Upperclass Men

Summer

2011-07-09T22:39:00.002-04:00

So as the school year has been ended for a while now, summer is well under way and has been a great amount of fun already! Summer baseball is coming to one of its highest points, as the Junior Legion team I play for is about to enter into the country tournament as the number one seed. We have a very good chance of going all the way in counties this year, as well as an automatic bid into the state tournament. I can't wait to get that underway!

Another great thing about this summer is working. As I just turned 17 a few days ago, I'm going to be taking my drivers test soon and more importantly I can finally get a decent job. I'm very excited to get working and start making money for myself, so I can put it towards a car and college. College visiting has been another high point of my summer. As the school year drew towards a close, I started visiting colleges and have gotten up to 5 right now. It's so cool to go check out the campuses and seeing what the schools are about. This concept will be better understood throughout the junior year of high school. Hope everyone has a good summer!

End of School

2011-05-16T13:36:00.002-04:00

Sorry that it has been a while since I last posted! School has been coming to an end but all of my classes are in full force. I just took 3 AP exams in May and only had to take one final in June because I was exempt from the rest of them. Junior Year went by quick, and at the end of the year, we enjoyed our Junior Rite of Passage, our time where my class officially became seniors. I can't believe we have come this far, but at the same time I can because my college search has begun.

So after school had ended, UC hosted the incoming Freshmen barbeque. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves as the incoming freshmen class was socializing and participating in many different activities, ranging from volleyball to dancing. Unfortunately that was the last time I had to be at school all summer, and can't wait to get back there for Senior Year!

Baseball & AP Exams

2011-04-18T12:29:00.008-04:00

So our baseball team is doing very well so far! We are 8-3 and ranked number 1 in the New Jersey non-public division for high school baseball. Our team is having so much fun playing and achieving success. Mr. Reagan, our coach (and Vice Principal of the school) has done a great job with the team so far this year. He also earned his doctorate degree a couple weeks ago and he was honored at Mr. UC.

Spring Break is rapidly approaching and everyone can't wait to go on vacation. However, when spring break ends, I will be taking my AP exams and will be very nervous for those! The AP exams start the Monday we come back and go on for the next two weeks. They are three hour exams and the ones I will take are in English, American History, and Chemistry. After those exams, school will be half done for me and I'm very excited for that, and prom will follow soon after!

Events @ UC

2011-04-07T13:49:00.001-04:00

Hello Everyone! The Quarters for Cancer was big success and we raised about $900! It was such a great night and everybody enjoyed themselves, as well as the great food. After Quarters, Mr. UC provided the entertainment for the rest of the night. The opening dance performance consisted of all the contestants dancing to “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” by Shania Twain. As you can imagine, it was quite a sight to see. The night consisted of displaying various talents, having a formal wear viewing, and answering questions about Union Catholic History. After all was said in done, my good friend from homeroom, Danny was crowned Mr. UC. He had a great stand-up comedy routine that had the audience laughing the whole time. Can’t wait for next year because my class will be participating !

Spring Events

2011-03-22T09:54:00.001-04:00

Even though the weather might convince you otherwise, the spring sports season is well underway here at Union Catholic. All the teams have been practicing hard and each played a few scrimmages. As a member of the varsity baseball team, I can say that our team has a lot of potential this year. We are no longer the young team in the county and we are ready to play hard this year. The softball team is coming back from a great State Tournament last year and look very good on the field. The lacrosse team has just picked its captains and is coming off a good win in their last scrimmage. As always, the track team is looking strong and Coach McCabe has everyone working hard.

Coming next week is our Spring Pep Rally, Quarters for Cancer dinner, and Mr. UC Pageant. Every day, the candidates for Mr. UC are practicing each morning in preparation for their glory time on stage. Excitement is building around the school as next week will be very eventful. As well as the events mentioned above, all the sports teams are eager for their first game. Come check out some of the home games. Also, stop by for dinner and a show on Tuesday March 29^th, and go to Quarters for Cancer and Mr. UC!!!

Spring

2011-03-09T18:24:00.003-05:00

Hello Everyone!

One of the most exciting seasons for Union Catholic is the spring season. So many things are coming up soon such as junior prom, the Mr. UC pageant, and Quarters for Cancer. Polo shirts will be coming out soon and this is a personal favorite time of the year for me.

Another amazing thing about spring is the spring sports tryouts have just ended. Now our baseball, softball, lacrosse, track, golf teams are all under way and practicing. One of the most amazing things is standing in the outfield at baseball practice and watching all the other teams go to work too. Everyone is out on the field at the same time, and it is truly an awesome sight! Now everyone is just waiting for the weather to get warm and the sun to come out and that first game/meet/outing will be fun for everyone. Can't wait for that opening day game for baseball!

Peer Coordinator & SMAC

2011-03-01T15:24:00.003-05:00

In my last post, I talked about how I am part of the Peer Coordinator program at UC. I think it is one of the coolest things to do inside school because it allows me to see what it is like to work so closely with the freshmen and incoming freshmen class. Every morning I get to stay in a special homeroom up in the freshmen wing. I help in whatever way possible with the freshmen moderator, Mr. Gresco. The first day of school for freshmen was absolutely silent. I knew this would never last and my beliefs were true. About a month into the school year the freshmen were probably the loudest hallway in the morning. I watched as friendships were made and everyone started playing sports. It was a really awesome transformation.

Another big event happening at school is SMAC's Quarters for Cancer Dinner. The SMAC Executive Board had a meeting about this event last night. We discussed how much of a successful event this was last year, and we are hoping to attain the same achievement this year, if not better. This dinner is one of the biggest fundraisers SMAC hosts and all the proceeds are donated to Relay for Life. What happens is when you walk in, you buy tickets, a quarter per ticket. Each ticket allows you to get one scoop of food from whatever you want. It's a pretty good deal considering the food is all amazing. The personal favorite of mine is all the desserts that are available. We hope this will be a great success again this year!!

Leadership at School

2011-02-22T09:24:00.004-05:00

Hello everyone! My name is Jimmy and I am a Junior at UC right now. My junior year has perhaps been the most fun year at UC. The reason I say this is because as you move up in high school, you get the privilege of being in many different leadership positions. I'm about to talk about some of the clubs and other programs I am involved in, but don't worry, I will explain them. I am a peer coordinator, big brother, SMAC (student movement against cancer) executive board member, and another I will mention is National Honor Society.

Being a part of the Peer Coordinator program is probably the most eye-opening experience I have been a part of at UC. The first part of this program is to make sure the Big Brothers and Big Sisters do their job. Big Brothers & Big Sisters are responsible for calling their incoming freshmen over the summer, asking them questions, offering advice, and just being there for them. The next job BB/BS have to do is be there on the big day: Freshmen Orientation Day. Why is this day so important? Well, imagine walking into homeroom, getting a class schedule, and being told to have fun finding your classes for the rest of the day. Fortunately, this is not the case. The freshmen get to go down to the cafeteria, which is filled with all the BB/BS holding up signs and screaming peoples' names. After finding their BB or BS, everybody gets to sit down and get a nice breakfast and talk about where their first class is, what teachers are like, and many other things! I think I will end here for now, and tell everyone more about the Peer Coordinator experience next time I write!

Music!

2010-04-15T20:01:00.000-04:00

Hi, I'm Mark, I'm a junior at UC right now. I'm involved in the music programs here and they are great. I play the guitar and took up the banjo November of '08 and I have recently been working on the mandolin and harmonica. I've played guitar for about 5 years...maybe 6, I'm not too sure because most of the time I was just messing around. I really started getting serious about it 3 years ago. It wasn't until this summer though that I really started devoting time to knowing my instrument. I started to practice guitar a minimum of 2 hours every day. I started to focus individually on one thing heavily each day and then lightly go over the other material for a little bit. I also decided that if I was going to play my instrument and know it, then I would have to know everything about it all the way from the slight bow in guitar's neck to the wires used to make it play through an amp. So, to fulfill this "passion" I built my own guitar. I spent a lot of time developing a shape that I wanted and what type of woods I would use. Luckily, I'm fortunate to have a dad that works with carpentry enough that he has all the tools needed in my basement. My grandfather, who is also an incredible woodworker and inspiration to me along with my dad, helped me out a tremendous amount, I couldn't thank them enough. I finished that up in September and use it as my main electric guitar, maybe sometime I'll post some pictures of it. I now practice close to 3 hours every day and I'm hoping to possibly major in music or music technology/engineering in college.

Life Outside Schoolwork

2010-03-10T11:34:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone, hope your school year is going great. It is starting to get to that time of year for us seniors to make a decision about what college we are going to attend. Recently, I applied to a good amount of schools and have heard back from a few different schools. I was accepted into Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia and really like the school. I applied for a scholarship to the school that would give me a lot of money and might make my college choice that much easier. As part of my out of school activities, I coached a youth CYO basketball team at my church IHM. It was a great experience and we made it to the championship game, and even though we lost I still loved the experience. I coached with my friend Matt and every Friday night we had a great time coaching the third and fourth graders. The day after the championship game, we went down to Toms River to watch my good friend DJ run the 1600 meters in the MOC which stands for the Meet of Champions. It is the all group meet for track in New Jersey, which means the best of the best. He won the race with the second fastest time in the nation and beat the kid with the fastest time in the nation. It was a fantastic race and I got so excited that I started screaming and lost my voice for the whole week. We are all so excited for him as he going to attend The University of Notre Dame next fall. I hope all of you are having a great year and I am looking forward to meeting most of you that are coming to UC.

And the winner is...Oh wait I have race this weekend too?!

2010-03-10T07:46:00.003-05:00

My senior year is becoming such a whirlwind for me that I can't even stop and appreciate my experiences for everything that they're worth. College decisions are being made, track is in full blast, our school clubs are going nuts with the spring right around the corner, the UCPAC play of Les Miserables starts next weekend, and oh yeah, we have school too!

As you know I have been debating for quite a while over the school in which I'll be attending next fall. The recruiting process as a track athlete has made this choice very hard, but with the support of my family, friends and coach, I've decided to attend the University of Notre Dame next fall. The group of guys I met while I was out there visiting were great and the whole campus community felt like one big family which led me to believe that I am going to very happy for the next four years. I am so excited about this decision and I could not be happier with the opportunity that I have in front of me, and this now gives me a chance to relax and enjoy the remainder of my senior year.

