Page 13 - Priorities #19 2002-July

Not Your Typical High School
A Priory Odyssey
" I urge you, don’t approach college years as career training. Make it an opportunity to extend and expand your understanding. I hope you will gain wisdom—how crucial wisdom is!"
Dr. William Hurlbut Stanford University Specialist in Bioethics
Esmeralda Barriga
Esmeralda came to the Priory as an eighth-grade member of the Summer Bridge program for academically talented middle school students—but food is what made
Kayti Sullivan
Odysseus’ journey had nothing on Kayti Sullivan’s personal Priory Odyssey, she told her class. Kayti took her classmates and the audience through her four years at the Priory like a grand
her stay. After two years at a public school in Redwood City, Esmeralda was struck immediately with some of the key differences that Priory students enjoy.
After being served at her RWC school a diet typified by "carrots that were both chewy and hairy," the Priory’s freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and creamy, cold milk seemed like gifts from heaven. She decided to stay.
As an older and wiser Priory veteran, she noticed a few other important differences that distinguished the Priory from a "typical high school." Esmeralda, in fact, remembers her first experiences with polite and kind Priory students as being more similar to "the set of a Barney video."
She enjoyed knowing every member of her class, and in her speech she referred to many classmates with a special nickname or inside joke. SheseesthePrioryeducationand experience as a good foundation for the Class of 2002, and now "the world waits to see what we have in store for it—let’s show them," she said.
adventure, beginning each epoch year with a quote that she felt described the quintessential experience.
She arrived at the Priory under the protection of an older brother and a group of his friends, but learned to navigate life on her own and become recognized as the true individual she is. She spoke fondly of the unique Priory faculty who "look out for you, and won’t let you fall in the cracks," and said it is this attitude that sets Priory apart from other schools.
After finishing a stressful junior year with a little help from family, friends, and teachers, Kayti says that during senior year, "I made my niche at the Priory, and I have my friends who I hope to keep forever." She embarks on a new Odyssey at the end of high school with the hope of someday being one of the graduates written up in Priorities Magazine for success and accomplishments.
Director of Admissions Al Zappelli and Pablo Avalos, student body president.
Father Martin Mager congratulates his photography student, Maria Hernandez.
Alvin Lam and Angela Sibal were co-editors of the yearbook.