Alumni: When Does It Ever End?

This past week Our Lady of Mt. Carmel has been inundated with visitors. It has been wonderful to see our alumni come back to visit during the spring break of their colleges. Since 95% of our graduates go on to college, their midsemester break has become a traditional time for them to reconnect. The young women who return look a bit more polished and sophisticated. Young men are broader of shoulder and are often sporting their first ever beard,scruffy though it may be. That is where differences end. All of these recent graduates tell tales of courses they have loved, grade point averages that are respectable, and discuss career options and changes of major with their former teachers and administrators at out school. This past week we heard from a photography major at The Maryland Institute of Art, a political science and international studies major from St. Mary's College, as well as from several students in nursing, physical therapy,health care and related fields. We even got tickets in the mail from one of our alumna from the University of Southern California (a theater major) who is putting on a one woman show in Baltimore in a few weeks. Those of us at the school are elated to have these conversations and interactions. Seeing these graduates move forward with independence and success is one of the gratifications teachers share. I thought several times during these visits that our relationships last long after the final blessing of graduation is over. When do these connections end? I hope that they never do!
From the perspective of those of us who teach at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, as long as people remain who have known our former students certainly there are connections. Beyond that,though, there is a connection to the school itself that goes beyond individuals. Whether a former student attended in the sixties, the seventies, the eighties, the nineties,or in this new century, the experience of a small, nurturing yet challenging community where there is not only room to grow but an expectation to grow has been constant. In our fifty years of serving young people, the commitment to help them develop God's gifts and achieve success, happiness, and a life of faith has remained a priority. Our school has done her part!
In the past few weeks, in the aftermath of the school consolidation plan, there has been a great deal of noise made by alumni of various schools. It made me wonder if alumni really understand that they, too, have a responsibility to their former school that does not end. I wonder if alumni ever think about those expectations? If they do, is it only in a moment of need or crisis? Is it too often "too little too late?"
I believe that the first expectation of Carmel alumni is that they live their life in a way that reflects the values and information they have learned at Carmel. Are they good parents to their children? Are they leaders in their neighborhoods and communities? Are they using God's gifts in appropriate ways? Can we look at them and be proud of the adults they have become? I would hope that all our grads could answer, "Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!"
The expectations go beyond that. Are our alumni advocates for Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in the community? Do they articulate the news about the great education available at Mt. Carmel? Do they tell the same stories their teachers remember about how learning happens--sometimes the easy way, sometimes the hard way? Do they relate that in that process, they were never abandoned? If our alumni become advocates for our school in the community, they help make our school, small in size, stronger and less vulnerable to the econmic tides of the times. Our alumni need to "talk it up" about all that our small school is willing to provide in education of a young person's mind, and heart, and soul.
And, finally, our alumni need to support our school financially. When letters come asking for help with student scholarshps, Annual Appeals, or building projects, those alumni who have reached some success and security in their own lives need to give back. Being of service and supporting our community is a theme about which every Carmel student has heard. "It is not all about you, it is about our community, and building a better world," is a statement I have been making to kids for decades! Every Carmel alumni should be considering the extent to which they can support our school. As recent events have shown, it is too late to wait until crisis has descended. Now if the acceptable time!( If you haven't sent your Annual Appeal gift, now would be a great time to do so!)
I have come to be a believer that the world improves, if it does at all, a person at a time. Educators have a rare opportunity and responsibility to make that happen on a daily basis. But, help is needed from those who "get it." No one gets the importance of a Gospel based, Catholic education better than those who have benefitted from one. I know that our alums "get it!"
So, to get back round to the beginning-- The relationship between Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and her graduates--recent or not--never ends. It is also true that their relationship and responsibilty to our school never ends either. Live a "good" life, talk the good talk and dig into those pockets to support a wonderful school that supported you!