However, just when I think that things are starting to settle down, track brings me back to reality and what better way to do that than to race in the NJ Meet of Champions. This race is a combination of the top 6 finishers from each State Group which consists of Groups I-V and Non-Public A and B. I ran the 1600 m race and I had the race of my life!! The race was loaded with all of the best milers in the state and it felt like everyone at the meet was there to watch this race. The race went by so fast that by the time I crossed the finish line I had no idea what had just happened. I WON! My mind was racing so fast that I couldn't stand still and I was still trying to comprehend what had just happened. My friends and coach ran towards me after the race to congratulate me and pretty soon I was mauled with congratulatory high-fives and hugs. My coach said that I had done the unthinkable and that I become the first Meet of Champions winner in school history. All I kept saying to myself was "This is crazy!". That day was a complete whirlwind but I had more fun that I've hand in my entire life. It was an unbelievable experience that I will never forget.

College Decisions...

2010-02-03T09:07:00.001-05:00

School is getting a little crazy here at UC with winter sports in full blast, the start of the 3^rd Marking Period, and seniors being notified of college acceptances. With so much going on it’s been hard to stay on top of my blogging but I have the opportunity now to fill you in on everything that’s going on in the halls of Union Catholic.

My life for the past 3 months has been centered on the college search and finding the right school for me. I’ve been recruited by a few different schools and my family and I have been trying to find the right fit for me. However, only I can make that decision. Recently I was notified of my acceptances into American University in Washington D.C., Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., and the University of Notre Dame located in South Bend, Indiana. I was thrilled when I found out about each of these schools, but unfortunately I can only choose one and my decision is not going to be an easy one.

As an athlete, college coaches try to make their school seem perfect for you by talking on the phone or going online; but the only way to see if a school is right for you, is to go see it for yourself. Recently I took a visit to Wake Forest University in North Carolina and it was incredible. The campus was beautiful, the guys on the track team were great, and the environment and feel of the entire campus was great and it made me feel right at home. So naturally I started to think that Wake was the place for me. However, I had those exact same feelings when I took a visit to the University of Notre Dame in September. As you can see, I’m in a bit of a tough spot, but my family is helping me map out what I really want in a school. I have an opportunity to go to a great school and I feel very lucky to have this chance, so now it’s my job to take advantage of it. I’m hoping I know where I’ll be next fall within the next 3 weeks.

I’ll keep all of you posted on how the process ends for me and I hope to see all of you 8^th graders at registration this Saturday!

Accepted Students Dance

2010-02-02T16:47:00.000-05:00

Hello all, hope your respective school years are going great. There is a lot happening here around UC and everyone is having a great time. Recently, we had our Accepted Students Dance in the gym of UC. We allowed all eigth grade students who had been accepted to UC to come and experience a night with students who could be their classmates. The night was a great success, as we had a very large number of students attend the dance this year and everyone was out on the dance floor having a good time. It was a great way to meet new people and a great atmosphere to help show what being a part of UC is like. I had a great time working the dance and I never had to pull anyone off the bleachers to come out on the dance floor. Registration day is coming up soon and I hope to see a lot of familiar faces making a great choice by singing up to be part of the class of 2014 at UC.

Winter Happenings

2009-12-10T17:41:00.000-05:00

Hello all I hope your school year is going great and is getting exciting because I know it is here at UC as Christmas time approaches. Our winter sports season has just begun and everyone is excited to see how the basketball, swimming and winter track teams are going to do. I am a member of the winter track team and I am very happy that the season has started and can't wait for our first race next weekend. This past week we had our honor roll breakfast, which we have after every marking period to reward the students that have received first or second honors. The breakfast was split up into 2 days with the first day being last names from A-K and the second day was L-Z. I went on the first day and the whole cafeteria was filled with students and their parents which is a great sign to see. It is great to see that so many students are being rewarded for all the hard work they do in school. I hope everyone can continue their hard work and everyone reading this blog can continue to work hard whether it is at at school, job, sports, or throughout the community. I hope your holiday season is going great and you are feeling the love and warmth that comes with the holiday season.

New Junior Blogger

2009-11-20T10:40:00.000-05:00

Hey everybody my name is Sean and I am going to be a new blogger on Upperclass Men. I am currently a junior here at Union Catholic and am in all AP and Accelerated classes. I am also involved in a lot of school activities. Last year I and another student named Michelle started a club called R.E.A.C.H. (Raising Educated Awareness for the Causes of HIV/AIDS). The club has had tremendous success, including assembling backpacks for AIDS-afflicted children in need, hosting an I-pod raffle to raise money for an AIDS shelter in Newark, and having several bake sales to benefit multiple HIV/AIDS local charities. Throughout the year, I participate in three seasons of sports: Cross Country, Basketball, and Baseball. These teams allow me to develop physical, mental, and social strengths. By the end of each season, each team becomes a family tightly knit and united through a common desire to succeed. Finally, I am also President of the Junior Class. It is my job to lead and guide students successfully through their junior year. I also decorate the junior hallway and get everyone into a festive holiday-spirit mood. It is my job to depict to you the balance between high school academics and being a teenager. It’s going to be an exciting year and I am looking forward to bringing you along for the ride.

College Apps, College Apps, College Apps & oh year Senior year

2009-11-13T10:35:00.001-05:00

It’s already November?! Oh man this year is going by fast. I’d love to tell you that I am having the picture perfect senior year, but if I did, I would be lying to you. In the beginning of the year I hurt myself out on a recruiting trip to Notre Dame, and the injury has forced me to end my cross country season for this fall. The injury has been tough to deal with, but my coach, teammates and everyone else around the building here at UC have helped me get through this tough time. As unfortunate as this event was, it allowed me to really put a dent into my college applications. I narrowed down my college choices to seven schools and from there I started applying to those schools. So far I have completed four out of the seven that I have to get done. I have applied to Notre Dame, Saint Joseph’s University, Wake Forest, and American. By next week I will also have applied to Brown, Virginia Tech, and UPenn. I am very much looking forward to the end of this process so that I can just worry about having fun and enjoying my senior year.

However, this year has not just been about college. As you may already know, I am very involved in a group called SMAC (Student Movement Against Cancer) and we have been putting together an Ultimate Frisbee tournament to raise money towards our efforts for the Relay For Life in the spring. We have been spreading the word all around school to everyone we see, because our goal is to make this fundraiser HUGE! The whole school is starting to get really excited about it and I AM ALSO INVITING YOU! We want anyone and everyone to come out and have a great time as well as support a great cause. It should be a great time! I will keep you updated on the college process as well as our fundraising efforts. Keep running!

D.J

Grammar School Basketball Tournament/Athletics Success

2009-11-12T08:59:00.004-05:00

Hello guys, hope your school year is going great and you are having lots of fun. UC is buzzing with lots of activities and is a lot of fun to be a student. We recently put in a new state of the art athletic turf field that is used for soccer, baseball, softball, gym and track. We have had great success in out sports teams this fall. Our girls volleyball team won the conference and county championship and is now competing in the state tournament. They are currently in the semi-finals of states and with a win tonight they will be in the state finals. Our cross country team also won their conference and finished second in the county a very good Westfield team. They are competing in states on Saturday and they are looking to run very fast and receive a high place. Over the last week UC held its 6th Annual Viking Classic. This is a basketball tournament that we hold in the UC gym in which we invite local grammar school basketball teams to compete. The champions were St. Barts on the boys side and St. Vincent De Paul on the girls side. All of the kids played with a great intensity and there was great competition in each of the games. It was really fun sitting and watching the games because the kids were so happy to play the game and enjoyed the experience of a high school gym with lots of fans at the game. Hopefully all of you are having success in choosing where you want to attend high school and I hope you are had a great Halloween too.

Senior Year - College Visit - Notre Dame

2009-09-22T12:49:00.002-04:00

Hey Guys,

I can’t believe senior year is here already. We are all really pumped – but we also all have a lot of big decisions to make within the next few months – like COLLEGE.
It’s a lot to think about – very exciting about where we will all end up.
This past weekend I had the most amazing college visit – South Bend, IN – University of Notre Dame. GO IRISH !

If you’ve been reading my blogs – you know I am a runner, cross county and track and I’ve always wanted to go to a big time school. Being an ND fan most of my life I couldn’t believe it when the ND track coach called me over the summer to say he wanted me to come out and check out the school.

They flew me out (with my dad) and had an amazing 2 days there. ND has a great engineering program which I want to study- along with a tremendous athletic program.
We met with the coaching staff, Athletic Director, engineering professors and academic advisors. I got to stay on campus with guys from the ND cross country team- attend classes, eat in the dining hall – be on the sidelines for the start of ND-Michigan State- sit in the student section and cheer on the football team. ND has so much history and the traditions there are great. The campus is amazing and everyone was so friendly. To me it’s the perfect school.

But I have others to visit to see which one is the best school for me. I can’t imagine anything being better than this past weekend in South Bend.
You never know though – I know I’m pretty lucky to have some good options.
I let you know how my college search goes. I have a feeling it’s going to be crazy senior year.

Welcome Back

2009-09-17T09:32:00.003-04:00

Hello readers,

Hope you had a great summer and are getting back in the swing of things. My summer flew by in an instant and I can not believe I am starting my senior year. It feels like just yesterday I was entering UC for the first time. I hope you are doing well in whatever school you are attending and remember that school can produce the most important and even fun times in your lives. This week we had our first Cross Country race at Waranaco Park and it went very well. Our team is excited about the season and we should be a good team that will see a lot of success. I will try and update the blog weekly about what goes on during my fun, but important senior year. Hope all is well and for everyone entering a new school, just remember to be yourself and try and have a good time.

