At the beginning of this year, I embarked upon my third year at the Royal Reporter. The staff changes every year, but naturally, I gravitated towards the other juniors in the class. I was familiar with Bella Ramirez ‘26 because we had a few classes together in the past, and we had studied together for our AP Euro exam last year.
We quickly realized that we had periods seven, one and two together, so we would definitely be getting to know each other. However, little did I know, Bella would become one of my dearest friends at Rosary and the best Assistant-Editor-in-Chief ever.
To start, let me tell you a little bit about Bella. First of all, Bella’s deep faith and devotion to her faith is incredibly admirable. Her faith is moving, it is the driver of her life and you can tell. It shows in the way she presents herself, interacts with others, and it’s hard to describe, but it just has an influence in everything she does. And it also has a profound influence on others. Bella’s faith has inspired me and positively impacted my relationship with God, she inspires me to pursue my faith more openly and deeply. Bella is a true embodiment of what it means to live out one’s faith, especially as a young woman who faces the many pressures of an ever-changing society.
Bella is also one of the kindest, most considerate and most empathetic people I’ve ever met. We had a lot of important conversations in our AP Lang class this year, and I would argue that most of them had to do with our comments on society or on politics. I learned that Bella has a unique ability to not only see all sides of the argument but also feel for the concerns of everyone involved. I think that’s a rare attribute, and I feel honored to be so close to someone who has it.
In addition, Bella is crazy smart, a hard worker and so involved in the Rosary community. Bella takes so many high-level classes, and she’s too humble to brag, but she does amazing in all of them. Bella is also a member of ASB (she will be president next year!) and a million other things at Rosary, especially the lacrosse team. One thing I’ve definitely bonded with Bella over is the fact that she loves Rosary just as much as I do.
Now that you know a little bit about Bella, let me tell you a little bit more about why I love her so much. Having three classes together and collaborative roles as the top editors of the Royal Reporter, Bella and I became quick friends. Bella and I share a sense of humor, and even though we differ on a lot of things, we get each other, and that’s what counts.
Bella is so special to me because she took the time to get to truly know me even though I may be a little rough on the outside. Bella and I have accomplished a lot this year, and we were also each other’s biggest cheerleaders. We helped each other through difficult tests and weeks that were, well, bad.
Bella has become incredibly important to me this year. I value her opinions, thoughts and concerns, and I love to share a laugh with her, but most of all, she’s influenced me for the better. I want to be just like Bella when I grow up.
I think I made the best memories with Bella during Red and Gold season. Since I was Script Captain, I had a lot of downtime during Flex. Even though we were on opposite teams (I was on Gold and Bella was on Red), I would always sneak by Bella’s drill to see her practicing her drill on the lawn. It was so fun getting to watch her dance in the front row of senior Abby Zabala’s magician drill. The best memory, though, was finding Bella after the show on Saturday night. When she didn’t win, Bella was sad, but she had the best attitude about it.
Bella was just happy she got to experience Red and Gold, she was bummed about the result, but not to the point where she wasn’t happy for me. She gave me a huge hug and congratulations after the show. She helped remind me that in doing anything, I need to think about the lessons learned, the truly important things, not just success or failure.
Another one of my favorite traditions I started with Bella this year is after every school dance we get dinner with friends. It’s always nice to share a meal after a long night.
As she’s reading this, Bella is probably thinking about all the times I told her that her articles were too long, or she needed to space out the paragraphs more. Sorry Bella! Thank you for such a great year, Bella, I can’t wait to see what the future holds for you.
