Rosary and really enjoyed their experience, which is why her mom suggested it.

However, Isabella admitted, “I didn’t like the idea too much. I was so worried about the environment of an all-girls, Catholic school. But it was too late. My mom had already turned in an application and set up an interview without telling me–that same day.

Within a week, Isabella was introduced to the idea of going to Rosary, went in for her interview, and received my acceptance. “To say it gave me a bit of whiplash would be an understatement,” Isabella recounted.

“It took me a little while to start liking where I was now going and a little longer to get fully comfortable in the environment as a transfer student. But I stuck through it. I tried new things like theatre and my first ever school dance, and made tons of new friends that I love dearly. I will always remember my first Red & Gold kickoff and having no idea what I was watching but being completely in love with the energy. Today, I can say that I’m glad that I ended up here at Rosary.”

These are a few stories of people who didn’t expect to join the Rosary community, but ended up loving it! With our promotion of sisterhood and kindness, our unique traditions, and our vast amount of clubs, sports, and classes, students are bound to find something they love at Rosary.