Boys State, Open House

2009-04-27T10:41:00.003-04:00

Hey guys hope your school year is going great even though I'm sure you are all excited as it is winding down to summer; I know that I am. Recently i was selected to attend American Legion's annual Boys State held at Rider University in June. American Legion Boys State is among the most respected and selective educational programs of government instruction for high school students. It is a participatory program where each participant becomes a part of the operation of their local, county and state government. I am so grateful for the opportunity that Union Catholic and the American Legion has given me because not many boys are able to experience this great chance to show your leadership skills in a governmental environment.
At American Legion Boys State, I will be exposed to the rights and privileges, the
duties and the responsibilities of a franchised citizen. My training is objective and practical
with city, county and state governments operated by my peers elected to the various
offices. The activities I will participate in include legislative sessions, court proceedings, law enforcement presentations, assemblies, bands, chorus and recreational programs.

This week on Wednesday night is our annual Spring Open House for prospective students and their parents. It is a great opportunity to see the school from not only the faculty's perspective, but also the student's perspective. I hope all of you that can come do attend because I love to see people looking at Union Catholic and seeing what a great experience all of the students have here with the academic but also social part of high school. I hope school and all your other activities are going great and hopefully I will be able to see all your faces and share with you all my experiences here at UC.

Back to School & Penn Relays!

2009-04-22T14:31:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone! I hope your spring break was as great as mine was, unfortunately it's time to get back into the swing of things at school. Having a week and a half off from school was great and everyone is moving just a little bit slower this week, but overall it feels good to be back in school again.

Union Catholic is full of excitement right now as we have many events coming up in the next few weeks. The Mr. UC Pageant is next week along with the SMAC Quarters for Cancer Dinner, and our spring sports are in full swing. In fact our track team will be competing at the Penn Relay Carnival this weekend at Franklin field at the University of Pennsylvania. This is an international meet that features the top athletes from around the world and it provides kids with an opportunity to run with the very best. Our girls will be running in two relay events and our boys will be running in two relays as well as one individual race. I will be running in the individual race as I will be racing in the 3000 Meter Championship Race.

In order to run in this race your entry must be accepted and you must be invited to run. Our relays qualified for Penn during the winter and we found out that we were accepted just last week! We are all very excited to race and I can't wait to get out on that track. Many of the other members of the track team will be attending the meet to come and support us which is awesome.

This meet is considered the biggest meet of the year (at least on the high school level) and you take what you learn from this weekend and use it to help yourself grow as a runner and competitor. The meet takes place over three days and last year over 140,000 people attended the meet over those days. I can't wait to run in front of a crown as big as that and I hope I can run the very best of my ability! It's going to be a once in a lifetime experience and everyone competing is going to give it everything they have. We're all pumped and ready to go, and I'll let you know how we do!

St. Patrick's Day, Lock In

2009-03-27T13:38:00.003-04:00

Hey guys hope everything is going well with school and your other activities. A couple of weeks ago was St. Patrick's Day, which is one of my favorite holidays because I am almost all Irish. During the day I went into New York City to see the annual St. Patrick's Day parade and two of my uncles were marching playing the bagpipes and drums, which is always an amazing experience to be in and I love seeing them play every year. After we came home from the city, I went over to Rahway with my friend DJ to a restaurant and we watched his dad play the bigpipes with his band. It was an amazing experience because I love hearing the Irish music they play and we got to eat a great meal at the same time. I hope next year I can have just as much fun on St. Patrick's Day as I did this year and I hope everyone has a blessed and healthy year until that time.

We also held our annual Lock-In for the class of 2013. The Lock-In is a night where we bring all the students who have registered for UC for the upcoming year and keep them at school till 11 where they compete in several different activities. Those activites included basketball, kickball, bingo, musical chairs, ice cream sundae making, and finally the video game bus. The video game bus is a huge trailer bus that comes to UC and has 4 huge plasma screen TV's with 16 gamer chairs facing the TV's. You are able to play XBOX 360, PS3, or the Wii and they have almost every game imaginable for each system. That was my favorite part of the night because i was able to play Rock Band and Halo and other games for a long period of time. I believe the night was a great success and all of the kids had a great time with the activities that were planned, while still getting to meet the people that will be their classmates for the next 4 years of their life. Hope everyone is enjoying the nice weather we are starting to get and I will keep you updated on the events of UC as we approach the end of the year.

Decisions

2009-03-11T22:34:00.004-04:00

Hey guys hope your year is going great because our year here at UC is amazing even though i'm sure many of you like myself can't wait until summer gets here. Recently our spring sports season started and I had to make a decision on what sport i was going to go out for. I had played baseball all my life and my first two years at UC, but I joined cross country and winter track this year and absolutely fell in love with the team and everything that surrounded track. Even though I didn't think I could see myself giving up baseball, i followed what i believed my heart was telling me and chose track. The great thing about my decision was that either way I chose, I knew that I was going to be happy and successful. Those decisions are the hardest to make but also the best because you know that their is no wrong decision because both sides have many pros that will you can enjoy. In your time at UC you may run into a lot of decisions like the one I had where you have to pick between two different things, but the great part is there are people here to help guide you in the right direction and either decision you make will lead you to happiness and success in your UC experience. If our in the real world you are faced with a decision like this one, my best advice is to weigh the pros and cons of each side of the decision and then follow what your heart is telling you to do.

NEW YEAR, SAME UC

2009-02-05T14:26:00.001-05:00

My New Years resolution is to blog on a regular basis and as you can see it has taken me a little while to get it going, but I think I’m ready now. So far the New Year has been great and I hope yours has been good. UC is a very exciting place to be right now because we have so many different things going on. I’m a student Ambassador here at UC so I’ve been working all the recruiting events and that’s been a lot of fun.

On Saturday night I worked the Accepted Students Dance and that was a really good time. It was great to see all the 8th graders come out and try and meet some of their future classmates. I still remember when I went to that dance as an 8th grader and meeting my classmates. I was actually reminiscing with some of my friends about our dance. it wasn’t that long ago that I was in the same position as those 8th graders. It’s funny because it seems like yesterday that I was choosing a high school to attend and now I’m starting to look at colleges. It’s really crazy to see how fast time flies in high school.

Our Athletic teams are also making some noise in the building. Our basketball teams are doing well, our swimming team is under a new coach and they are seeing quite a lot of success, and our track team is representing our school like none other. I’m probably being a little biased because I’m on the track team but we really are doing well. We just ran at the Union County individual championships and our team took home 3 county titles. It was a good day to be a Viking! I hope all of you are staying warm in this cold weather and I’ll keep you updated on the UC news.

Meeting the Class of 2013

2009-01-27T11:17:00.004-05:00

This week represents the start of the most important week in Union Catholic because we get to meet the incoming freshman class which this year will be the class of 2013. First we have the Scholarship reception for those outstanding students who recieved academic scholarships.

Next we have the accepted students dance for all of the students that were sent out letters saying they were accepted to UC. This event is great and everyone that is thinking about coming to UC or even has some doubts, should attend, because you get to meet a lot of new people and make great new friends. When I was an incoming freshman and didn't know where I wanted to go, the accepted students dance helped make my decision a lot easier. I met so many new people and everyone was so friendly to me, even the kids that were helping out and already were attending UC and i realized that these were the people I wanted to be around for the next four years of my life because they would always be there for me and care about me which they have no matter what the situation is.

Next we have the Accepted Students Q&A in which students and parents have a final chance to ask questions and get answers from students and finally is Registration which is the best day of the year because we get to meet the new freshman class of UC. I will be at all of these events and I hope to see all of your bright smiling faces there.

Semi Formal, Midterms

2009-01-26T13:53:00.005-05:00

Hey guys hope your school year is going great even though it's already the middle of year. My school year has been flying by so fast and recently we just had our semi formal. Every winter we have a formal in which our gym turns into a winter wonderland and everyone gets dressed up. it was a great time this year and I had so much fun dancing and hanging out with all my friends and the DJ had the music going all night. Semi symbolizes the first part of the Christmas and holiday season and that is my favorite time of the year and also because my birthday is the week after Christams so i love spending time with my family and getting double presents is always fun. We recently took our midterms though which isn't the best part of the year, but a part that we all must go through. Midterms are a big test on all that you have learned from the beginning of the year to the middle. The tests are only really hard if you don't study but as long as you study, they aren't as hard as anyone makes them out to be, and once they are over you get a short little break and it ends the first half of the year. After midterms you realize that you only have about 5 months left until summer which is the best feeling in the world. School is great here and i'm excited to see all of the new freshman that come to register to attend UC and I hope I see many of your faces there because UC is a great experience for any student, no matter what you are into and everyone deserves the chance to experience UC.

Junior Ring Ceremony, Discover UC, Start of New MP

2008-11-17T10:30:00.004-05:00

Hey guys UC is so busy and alive lately. Last week, myself and classmates of the junior class recieved our junior rings. It was a great night and helped us realize that we are upperclassmen now and we have something that can be on us forever that will remind us of our past and where we came from. It looks great with the blue stone and all the stuff i got written on there like my name, class, irish flag and baseball to represent the activities that i participate in. It's one of the great things you look forward to when you are younger here at UC and it's great to see that some of these are happening already.

Recently UC held it's "Discover UC Night" for perspective students who are thinking about attending UC. It was a very successful night because it gave students and parents lots of information on what UC is about and why every person that goes here finds something to do. It was also the first night that UC showed their new DVD which was done by an alum! It gave families a chance to see what our lives are like during the day because most of them can't come during the day to see the energy and atmosphere that UC provides for every student that walks through the door.

Times are flying by here at UC because first marking period ended the other day which means that we are already 1/4 of the way done with the school year. I can't believe that I'm already done with 1/4 of my junior year because it feels like just yesterday I was walking in so nervous to my freshman orientation and now I'm almost halfway done with my 3rd year of school.

Jr/Sr Trip, Notre Dame

2008-11-03T10:30:00.004-05:00

Hey guys sorry I haven't been blogging lately school has been crazy here with the end of the first marking period but I can't believe that we are already a quarter of the way done with the school year, its amazing. I hope your school year is going great too. Recently the juniors and seniors went on our annual trip in the fall. Every year the school picks a different city and this year was Philadelphia, PA. The trip was awesome, I had a great time hanging with my friends doing all the activities that were planned for us. One night we had a dinner/dance cruise on a boat which was great because all of us were up dancing all night and having fun. The next day we went to Hershey Park where we rode roller coasters all night and it was a great time. When we took a break from roller coasters, we went over to chocolate world and bought way too much chocolate but it's okay because no one can have enough of great chocolate. The next night was my favorite because we went to Eastern State Penitentary which is a haunted house but in a deserted prison and I got so scared at some points it felt like my heart was about to come out of my chest. On sunday we went to mass at Villanova and after toured the campus and it was a really pretty school to see. The trip was great and I can't wait till next year's when we go somewhere else.

