Francis Libermann Catholic High School 40th Anniversary

By: Talin Orfali – Student Alumni – Fall 1999 to 2003.

40 Years ago in 1977, Francis Libermann Catholic High School opened its doors to teachers, students and administrative staff, and this year in 2018, on June 3rd, we had the anniversary and reunion. Many past and present teachers, and alumni students were present.

A couple of months ago, I had opened up my Facebook, and on my news feed, I see an event from Francis Libermann of which a fellow classmate of mine from my time, invited me to it, I definitely said, I am going. At first, I had mixed feelings about it, and I was hesitant at first because my high school life wasn’t what I had expected it to be, but I toughed it out for 4 years. It wasn’t perfect and there were good times and bad times, but nothing really is perfect.

We envision high school to be perfect where everyone gets along, but that is not the case, however, I forgive those who have bullied me and belittled me throughout those times. I realize now that when you are a teenager going to school, all these emotions run high, going through the puberty stages where sometimes teens just don’t know what they are doing, plus getting through school with studies and everything else with making friends whereas some others don’t get so lucky about that. It’s a huge phase that kids go through before venturing out to college/university and maybe not and just going right to work or whatever the case may be.

Anyway, when I saw about 90% of the teachers at the reunion and anniversary, they all automatically remembered me even though 15 years have passed since I took my last walk out of those doors. I never visited back since then, but I feel like I really never left yesterday. I was so sad to hear about my favourite principal back in the day had passed away a few years ago from cancer. I was so devastated and cried. I truly know how to appreciate teachers and administrative staff for all the hard work and sacrifices they make and made to make sure we are educated and well looked after.

Some of the teacher’s names I had forgotten about and some that are still fresh in my mind, but they remembered me and some of the teachers said that they think about me from time to time. One of them said to me yesterday, Talin, you were my favourite student and I think about you all the time. I am so happy to be seeing you here today and in return, she was really one of my favourite teachers at the school. One of them always knew I was going to get into some sort of writing and when I spoke to her and told her what I do now, she got so excited to hear that I am doing what she thought I would do.

Anyway, I did a walk-through the school and I familiarized myself with the lockers I used to have, the classes I went to, the hallways that I walked around, familiar smells of the halls and classes, the gym, the library, and the staircases that was used to go up to the 2nd, and 3rd floors. The memories just came to me and some have faded and some have stayed with me. The washrooms and everything are also the same as I remembered where the washroom stalls are smaller.

I remember being part of teen voices, and other outreach programs. I was never really a sports person and I had joined into more interactive committees and creative writing.

I remember when I used to seldom take public transit home from school. I used to hate taking public transit up to now. That hasn’t changed. I remember getting a sign of relief when I saw I was being picked up by my dad or my brother and one of the teachers pointed that out to me yesterday, saying she remembers that I used to hate taking the bus and she remembers me being picked up. I said to her, nothing has changed on that front. LOL, and the only difference is that I drive now.

The 40th anniversary of Francis Libermann Catholic High School was definitely an eye-opener for me, which has overwhelmed me because time is flying and these are the moments of our lives that we will never get back and it teaches us to be grateful for each moment, even though they weren’t perfect and our expectations weren’t what we wanted, but we are getting older now and it truly makes you appreciate that little time you have in high school. Time never waits for you. You truly have to cherish life and the phases.

I was in tears while walking through the halls and I am in tears now as I write this now. I really miss high school a lot and I miss being a teenager. My advice to teenagers going to high school now, is to never waste a second of it, don’t take this time for granted. Even though it may not be a positive and good time for you, but also I want you to realize that high school is temporary and things do eventually get better and they will. It has for me. 4 years go by so quickly that you don’t even realize once you graduate and have your prom and then life changes right away. Well, it did for me.

2003 for me seems like yesterday, but in other ways, it does feel like its a long time. It really hit me hard yesterday and I just want to say how truly grateful I am for having a school to go to and getting to know many people of whom I am still in touch with. We didn’t really get along in high school, but we do now and that is what counts. Life and our personalities change and it’s absolutely amazing. You never truly learn to appreciate something until after the fact.

Thank you and congratulations to Francis Libermann and here is to another 40 years and beyond. I am super glad to be part of 4 years of it. All the best and may what happens between those walls be educational, fruitful filled with knowledge, respect, and getting closer with God in his teachings while learning valuable life lessons to take with you when you take your last walk out those doors. God bless Francis Libermann Catholic High School and all those in it.

