My dearest Rosary Academy,

It is quite impossible to find where to begin this letter. Considering you basically raised me, I don’t really know how to find the words to thank you enough. How do you thank a building that built up all of your core memories- we are talking about the ones I am going to tell my little Royals and Friars someday. I really don’t think I can do this justice. No words, actions, or descriptions can truly show the amount of impact you have had on me over the past four years of my life. I look back and laugh because I thought that leaving 8th grade was a tragedy- all I did was move a little further up Yorba Linda Boulevard. But I realize that now, instead of saying HAGS (have a good summer) to my classmates, I am leaving them with a HAGL (have a good life).

Little did I know that walking onto Rosary’s campus on my first day of freshman year would mark the beginning of the best four years of my life. Looking back, my 15-year-old self had no idea what was yet to come; some would say that you hit me like a bus. And oh did it look like I got hit by a bus; man did I learn how to do that messy bun fast. I remember the exact moment I walked off campus on my first day. My mom looked at me and graciously complimented the “bird’s nest” that sat perfectly on the side of my head. Of course, she had me smile for a picture in front of the school to remember my long skirt, newly purchased Rosary sweatshirt, and my big brace-face smile.

My freshman year flew by in a flash of light. I quickly began to appreciate the Rosary community as I realized how comfortable I had become in myself. All of the anxiety I struggled with in middle school had disappeared, and by the end of the year, I walked the campus with a fresh face. I knew that the school was going to bring me big things, and oh did you bring big things.

My sophomore year continued what seemed to be the sprint of high school. I knew I had fallen in love with you when I began to dread graduation during my sophomore year. I miss fighting for the front row seat in Mr. Bevin’s English class, appreciating Fat Boy ice cream sandwiches from our new catering company, and spending three hours talking to Mr. Wilson during the iconic March 12 meltdown. Oh, how I hoped we would stay on campus during Covid; and let me tell you, I did not miss anything more than the outside halls of the academy during the pandemic.

Although my second year of high school was cut short, it is one of my favorites because it brought me my best friend. Let me just say that God works in mysterious ways; the same girl who I feared and was majorly intimidated by quickly became my best friend and literal soul sister. Shoutout to Evelyn LeVecke ’22, I love you with my whole heart and my firstborn child will have your name as their middle name.

I blinked my eyes and somehow I was a big, bad junior. “Give me that class ring I told myself,” I am ready to keep going. I look back and wish I could receive that ring over and over again. Rosary, please let me relive the good old days! My junior year consisted of hopes and dreams; I don’t have much to say about it because it was the heart of Covid, but I just know how much I hated those cohorts. Only getting to be on campus for half of the week? You might as well call it a long-distance relationship because man was I depressed and missing a big part of myself. I would say that Rosary and I are quite the iconic duo.

And then the countdown began: senior year. “The best one,” as they all say. But Rosary, is it really the best? If you ask me, Daly Rae Holman, I would have to argue that my senior year at Rosary Academy has been the most bittersweet time of my entire 18 years. My senior year consisted of realization, maturing, and so much love. I solidified the best group of friends I could ever have. I took every opportunity to enjoy my last year walking your beautiful green grass. I drove to school every morning dreaming of the situations that would make me laugh to the point of almost peeing myself. I learned to fall more and more in love with you every day, and this may be my biggest regret; you have made it so hard for me to leave. 

But if I have learned one thing from all of my teachers and fellow classmates, it would be that everything happens for a reason. So with that being said, goodbye to the love of my life, Rosary Academy. Daly Holman signing off.