This weekend my dad took me, my brother and grandpa out to visit Notre Dame college in South Bend, IN. It was one of the best weekends of my life. The campus and buildings were so beautiful that you were taken back as soon as you walked on. There was such a great vibe coming from all the students and faculty there. On Friday we took a tour of the school and looked at all the great things that Notre Dame has to offer for every student that wants or goes there. Saturday was the best day. We got to campus early so we could see the football players walk from church to the stadium then saw the band play all of the fight and victory songs and finally watched the game. Even though Notre Dame lost to Pittsburgh 36-33 it was in 4 overtimes and even though it would have been nice for them to win, the game was so exciting and the atmosphere inside the stadium was something I had never felt before in my life. On Sunday we went to mass in the church and walked around the campus again and everything looked so calm and beautiful. It was a great couple of weekends that I will never forget and hopefully more come up in the near future.

Junior/Senior Trip and XC

2008-10-27T11:29:00.000-04:00

Wow! School is crazy right now, and I apologize for not writing any blogs, but I think I finally have my routine down, so I’ll be blogging every week again. UC is busy as usual, and that’s always a good thing. As you know it’s fall and that’s when we have our annual Junior and Senior Trip. I remember being a freshman and watching all of the upper classmen board the buses to go on the trip, and I said to myself “I can’t wait until I get to go on the trip”. Well, it was finally my turn to go, and I had a great time. Every year the school goes somewhere new, and this year we went to Philadelphia, PA. The first night we were there we went on a dinner cruise that rode along the Philadelphia skyline. It was awesome! All of my friends were taking pictures everywhere, and we danced all night. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done.

The next day we went on a tour of “Amishville” or Lancaster, PA. We went to a farm, and a pretzel shop where they made the best tasting pretzels I’ve ever had. After that we went to Hershey Park for the rest of the day. That was definitely one of my favorite parts of the trip. I love going on roller coasters, and my friends were on them all night long! After we went on every coaster in the park we went to chocolate world, and I was in heaven. I love chocolate, and I bought all of my favorite candy. The day as a whole was great, but the next day was even better.

On Saturday we took a tour of all of downtown Philadelphia, and it was great. We went to all of the historical museums, and we had a real “Philly Cheese Steak” lunch at Gino’s in downtown Philly. It was the best cheese steak I’ve ever had. After some more tours and dinner we went to the Eastern State Penitentiary, which was recently voted the most haunted place in America. We went on their haunted tour which was awesome! The set up was really clever, and the actors on the tour really scared me good. Visiting that place was my favorite part of the trip. The next day we went to Villanova University for Sunday Mass, and then we took a tour of the campus. It was a great way to end the weekend.

Once we returned it was back to the real world, and school work. The first day back was tough, but it was worth it. Getting back in the practice mode after school however, was tough. A couple of kids on my team went on the trip as well so we were all struggling, but it got better. Our fall sports teams are in the peak of their championship seasons, and we’re all doing well. Recently our cross country team ran in the Mountain Valley Conference Championships at Warinanco Park in Elizabeth. We all ran well, and we placed second as a team. We were hoping to come away with the win, but the other team was better than us that day. We’re hoping to get some revenge at the Union County Championships this coming Wednesday. I’ll keep you updated, and I’ll let you all know how we do.

National Honor Society, Freshman Field Day

2008-10-16T09:07:00.003-04:00

Hey guys how is every one's school year going?? I hope it's going great because mine is amazing and flying by fast as anything. Last week some of my fellow classmates and myself were iducted into a group that is called the National Honor Society. It is a very hard thing to get into and only a select few have the requirements necessary to get into it. I am so honored and grateful to know that it's nice to be rewarded for the work I do. Hardwork never goes unrewarded although you may not see it, in some way it will help you in the short or long term. It was a great night to be with my friends and family as we recieved this great honor that will go with me throughout my entire life. A couple days later UC held it's annual Freshman Field Day. This is when freshman compete against one another in activities such as basketball, kickball, 3 legged race, hola hooping and other fun activities. They were broken up into teams based on their homerooms and every one had an awesome time because they didn't have to go to classes and got to spend the entire day just relaxing and doing activities with all of their friends which everyone likes. It's just one of the things that freshman look forward to during the year and events like this make freshman and everyone else included love coming to UC everyday.

OPEN HOUSE

2008-10-06T10:49:00.003-04:00

Hey guys hope your school year is going great. Ours is flying by in what seems like no time at all, I can't believe it's already October and a month of school is already under our belt. Last week we had our annual fall open house for perspective students and their parents. It was a wonderful night and we had an amazing turnout there were so many people in the halls that at some points it was hard to walk through everyone. There were tours given, which the ambassadors including myself led. We took a group of students and their parents around the buliding and showed them our facilities and talked about what makes Union Catholic a great school to come to. Other parts of the night included going to classrooms and talking about different subjects and levels of academics in our school. There were tables set up in the gym for all the sports teams so that people were able to see what kind of sports are offered here and they got to meet the coaches. In the cafeteria there were tables set up for all the clubs we offer here at UC. There were a lot of tables because we offer so many clubs and there is usually a club that can fit anyone's needs. It was a great night and the atmosphere in the buliding was so lively that you felt like you were in a great experience whether you were a perspective student, parent or even a current student in the building. It was great to see everyone so happy and i hope the class of 2013 is as great as every other class here at UC.

8th Grade Day of Recollection, Welcome Back Dance

2008-09-29T12:05:00.004-04:00

Hey guys hope everyone's school or work year is going good. Mine is going great even though its really hectic and there isn't much time for things ater school and sports. I joined the cross country team like fellow blogger DJ and it's a lot of fun. Earlier this week UC held an 8th Grade Day of Recollection where about 160 kids from all different grammar schools came to recollect at UC and to see what our school is like. I was able to get out of school to work it which isn't so bad because everyone needs a day off once in a while. There was lots of fun with speeches and group activities and we all got lunch by Wendy's which everyone loved. It gave the 8th graders a chance to see some of what the high school experience will be like and what will happen through your 8th grade year into freshman year, which is good because it's always good to know somewhat of what is coming towards you. On friday night we had the annual welcome back dance for all uc students. It was a lot of fun to be with your friends all night at school and we were dancing and grooving to songs all night long. It was also a great place for freshman and new transfers to meet people that they didn't know and make some new friends which is always helpful. Soon a lot of you 8th graders are going to be choosing what high school you want to go to and all i can say is visit as many schools as you can and you'll know in your what school is the best for you to succeed in.

Where Did Summer Go?!

2008-09-18T13:37:00.001-04:00

Wow!

Summer flew by as usual, but it seemed to go by even faster this summer. It seems like yesterday I was taking my last final and getting ready to kick off my summer. However, all things must come to an end, and summer is no different. I was, in a way, looking forward to school starting, but in another way I wasn’t. I couldn’t wait to get back and see some of my friends again, and I was also looking forward to my Cross Country season.

Our team is looking to do big things this year, and everyone put in a good summer of training. Our coach told us that if we wanted to do great things we would have to have a good base of mileage, and we all listened. This past Tuesday we had our first race, and it was a Dual-Meet vs. ALJ (Clark). Everyone was pretty excited and nervous at the same time, including myself. During school that day all of the guys were joking around with each other to get loose before race time. I have to say that the team chemistry is awesome this year. Everyone gets along with each other and we don’t mind going to practice everyday.

School ended and we all got changed into our new uniforms that we fundraised for over the summer. I love the new uniforms, they’re really comfortable and they look great on everyone. We warmed up, stretched, and put our spikes on. We were ready to run! The gun went off and we all sprinted off the line. The race went by really fast, and before I knew it the race was over. We counted the points and we won the meet! Dual-meets aren’t a big deal in Cross Country, but it was a great confidence booster for all of the guys on the team. Our first big meet is on Saturday at Warinanco Park in Elizabeth. It’s the Bernee Magee Class Meet. It’s a meet where freshman race freshman, sophomores race sophomores, etc. I always love running at that meet because the atmosphere is great, and we’re all really excited to race there. I’ll let you know how we all do!

Back To School

2008-09-15T08:42:00.004-04:00

Hey guys!! I can't believe we are back to school already it feels like just yersterday we were getting ready to have a great time in the summer. My summer was great and filled with lots of exciting things and I hope yours was too. I'm looking forward to having a great year and I wish all of you luck no matter where you are in your academic career. I'm going into my junior year and it's a really big year for me. I have to take everyone's favorite test in the world the SAT'S and i'm starting to look at colleges that I want to attend. All the seniors are excited to begin there last year of high school, the sophmores are grateful that they are still not freshman and are looking to become role models, freshman are just starting there high school careers and they might be very scared or excited and juniors are glad to be known as the older kids of the school and they are looking towards stuff like the junior/senior trip and junior prom in the spring. And if there are any freshman you shouldn't be worried about school because I'm sure wherever you are you'll do fine and if you are at UC there are tons of people that can help you along your way if you feel like you need someone there to help you. There are also a lot of transfer students this year and they might be scared too, but don't because UC is a great school and has programs that can help everyone out. I will be blogging weekly about the events that come up during the year. I hope everyone has a safe healthly and great school year and remember that you can do anything you want too as long as you put your mind to it.

NATIONALS...BON JOVI!

2008-07-16T09:16:00.003-04:00

It’s crazy to think that we’re already a month into summer vacation, but summer wouldn’t be summer if it didn’t go by fast. Even though school is over, UC is still buzzing. The track team is always the last team to finish their season. We recently went to Greensboro, North Carolina for Nike Outdoor Nationals. Our goal throughout the whole spring track season was to qualify for this meet, and sure enough there we were. The atmosphere there was awesome! There were college scouts everywhere and the crowd was electrifying! We were all so excited to race.

