By Ryan McBrearty ‘19

It felt like yesterday I was a freshman waiting to be introduced by Mr. Antos at orientation. I remember this day very well because it was a start to a new beginning. Since I was playing football in high school, I got to know most of my friends through football. These would be friendships that I would still hold to this day.

Now, my time at Brother Rice is coming to an end. My senior year flew by like it was nothing and it was time to say goodbye.

My senior year has been my greatest year over my high school career. There are so many great memories and some sad ones, too.

The varsity football team, which I played on, went 13-1 during the entire season. We made it to state, but unfortunately lost to Loyola. This is a great memory and also a sad memory because we were the first team to make it to state in 33 years. I’ve been playing with my teammates for four years at Brother Rice, and I wouldn’t want to play with anyone else. This was our last year playing together as a team, and it was very sad to see everyone go.

I play rugby also, but unfortunately I dislocated my left shoulder and had to get surgery to repair it. I cannot finish out my senior year playing rugby, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be there every step of the way for my teammates. I believe that we are going to win state because we have a special group of kids this year.

Smaller memories I had at Rice are the few classes and teachers that changed my life forever. Mr. Parker’s computer classes were by far my favorite classes at Brother Rice. He would make the classes so fun and interesting to learn.

Brother Hayes’s physics class was one of the most interesting classes I have ever taken in my life. He would make class fun actually with cool demonstrations and experiments.

A new class we added in this year was English 4 Journalism. This class was a surprise for me, and I decided to take it as my English course. I love to write and someday wish to do some writing as a job or hobby. Ms. Pacetti taught me so much about writing and has easily improved my writing skills dramatically. She has been my favorite teacher during my senior year, and I thank her for everything that she has done for me.

Advice for underclassmen: do not blow off school. I’ve learned my mistakes of blowing off school sometimes like not doing my homework or studying for a test. School is very important, and you should take in all the information that you can because it’ll be worth it in the end. Your most important years of high school are your freshman and sophomore years. I thought they weren’t a big deal but in the end they are the most important overall.

Lastly, enjoy your time at Brother Rice like it is your last moment there. Go to every single game and support your Crusaders in the Crazies, join as many clubs and activities that you can and finally, make a bunch of new friends during your time in high school because they can be friendships forever.

I loved my time at Brother Rice, and I don’t want to see it go. I’m going to miss playing football under the lights and rugby during the day. I’m going to miss seeing all my friends during school and all the laughs that we shared together. I love Brother Rice; it has been an honor to go there. GO CRUSADERS!!!