St. Mary’s Dominican High School Scholarship recipients, standing (from left): Kelsey Major, Abigail Mandella, Catherine Mansfield, Kaylie Nguyen, Katelin Obletz, Isabella Paul, Spencer Protti, Riley Sciambra, Maeve Storm, Sarah Swaim, Jenna Thomas, and Kate Weiss. Seated: Madeleine Ascani, Kate Baker, Jane Bickerton, Jane Bostick, Monica Cabes, Anne Carr, Bakhit Cuccia, Jasmine Ferrier, Rowan French, and Erin Kramer. Not pictured: Ada Holmes and Elizabeth Mobley.

St. Mary’s Dominican High School awarded school scholarships to 24 current seventh graders based on the students’ academic records and their performance on the High School Placement Test. The scholarships were presented during the May 13 scholarship ceremony held on Dominican’s campus.

Recipients, their current schools and scholarships awarded:

Reflection by Rebecca Koenig ’18

Good Morning Everyone! Congratulations to all of the scholarship recipients! I am Rebecca Koenig, and I was asked to speak to all of you today about your upcoming Dominican journey. Coming in as an eighth grader I was very nervous about starting at Dominican. I was worried about academics, making new friends, and deciding what extracurricular activities to join. However, as my journey went on I began to realize the bigger influence attending Dominican will have on my life.

I would like to share with you some of the lessons I have learned over my four years. Attending Dominican is like walking a tight rope; you need to keep your balance amongst the chaotic moments in academics, friendships, athletics and extracurricular activities. This was the first major lesson I learned at Dominican, the art of multitasking and time management. The second major lesson was the skill of screaming very loudly. The past four years of Rally Days, Volleyball games, Pep Rallies, and of course the AMAZING Back to School Dances have made me an expert at chanting, cheering, and screaming in general.

My third and most important lesson I have learned here at DHS is that if nothing else live your life for Christ. In 30 years it will not matter whether you made a 94 or a 95 in English. What will matter is whether you glorified God everyday with with your words and deeds and if you have learned from every challenge God and Dominican has presented you. One of my favorite sayings is ‘to whom much is given much is expected,’ and at Dominican you will be given many wonderful opportunities to give back in the name of Christ. Lastly, I would like to say my favorite Bible verse.

To all of the incoming students, I encourage you to find a Bible verse that you can recite whenever you feel stressed or tired because those days will occur. This verse has been nicknamed as my “Math prayer” by my friends because before every math assessment I say this to give me courage. Romans 5:1-5 “As therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance, and perseverance, proven character and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

I invite everyone who attends Dominican to have peace within their hearts and to enjoy every second of your experience because it goes by too quickly. Lastly, thank you for allowing me to speak this morning and to all the new students Welcome to Dominican!