Our 4x800 meter relay team was the first to race. We were the first race of the day on Friday, and we were ready to go. We ran in what was called the Emerging Elite Division which allowed teams who didn’t make the fastest qualifier to still run at Nationals, and it was still National Championship race. Our leadoff leg was Ryan and he did a great job. He handed off in first place to our second leg Alex who also ran a great race. The pace was getting faster and Alex fell back to third place, but we were still within striking distance. Alex handed off in third to Danny who ran to the front pack right away. He opened up a lead and handed off to me in first place. The race was getting more and more exciting and as we came up to the final lap of the race there were about 5 teams in striking distance. As we came down the final straightaway it was between 3 teams, and UC was right in the mix. I was giving it everything I had, and I started to pull away from the other two teams and crossed the finish line in first place! We couldn’t believe it, we were National Champions!

The next day our sprinters ran in the 800 meter sprint medley. It was by far one of the most exciting races of the meet. We were in third going into the final lap and our anchor Garrett was in striking distance. Coming down the final straight he passed one team into second and then blew by the next team into first. He crossed the finish line and threw his arms in the air. Union Catholic just won two National Championships! It was a great way for our seniors to end their high school career, and for the younger guys like me it was a great experience that we’ll use throughout the rest of our high school career. That night we went out to dinner and just had a great time. The pressure of running was off and we were all able to let loose and have a great time.

However, my summer has not been just about running. It’s been great hanging out with all my friends and not having to worry about school! Recently one of my buddies Kevin (who is a fellow blogger) invited me to go to the Jon Bon Jovi concert in Central Park. It was my first concert, but it was a great one! We got there really early and we had a great spot about 50 yards away from the stage. My whole family was jealous that I was going to the concert, because we all love Bon Jovi. The concert was amazing, and I’ll never forget it. My summer is going great and it’s only going to get better. I’ll try and post as often as I can, but if I don’t talk to you before school starts again, have a great summer!

BTW... you can visit Coach McCabe's website for pictures and track stats...www.uctrack.com

ACADEMIC AWARDS, ICE CREAM SOCIAL, SENIORS

2008-05-27T10:04:00.003-04:00

Last week we had our annual academic awards for the sophomores and freshman. It’s a night where the school rewards students who have excelled during the first three marking periods of the current school year. It is a great night where students receive awards for Math, Science, English, and Social Studies and for their GPA. It is also determined at this point who is #1 and #2 in the class. Even though I didn’t get very high up in the class, I still did pretty good and got awards for Math because of my outstanding achievements. It is great to see all of the people that are being rewarded for their academic excellence. After the awards were given out, we all met in the cafeteria for an ice cream social. It was a great way to top off the night by rewarding us and our families again by giving us ice cream and allowing us to make our own sundaes which always taste good. Everyone looked very good with the guys in suits and the girls in nice clothes or nice summery dresses. It’s a great night and is sort of the start to the end of the year which makes us all happy because summer is almost here.
The seniors are done here at UC and its very sad to walk through the halls without having them there. I was friends with a few of them, and one had a very special impact on me. He was like my big brother and he watched me throughout my time here at UC and I thank him very much for it and I hope all the seniors have a great summer and a great college experience and hopefully we get to see you around when you can come back for spring break and things like that.

TRACK COUNTIES

2008-05-12T12:14:00.002-04:00

Wow, May is already here! It seems like yesterday that I was just beginning my sophomore year and here we are almost juniors! Our spring athletic teams are in full swing. Our track team is having a great season so far so let me get you caught up.

We recently competed in three meets over the course of a week. We had Conference and County Relays, then we had Conference individuals. The first half of our season is mainly relays, and then the second half is the individual part of the season. We ran well at the Conference meet and the two relays I was on we placed first. At the County meet was also did very well. Our 4x100 meter relay team placed first and set the meet record in the event! The other relays I was on placed first. It was a very exciting meet. The following Tuesday we competed in the Conference Individual meet. Our coach told us that we had a very good chance to win and that every point we earned meant a lot. It was a two day meet and we went into the second day with a five point lead over second place Rahway. After exciting races and great throws we came out on top and beat Rahway by ten points! It was so exciting to win and run a victory lab around the track. It was the first time in school history that we won an outdoor track meet! The team we have this year is very special and the chemistry between all of us is great. We have the County Individual meet coming up this weekend, and hopefully we can bring home another trophy.

As for the rest of the sports, our Baseball team just defeated our rival Roselle Catholic in extra innings! All of our teams are doing great as they come to the end of their seasons. I’ll keep you posted on how the end of the year winds up!

Open House, Beating RC!!!!!!

2008-05-09T13:08:00.003-04:00

Hey readers there has been a lot going on at school lately. Everyone is excited because school is almost over and summertime is just around the corner

Last week UC held its annual spring open house for students who want to know more about the school. Being a new ambassador, it was my first opportunity to be able to give tours of the school to families that had students in younger grades that may want to attend Union Catholic one day. It was a great turnout and there were a great number of students which is unusual for the spring open house (our fall open house is usually the one everyone attends). After tours and academic presentations we had a student panel where kids at the open house directly asked current UC students questions about life at UC and what happens on a daily basis. It was a fun night and it was great to see all of the kids and their parents really learn about what UC is and what a great atmosphere it is.

Yesterday the varsity baseball team played Roselle Catholic, who happens to be our school’s rival. In a great thrilling game the Vikings pulled out on top 4-3 in 8 innings. It was an amazing game, UC had fought tough all game but they were still down 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh. They managed to score a run and tie up the game and force it into extra innings. After shutting down RC in the top of the 8th, Union Catholic’s star catcher Jimmy Thornton came up with one out and runners on first and second. He hit a ground ball through the right side and the winning run scored from second to secure the victory for UC. Everyone was jumping up and down and yelling at the top of their lungs. It’s a great feeling to win, but it’s even better to beat our rival RC. The varsity team is having a great season so far with their record being 11-3 and 2 losses by only 1 run. Come out and support the Vikings and show your school spirit.

ANOTHER SIDE OF UC

2008-04-22T10:13:00.001-04:00

Hey everyone! I just wanted to get you caught up in what’s going on in the UC community. I am a very active member in the club SMAC (Student Movement Against Cancer) and every spring we participate in the Relay for Life at Scotch Plains High School. We do a number of different fundraisers to raise money towards our funds for the relay. We recently had one of our fundraisers.

Every spring we have a fundraiser called “Quarters for Cancer”. How it works is you walk into the cafeteria, which is decorated, and you give a donation (Example: $20), and they ask you how many tickets you want. The tickets are used to get your food, and each ticket represents a quarter. Every scoop of a dish or a dessert is a quarter. So if you want ten tickets, you can get ten things of food. It’s a great event and everyone has a great time. When I got there and saw all the food I was amazed. It was great to see everyone come together and donate all that food. It was also great because all of the sports teams had just come from either practice or a game, and they were all starving. I sure was, and I ate a ton of food.

At the end of the event everyone went over to the Auditorium for the Mr. UC pageant. I went and saw my brother perform. It was really funny see all of those guys get up on stage and dance. My friends and I were all hysterically laughing the whole night. My brother performed well and placed second. He was a little disappointed, but he had a great time doing it and that’s all that mattered.

The next day we all found out that the “Quarters” dinner raised $618!! The dinner was a huge success, and it was our best year ever. We are all excited for the Relay for Life coming up in two weeks! I’ll let you know how it goes.

AMBASSADOR ACCEPTANCE...LOCK-IN

2008-04-21T14:35:00.002-04:00

A couple of days ago the new ambassadors were chosen and I was lucky enough to be one of those people. My fellow blogger DJ was also chosen as one. An ambassador is a leader of the school who is always at the out of school events that UC runs and is seen as the face of the UC. I’m very grateful that I was chosen for this spot because it’s a very high leadership position here at UC. I’m glad that I get to work with my classmates and people of older classes in helping younger students and parents to see how great a school Union Catholic is.

One of the perks of being an ambassador is getting to work events like the Lock-In that we held last Friday for the class of 2012. Incoming freshman come to UC from 7 until 11 at night. We split them into about 10 groups and have them do different activities with each other, so that people can meet each other. My brother was one of those incoming freshman and he said it was good to meet some of his classmates so he didn’t feel like he was going into the year not knowing anyone at all. Some of the activities that the kids did was play guitar hero, kickball, basketball, musical chairs and they had to go on a scavenger hunt to find people that liked the same things that they did. This was a good icebreaker and it helped kids who didn’t speak that much start to talk to some of their soon to be classmates. It was a fun night working with my friends and seeing all of the kids that are going to soon be my new schoolmates in a couple of months. It’s been great to update you guys again and don’t forget on April 22 which is a Tuesday night UC is having their spring open house and I would strongly advise that if you have the time that you come and see what a great community UC is.

Ambassador or Peer Ministry?

2008-04-10T13:26:00.001-04:00

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven’t been blogging for a while, but let me catch you up on all the news in UC. As you know it’s the start of the spring season, and everyone has some spring fever. The weather is getting nicer, and all of the sports teams are in full swing. Our Track team is running well, and our Baseball team is off to a 2-0 start.

Spring is also the time when applications for leadership positions for clubs and activities are due for the upcoming year. I decided that I wanted to apply to the Ambassador, Big Brother/Big Sister and Peer Ministry programs. I was selected to be interviewed to be an Ambassador, and I had to make a decision between Ambassador and Peer Ministry. Ambassadors work open houses and visit grammar schools to talk about UC to prospective students and their families. Peer Ministry works more with the kids in our school. They help spread their faith in God to others in the school, run our Days of Recollection and school masses. I evaluated all aspects of both clubs and decided to try and go for Ambassador. I chose that because Peer Ministry holds most of their meetings right after school, and with my track schedule I wouldn’t be able to make most of the meetings. Ambassador events normally take place at night so it worked better with my crazy schedule. However, I also felt I my talents and abilities fit the Ambassador Program more than they would in Peer Ministry.