Time is Flying – It Doesn’t Wait For You

Already time is flying. The 4th day of the year of 2018. Always live life to the fullest, enjoy, be happy, keep smiling and remember to always be grateful, love, appreciate and cherish the moments you spend with your family and friends. Time is ticking. One day you will look up and see the moments you spend with your loved ones will become a memory.

Always Say I love you,
Always say thank you,
Always be who you are,
Always make time for friends and family.
Always spend time with friends and family,

Some family and friends can be in different cities and countries and so much time goes by without seeing them. As we age, and months and even years go by without seeing each other, They can have children, they have all these special moments in their lives, gatherings and it is absolutely heartbreaking to see time go by and they grow, they live their lives in their own different places with different life dynamics and we miss so much of it because distance and not being able to connect with family and friends all the time is something that makes you think about so many things in life and how we miss this valuable time.

Sometimes due to financial reasons people cannot travel to see family members, time constraints from work and school or other reasons can arise, but life is passing by and there is no stop button. You need to enjoy your life too. You can’t just commit yourself to work, work, work.

When wishing that family and friends can all be in one place which would be incredibly amazing, however its not always possible. The only way to connect is by phone, social media, email, but it definitely isn’t the same without seeing each other face to face and being with one another sharing life’s moments together.

It is even difficult to get family and friends together being in the same city too. Life has definitely changed and so much happens in life with school, work, and other life’s commitments.

Circumstances puts life into perspective, it puts things into light. Sometimes life can throw us examples right in front of us.

Life is too short. Always try your best to manage time well, and do what is absolutely important in your life and prioritize. Don’t waste a second of it. Time doesn’t wait. It flies by without you even knowing. Today is Thursday already. Weeks fly by so quickly. Its so important to take each day and do whatever you can to make the most of it.

I keep hearing, people don’ like Monday’s and all that. Well I know its a day where people have to go to work, school and start the week all over again, but you know what? Its a day and we need to make most of it no matter what it is. Its something I keep seeing on social media and the memes and everything. It really has to stop. Monday is a day, we are alive and that is all that it matters. The weekend will come again. We just have to be patient.

This year, we must change our habits, and gather together and make memories and cherish them. We all can do it, it just takes time management and re-evaluating priorities.

Academics VS Life and Personality

In our lifetime, some people respect others a lot due to their academic, education standards in which they bring top marks all the time, being straight A Students, bringing over 90-95 or more average in their report cards, however many people misconstrued intelligence with education/academic standards. Yes being educated in the books and the class is a key component to life, but academics should not be everything in life. — The most important thing about life is to have a great personality, be a sociable person, developing people skills, having street smarts, to be thoughtful, and not always revolving your life with academics.

Everything has a limit, but some people go way overboard about it when it comes to education. Never confuse education with intelligence. A lot of people seem to be doing that. Some people do not even look at you if you do not have top notch degrees, PHD, and high academic standards and that is so wrong. Somebody who has struggled in school or did not become as successful are always looked down and treated like they do not know better than the above average person and that is so wrong. Nobody is better than the other person just because their academic standards are a lot higher than anybody else.

Some people do not even look at a person because of that and it is not only wrong, but very insulting. A lot of people become successful even without high grades in education. People spend thousands of dollars, take out student loans and so many things to get a top notch education, studies, exams and whatever else and then when it comes time to look for employment after graduation, people end up working in retail and fast food places where it is totally different than what they were anticipating and that is just terrible.

People who work for retail, fast food places, and other occupations, doesn’t make it any better than those who are in high places.

I am all for education and everything, but that should not be everything. When you think about it, having people and actual life skills are the most important things in life and should be a priority more than anything else in life. A lot of people go to school for so many years after high school to become something, to venture out, make big bucks and stuff, but the key to life is to be a people person more than anything else.

Yes school teaches us a lot about life, struggles, hard work and determination to get up there, but that should not be everything. Those who are highly educated should not belittle, look down at everybody else, brag so much about their academic journey and make the rest of the people look and feel bad about themselves. That is not good. I mean yes, its a good thing to tell people your good news and everything, but there is a limit, and people go way overboard about it. Not a good trait to develop.

People skills, communication is far more important than what a piece of paper says about our academic journey through life. Think about it.