Well I had my interview on Monday, and I thought it went very well. Two days later there was an announcement calling a few students who were interviewed down to the Admissions Office. Mr. Luciano (Head of the Ambassador program), and Mrs. Thornton (Director of Admissions, and fellow blogger) told us that we were selected to become Ambassadors. I was really excited, and I can’t wait to start training.

I have a track meet today at Governor Livingston. I’ll let you know how it goes in my next blog as well as how the rest of the spring sports are going.

SPRING BREAK AND BASEBALL

2008-04-04T13:55:00.001-04:00

For those of you who don’t know last week was spring break here at Union Catholic. We were lucky enough to get 8 days off from school which is always good because everyone needs a break. Over those days I had the lucky opportunity of going to Arizona to visit my aunt and uncle who I haven’t seen in a year. It was a great experience to be out there and see how much life is different. First of all, I was three hours behind of everyone back here so for the first couple of days it was hard for my body to get used to it. It was beautiful weather out there. Almost everyday it was around 90 degrees, but it wasn’t humid so it felt amazing and getting to swim in my uncle’s pool made it even more amazing. Later in the week we visited the Grand Canyon. It was amazing to see how water, weather, and time can shape such a huge thing into one of the world’s most famous wonders. It was cool to look all the way down and see a river flowing through all the twists and turns and know that it formed because of the canyon. The beautiful part had to be the sunset though. We watched the sun set over the Grand Canyon and when it was nearly about to disappear was probably one of the most beautiful places ever.

This week is opening week for our spring sports season. On Wednesday our varsity baseball team opened up against New Providence and won in decisive fashion 5-0. It was a great way to open up the season and gave all the players a lot of confidence for the games that are coming up. I am on JV and we hope to open up today if the weather permits against JP Stevens and it looks to be a good game. I can’t wait to get out there because playing baseball is one of my favorite things to do. I will keep you updated during the season on how the JV and varsity teams are doing. That’s all for now hope everyone has a great week and I’ll be back soon =].

BASEBALL TRYOUTS, COURSE SELECTIONS

2008-03-11T14:55:00.001-04:00

This weekend was amazing because baseball tryouts were held for the JV and varsity teams this weekend. Baseball is my favorite sport out of all of the sports and I couldn’t wait all year for it to come. I made the JV team and although we have a lot of young kids we have good potential and I’m hoping for a great season for both JV and the varsity teams. The spring season is very exciting because the weather gets warmer and this year for the first time in Union Catholic history there will be a varsity girl’s lacrosse team. It started as a JV team last year, but this year it has moved up to varsity and everyone is very excited to see how they do. Even though we couldn’t go on the field because it was wet, it was still great to be with all the guys and know that the season is just around the corner.

Recently the freshman, sophomores, and juniors got to select what classes they want to take for the next year. I love this idea because instead of having someone choose the classes for you, you get to control what specific classes you want to take and what level you want to take them on. You can pick your classes by how much time you think you have to put in the time needed for the amount of work for each different class. I think this is great because it allows you to choose your future and what you want to be able to study for the rest of your high school career and on into college. High school is a very important part of your life and to be able to control it yourself is a great feeling

The College Search

2008-03-07T13:43:00.002-05:00

Here at Union Catholic students are allowed to register for their own classes online from the UC website. Teachers have been explaining to all of their students how the registration works. There are requirements however, for the classes that you register for. If you are for example in the honors program you must have at least a “B” average in your class to stay in the honors program for the next school year. The same goes for the Accelerated program. However, if you want to move up in a class (Honors to Accelerated) you must have at least an “A” average to move up. It’s pretty cool to be able to register for your own classes.

All of this has sparked our teachers into talking to us about looking at colleges. They all said that you have to start looking your sophomore year so that you have an idea of where you want to apply in your junior year. I listened to their advice and started to look online for different schools. The UC Guidance Office has connected us to a website called COIN which allows you to search for specific schools. For example you can say you want a Division I school on the East Coast and it will give you a list of different schools. Every college in the country is on this website, so it helps you find the perfect school for you.

Since I am a runner I started looking for Division I schools not too far from home. I have come across a few good schools that I will continue to look at. I was looking at COIN at home and my older brother (who is home on spring break) said it was really scary to think that I was already looking at colleges. He goes to the University of Mary Washington in Virginia, and it’s a great school. All of this is pretty exciting and I’m looking forward to find the best school for me. I’ll keep you updated on the college search as it progresses further.

Next week I’ll let you know how the first day of spring track and the spring season goes.

RELATIONSHIPS

2008-03-04T15:38:00.005-05:00

A lot of things happen in our everyday lives, and relationships are one of them. Boy meets girl, girl meets boy they go out and live happily ever after. If only it was that easy, everyone would find their soul mates in high school. Recently my girlfriend and I broke up and I’m not going to lie it’s hard but everything happens for a reason. It’s hard to move on but the important thing is that you work things out and become friends. Friends’ last forever girlfriends just come and go as time goes on. If you have ever listened to the song stronger by kanye west it makes a lot of sense. He says everything that doesn’t kill me can only make me stronger which is so true. You learn from each relationship that you are in and gain useful information that you can use for the next relationship or situation that you come into. Relationships are a big part of high school and they can bring along great experiences, but at the same time they can bring some bad ones too. Just remember that for every bad thing that happens, something good will come out of it. Whether you learn how to treat a girl/guy better or how to act around certain girls/guys, every relationship teaches you a lesson that you will use when you grow up and become an adult.

Track, Track and more Track

2008-02-20T14:12:00.001-05:00

Life in UC sure is exciting especially now during the championship part of our winter athletic seasons. Our Track team competed in the New Jersey Catholic Track Conference (NJCTC) championships recently and we won the whole meet! For the first time in the 55 year history of the meet Union Catholic took home the gold! The meet was so exciting, and everyone raced well. It was truly great so see everyone come together and perform well.

This past Saturday we also competed in the NJSIAA State Championships at the Armory in Jersey City. Anyone who placed in the top 6 in their event would qualify for the New Jersey Meet of Champions (MOC) in Toms River next Saturday. One of our girls, Tiara won the high jump, and one of our boys, Mike won the 55 meter dash! We also had many other qualifiers for the MOC including myself. I qualified for the Two mile race. I can’t wait to race there. It will be a great experience for all of us on the team. I can’t wait!

Today we also found out who qualified for Easterns which is a meet where runners from all over the East Coast compete. It is held at the New Balance Track and Field Center in NYC. Three of our relay teams were accepted as well as many athletes individually, including me. The meet is this coming Tuesday and it should be very exciting. I can’t wait to race against some of the best runners in the country. It should be a great week! I’ll let you know how it all goes.

Counties Take 2 and Millrose

2008-02-08T13:11:00.000-05:00

Ok so here’s the story. The Union County individual meet was this past Wednesday, and my coach was holding out four of our best guys who were competing in the Millrose games. After we won the County Relay meet, we (the team) figured we had no chance of winning the individual meet without those runners, however, things got a little interesting.

The meet was held at the Dunn Center in Elizabeth, and we still had a lot of people running in the meet. I, myself ran in the mile and two mile races. The whole night was filled with excitement. After I ran the two mile race one of my teammates Nick, told me that we were winning. I was so excited. I learned that our shot putter Charles placed 2nd and our high jumper Obi placed second as well. After we placed 3rd in the 4x400 meter relay the meet was sealed. They announced all of the results and when they said that Union Catholic won, we all went crazy! We did a victory lap around the track chanting “UC! UC!” It was an amazing feeling. We definitely have a special group of guys on this year’s team. We still have a lot of season left as well as all of the spring season, but I am really going to miss the seniors next year.

The next day we were still celebrating in school. Everyone told us congratulations throughout the day. It was a special night that I will never forget. Two days later we went to the Millrose games at Madison Square Garden in NYC. Our 4x400 meter relay team ran and placed 4th! It was a great experience for them and everyone who went to the meet had a great time. It was really cool seeing all of the professional runners around us. I really hope that I will have an opportunity to run there one day.

Vikings Basketball, Catholic Schools Week...

2008-02-06T10:57:00.000-05:00

Hello readers, last week a lot happened at Union Catholic. First was the good play of our varsity basketball team. They won 3 home games in a row against 3 good teams are their spirits started to lift after a poor start. Morale was high and our JV team went 2-1 so we were also in a good mood. The school was pumped and we got a lot of fans out to see the games, which really helped our team. We can always use more fans though so if any of you readers want to feel a great UC experience, find out when our next home game is and come feel a true Viking experience.

Another exciting thing that happened was Catholic Schools week. It was a week that is dedicated to all the Catholic schools in America. For this occasion we got two free tag days which allow us to dress down into regular clothes instead of in our uniforms. It was good to sit back and reflect on what it means to be in a Catholic school and how not all kids have the special privilege of going to a Catholic school. Union Catholic is a very special school and it’s a privilege for every kid that gets a chance to attend, so I highly recommend it.

Last Saturday was also our registration day for the class of 2012. We had another excellent turnout and over 220 kids registered. It was a great turn out and these kids are very lucky that they will be attending Union Catholic. We are happy for the great turnout and know that the class of 2012 will be as successful as every other class has here at Union Catholic.

WINTER TRACK COUNTIES, MIDTERMS, SCHOOL

2008-01-28T12:16:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! As you may have expected, UC is busy as usual, but let me catch you up on all thats been happening.

On January 9th, our boys’ winter track team competed in the Union County Relay Championships at the Dunn Center in Elizabeth. Going into the race our coach told us that we have a really good chance to win. We were fresh off our Conference Championship performance, and we were ready to roll. All of the guys were pumped and excited to show the county what we could do. All day during school I couldn’t think about anything else, but I stayed focused as well as I could, and I prepared for a big night.

The meet started as expected with us right in the mix. As then night went on the race for first place got closer and closer. In fact the championship came down the last race. We were tied with Rahway for the win, and it came down to our 4x400 meter relay team. It was the most exciting race I have ever watched. We won the race and we were crowned Union County Relay Champions for the first time ever! It was a great day to be a Viking!

Recently we also had midterms, which are exams that take place after the first semester of the year. Everyone always stresses out about them, and I was no exception. We had two exams everyday, but we had half days everyday which was a nice thing. After countless hours of studying I took my exams with confidence, and I felt I did very well. I’m very nervous to receive my grades, but I think I’ll be fine.

As for the rest of school, it is still buzzing with news of our boy’s basketball team defeating arch rival Roselle Catholic on Saturday night. It was a great game, and the energy in the gym was electrifying. It was a big win for the school and it gives the basketball team loads of confidence as they approach the end of their season. I’ll keep you posted on how our team does, and also how our 4x400 meter relay team does and the Milrose Games in Madison Square Garden!

MIDTERMS, ACCEPTANCE DANCE, BEATING RC

2008-01-28T08:53:00.000-05:00

Hello readers sorry I haven’t been blogging that much school has been hectic. Last week we finished taking our annual midterm tests. What those are is at the halfway point of the year you take a test on everything you have learned so far for every subject. I know it sounds like a lot but if you study hard you will do fine. Everyone always thinks they do horrible and get stressed over them and they end up doing just fine. Midterms are a hectic time and you learn from them each year and get a better strategy for each year to come.

Last Friday night UC held its annual Acceptance dance for 8th graders. The dance is held for all students in 8th grade that got accepted into Union Catholic. I worked the dance as a chaperone along with DJ and a bunch of my other friends. It was a very fun night and a great crowd showed up which is always nice to see. It was fun seeing everyone up and dancing and being social with their hopefully soon new classmates. It was a very successful night and we had almost no one sitting alone and even if some kids didn’t know one single person at the dance, we introduced them to people and made it a fun and memorable night for all the kids there.

Last Saturday night all 3 levels of our basketball teams played our arch rivals Roselle Catholic. All three teams played great and the freshman, JV, and varsity teams all beat RC to complete a perfect day. Everyone is happy at UC when we beat RC because although we respect them we don’t like losing to them because they are our archrivals. It was a great two nights in a row, first the acceptance dance and then beating RC.

Conference, Millrose, & Back to School

2008-01-04T15:11:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! Sorry I have not blogged in a while, but with Christmas everything was a little crazy. There is so much going on in UC, so let me catch you up on all the exciting things happening.

School was let out for Christmas break on Friday the 21st. Christmas was awesome. As much as I love school at UC it was great to be off from school for a little while. My family had a party practically every night during the break, because a lot of out-of-town relatives were visiting during the holidays. It was pretty crazy, but it was great to see all of my family again.

As for news in the school, the 4x400 meter relay team qualified for the prestigious Millrose Games in Madison Square Garden on February 1st. This is the first time in school history that members of our track team qualified for this event. The members of the relay team are Mike Suarez (’08), Shariff Stubbs (’09), Ryan Kilkenny (’08), and Garrett Ellis (’08). Being a part of the track team it means a lot to me to see the hard work that these guys put in at practice everyday pay off.

As for the rest of the track team, we are competing in the Mountain Valley Conference Championships tomorrow. The boys’ team is defending champions for 2 years in a row. As for the girls team, they are defending their title for the first time. We are all looking good at practice, and I think that we are going to run well. UC is still very busy with athletics and academics. Getting back into the groove of waking up early is tough, but so far getting back to school has been good.

Christmas...my brother's visit

2007-12-03T13:02:00.000-05:00

It’s almost that time of year again. That time when snow is falling and trees are lit and the winter season is beginning and Christmas is slowly approaching us. This is my favorite season because of snow, Christmas and my birthday as well. It’s a busy time at Union Catholic with our semi formal coming up, winter pep rally and mid terms are only a couple of weeks away. Recently our forensics team went down to Princeton to compete in a meet and did very good by scoring high in a lot of categories. The fall season is finished up and winter season is getting in the swing of things. I’m really excited for basketball season because our varsity team looks good and junior varsity which I am on looks ready for a good season as well. Our winter track team is looking to repeat their great success of last year when they had a sprint relay team finish second in the whole nation.
Recently my brother joined me in school for freshman for a day here at Union Catholic. I showed him sides of the school that I could have never explained to him, no matter how hard I tried. He couldn’t see how the nice the teachers were, or feel the great warmth that the students give off. He said he experienced a great day, which is basically everyday here at Union Catholic. Everyone here is warm and welcome and likes everyone that is around them. My brother loved the food here as well. If you ever have the chance, you'll have to try the fries because they are probably the best of any school in the area. Everyone is excited for the Christmas season and can’t wait until the break and know that they are almost half way through the year. I’m almost halfway through my sophomore year and it feels like just yesterday I walked into UC for freshman orientation and time seems to be flying here. That is what happens when you are in such a fun place like UC almost every day of the week.

Regionals & Athletic Dinner

2007-11-30T13:21:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! I’m sorry I haven’t blogged in a while, but life in UC has been busy. Last week was Thanksgiving, and because of our First Marking Period success we received Tuesday off as well as Thursday and Friday because of the holiday. It’s been very busy, but that’s exactly what makes this school so much fun.

My Cross Country season also came to an end this past Saturday. My coach and a few of my teammates came to support me in New York. I was running it the Foot Locker Northeast Regional race. I ran in the sophomore race, and did very well. My performance earned me a spot on the All-Northeast team. It was very exciting. There were thousands of people there and it was held at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, New York. It was a day I’ll never forget.

We also had our annual Athletic Awards dinner for the fall athletes this past Wednesday. This is a night set aside to recognize the accomplishment our fall athletes have achieved this year. It was held at the Westwood in Garwood. The night was a great success. As a part of the ceremonies there were video presentations for every team. These videos were made by our Digital Film class members. The videos were awesome and they were all made on to a DVD for the parents to buy. Everyone had a great time. They have these dinners after every sport’s season. I’m looking forward to Winter and Spring!

UC in the Community

2007-11-13T15:16:00.000-05:00

Hey readers how is everyone doing? Hopefully it’s good, it’s getting that time for 8th graders to decide where they would like to attend high school. My best advice is not to stress out and put too much pressure on yourself because then it won’t make the decision and your high school career much fun.

UC is starting to get more involved in the community and trying to help out people in need. A couple of days ago 7 UC students including myself traveled to the Center for Hope Hospice located on Terrill Road in Scotch Plains. We traveled to another center to help stuff bags for one of their meetings that were coming up. It felt good to help people that were in need. It’s hard for people to know that they are dying, but at the same time still have fun with the rest of the days that they are living out. Sometimes we seem to forget about our elderly people. Doing this I know that these people who might be in a lot of pain and discomfort were happy because they knew that we were trying to help them. These people need our love to feel like they are welcome in this world and that just because they are leaving this Earth, they shouldn’t be shut out from living a great life until the very end. It is important for everyone to volunteer in community service. Just think if everyone donated one hour a week think of how much more work we could get done and how happy everyone that is in need would be. UC is giving a great chance to it’s student’s by developing this program which allows the students to volunteer on their own time. Just remember that there is a place for everyone to help and it would be greatly appreciated by everyone who you help.

XC Counties

2007-11-02T11:18:00.001-04:00

Counties and Life in UC

Union Catholic gets more and more exciting everyday. Our athletic teams are doing great and everyone in the school is getting ready for report cards to come out. School is going great, and the Cross Country team is doing awesome.
Our Cross Country team just competed in the Union County Championships last Thursday. It was rained out the first day but we were ready to go on Thursday. It was cold and cloudy which is perfect weather for running. The team ran great, and the meet was in itself a success. The terrain was a little slick, but for the most part the course was fine. With so much talent in the county right now it’s awesome to see the team performing well.
Our boys and girls soccer teams are in the State Tournament and the JV girl’s volleyball team just won the County Championship. All of our sports teams are performing at the top of their game which is great to see. We are all ready to enter the Championship part of our seasons, and we are all looking forward to it.
Other than that Life in UC is pretty normal, BUSY! There is always something going on during and after school. That makes school a lot of fun, and we all love it. All of my friends are getting excited for Halloween, and we can’t wait to dress up. I’ll tell you all about it next time!

PSAT's & Weekend

2007-11-02T11:09:00.001-04:00

Everyone at UC is excited for the year that is coming up. Recently the sophomores and juniors took the PSAT’s in school. Sophomores took the test in a classroom with their respective English classes. The juniors sat in the cafeteria arranged by English class as well. The test took about 3 hours and consisted of 5 parts. There were 2 math sections each averaging about 30 questions and 2 critical reading sections averaging about 25 questions each. There was also a writing section but luckily we did not have to write an essay. Although the PSAT’s don’t count sophomore year, UC gives it to us to help us prepare for our college future. I didn’t think that the test was that difficult as some of my other classmates thought. The hardest part for me was the vocabulary because it is hard to remember all of the words and what each one means. It is nearing the end of the marking period and that means its stressful for everyone, hopefully my grades will be good and I won’t have to stress out over if my grades were good or not. We also had a pep rally in which all the sport teams walked out with the cheerleaders and pumped up the crowd for the remainder of their seasons. The crowd was pumping and the gym felt like it was rocking the whole time. Soon the winter season sports will start and I will be able to try out for basketball. Last year I started on the freshman team and even though we didn’t do so good I had a fun time and hopefully this year will be better.

This past weekend was kind of a drag because it rained almost the whole weekend. Most of the sports events were cancelled and everyone was forced to stay inside most of the weekend. I went to a sweet 16 Saturday night with a bunch of juniors and sophomores. My good friend DJ was there and we had a lot of fun dancing all night to the music that was played. Sunday I was lucky enough to go to the Jets game at the Meadowlands but they lost. They didn’t play well at all and it was a very cold day, so that didn’t make it any better. UC is definitely back in the swing of things and everyone including the freshman are getting used to what life is like here at one of the best schools ever UC.

Progress Reports, XC & Pep Rally

2007-10-19T13:29:00.000-04:00

The halls of UC sure are buzzing with so much going on. Progress Reports are sent out to the parents of every student in the middle of every marking period, and they have your current grade in every class. All of the kids here, including me, stress out about them. Fortunately I did fine. My grades are good, and a load of stress is off my back.

Last Saturday our Cross Country team went to Van Cortlandt Park in New York City in the Bronx for the Manhattan College Invitational. Its slogan is the race of “The Biggest and the Best”, and it sure was. There were over 12,000 runners participating, and over 30 or 40,000 people in the park. It was an awesome race. The course is the 3rd hardest in the country and teams from all over the country come to run it. Our team did awesome, and it gave us loads of confidence going into our Union County Championship race on Wednesday the 24th. It should be a great race.

To top it all off we had our fall sports pep rally this past Tuesday. Every sports team walks into the gym and the whole school goes crazy! There were performances by the Step Squad, the Break Dancers, the Gymnastics team, and the Cheerleaders. There were also Volleyball games between all the grades. There were 12 people representing every grade. The Seniors won between all the grades, but later fell to the Faculty in a very exciting game. The Pep rally was a great time, and I can’t wait until the winter when we have our next one. Life in UC is sure exciting right now.

Freshman Field Day

2007-10-15T09:44:00.000-04:00

Hello readers, now that school is back in the swing of things I will be able to update my blog more often. Our first progress reports were just recently mailed out which is the half way point of the marking period. This means that 1/8 of the year has already passed!!!! It feels like just yesterday I was walking into the halls of UC as a freshman for the first time. Time here at UC goes by very fast, so you have to enjoy life and take it in stride. Recently UC held a freshman field day where all of the freshman homerooms competed against each other to see if they were truly the best homeroom. 207 ended up winning the whole tournament and 203 received the spirit award for their cheers throughout the whole day. I was the leader of homeroom 205 and although we didn’t win, all of the kids had fun and it was probably much better then sitting in the classroom all day. The day was buzzing with excitement as each homeroom wanted to be given the trophy and have the bragging rights that they were the best homeroom of the freshman. Special thanks go to student council who ran the event and all the Big Brothers/ Big Sisters who helped out and lead the homerooms. During the day we had tug of war, ultimate Frisbee games, poster drawing, hula hoop events, tennis ball racing and the three legged race. These were just some of the competitions that the freshman competed in during the fun filled day. All of the freshman competed really hard and showed great sportsmanship throughout the whole day, but in the end 207 aka Bace’s Aces edged put a very very close victory. The whole day was a success and everyone was screaming and yelling the whole entire day.
Recently UC held its annual open house for grades 6,7,8. I attended because my brother is in 8th grade and is thinking about coming to UC. The school was packed with people, so much that we had people lining up outside of the auditorium because there were too many people standing for there to be any room. It was a great success and I think all of our clubs and sports activities gained a lot of kids that they should look forward to seeing when registration comes around. For any 8th graders that are reading this blog, or younger students that are thinking about attending UC, I say you should totally do it. UC is the best fit for anyone because it is so diverse in what it has to offer. Every kid that attends the school can find something that is comfortable for them whether it be a club or a sports team. All the faculty, staff, and students are warm and friendly and are always there whenever you need help. The UC community is one of the tightest knit groups that I have been involved in for a while. All students can be involved in the school’s activities including the Pep Rally which is next week to get the fall sports pumped and ready for the remainder of their respective seasons. Welcome back everyone and for all the students thinking about coming to UC, my best advice would be to call the main office and schedule yourself a date for freshman for a day. This is the best tool, because you walk around with a freshman and get to see what it like is to be a freshman here at UC for a whole day. DJ and I will be keeping you updated on the events that happen throughout the school year, so keep reading and look each week for a new updated blog.

We're Back!!

2007-10-02T10:06:00.001-04:00

Hey Everyone,

As you may remember my name is D.J. and I am currently a sophomore at Union Catholic. Kevin, a friend and I are going to keep you up on what it's like to be a student here at UC.

So far for me, school is going great. I have amazing teachers, and I have gotten off to a good start with my grades. It was great to finally see my friends after a fast, but fun-filled summer.

I played baseball over the summer with the Vikings of UC, and we had one of the best seasons in school history. Our Junior Legion team placed second in the Union County Tournament and we went to the State Tournament. We were the First Junior Legion team in school history to win a game in States, when we defeated Nutley in the second game of our tournament. We did not win States, but we definitely gave it a good run. I also trained all summer long for my Cross Country season which is going on right now.

Our Cross Country team is defending a three year streak of winning the Mountain Valley Conference Championship. We lost three great seniors last year, but the team is looking stronger than ever. We are all excited to go out and surprise a lot of people. Everyone is running great, and it should be a great year.

Last Friday was the Annual welcome back dance, and it was a great time. I went with all of my friends, and we danced the night away. The dance floor was packed all night. The music was great, and everyone was full of energy. We all were able to let loose after being in school for the first time in three months. It felt good. There was a mix of every grade. The night was a big success, and the student council did a great job in setting everything up. I had a race the next morning, and when I woke up I was a little tired. However, everyone on the team, despite being a little tired, ran great. The school year is definitely off to a good start for me, and I look forward to the upcoming year.

Hello readers my name is Kevin Coughlan and I am currently a sophomore at UNION CATHOLIC High School. As the year goes on, DJ and I will be keeping you informed of what life is like as sophomores here at UC.

I’ll start with last Friday September 21st - the school held a welcome back dance for all students which I attended. I thought it was a great success and I had a lot of fun the whole entire night. Everyone was having a good time dancing with their friends both boys and girls. The DJ had the music blasting and I think it was a good way to relax from the hassle of the start of a new school year and just hang out with our friends for a night. Everything was perfect and I don’t think it could have gone any better. It didn’t matter whether you were a freshman and didn’t really know a lot of people, because as always the UC students were nice and friendly and surely we showed them how to have a good time. I’m really looking forward to the next dance which is semi-formal around December time. Special thanks go to all the staff and faculty who planned and helped set up for the occasion and made it a huge success. Welcome back UC and I hope everyone has a safe, great and healthy school year including students that don’t attend yet. If you don’t I hope to see you soon at some of our many occasions we have for incoming students.

Freshman Day of Recollection

2007-04-23T13:36:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone,

I’m sorry I haven’t been blogging as much lately, but I have in fact been very busy. The past few weeks have been crazy with school events going on, and I’m going to fill you in. Two weeks ago the freshman had their annual freshman day of recollection. A lot of us thought that it was going to be really boring, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. It started off in homeroom when peer ministers came in and wrote letters on our hands, which represented what group we would be in for the rest of the day. Each pair of letters represented a different dance move. They did this because the theme of the day was “Dance, God is your D.J.”. I was put in the group WT for Woo Tang.
The day was filled with talks given by the peer ministers, fun games and activities. Everyone in my class had a great time. There was a jell-o eating contest, dancing, word games, and we even made human pyramids. The groups had talks and we all were able to let out our feelings. I thought that the day was a great success, and there is no doubt in my mind that everyone had a great time.
The peer ministers did a great job, and I thought their message was one that I can use with me for the rest of my life. I had an amazing time, and I hope next year is just as good.
Tomorrow is the Spring Pep Rally and Thursday is the Mr. UC Contest and I am looking forward to both. I’ll fill you in my next blog.

Baseball Tryouts...

2007-03-08T12:13:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone, I’m going to catch you up in the world of Union Catholic. The spring athletic season officially started on March 1st, 2007. I was planning on trying out for baseball and I did just that. Tryouts started on March 2nd, and I tried out with the freshman and sophomores. The juniors and seniors tried out separately. There were a lot of freshman and sophomores, and the tryout became pretty interesting.
The first day of tryouts was the worst. It was too cold to be outside, so we ran and did drills in the gym. We ran a lot, and everyone was really tired. We also did conditioning with push-ups, jumping jacks, and stretching. After that we hit in the cages, and pitched on the gym floor. The next day was al little easier. We threw, stretched, and took ground balls in the parking lot. Some of the guys had a rough time, but I thought I held my own pretty well. After that we hit and pitched in the gym again. The final part of the day was the mile run around the school. You run 3 laps around the school and it’s a little over a mile. I won my race, and I was pumped for the third and final day.
The final day was the same set-up as the 2nd day, and I won my mile race again! When we were done we were told to go in the locker room and wait to be called into the coach’s room to find out if we made the team. I was the last one called, but when I was called in I found out I had made the JV team! I was one of three freshmen to make the JV team. I was so excited to be on the team, and I can’t wait for opening day!

Carnivale....

2007-02-23T12:55:00.000-05:00

Hey everybody, I just wanted to let you guys know what’s happening in UC.

This weekend was presidents weekend, and it was awesome having Monday and Tuesday off from school. However, before the big weekend on Friday night the Italian classes from UC have what is called Carnivale, which celebrates the last day of eating before fasting of Lent or “Fat Tuesday”. Normally it is held on Fat Tuesday, but since we did not have school we had to reschedule I to the Friday before Ash Wednesday. There is lots of food, music, dancing, all of your friends come, and it’s just an absolutely great time. This year was my first Carnevale, and I am defiantly going next year. All the food there is homemade Italian food, and it tastes great. The music is also good. Our teacher Mr. Cerimele plays some Italian music along with some modern English music. Everyone dances, and it’s not only freshman that come. Every class comes, it’s a big event. Everything is great, and everyone has a good time.

Well, I just wanted to let you know what is happening in UC. I’ll keep you posted on how my Italian teacher liked this year’s Carnivale

My first entry!

2007-02-08T13:15:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone, my name is D.J., and I’m a freshman at Union Catholic (Class of 2010!!) I can say that after my first half of the year, I absolutely love it here. I have made so many friends, and the environment is always friendly. I am in an all honors course schedule, and my teachers are great. Sports are probably the main things I’m involved with here. I run Varsity Cross Country and Varsity Winter Track, and I am planning on playing baseball in the spring. Our Cross Country team won Conference for the third straight year this past fall, and our Winter Track team recently won Conference and Counties! That is how I meant a lot my friends. It is so important to get involved in an activity when you come here. I starting practicing with our Cross Country team over the summer, and by the time school started I already knew a few people in the school, so it made it easier starting in a new school. Knowing a few faces can make a big difference starting in a brand new school. I am also involved in the Irish Vikings. The Irish Vikings is a club that helps the Union County Parade Committee prepare for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Union and we march in it - it should be really great! I have made so many friends here, and I still haven’t gotten to know a lot of kids in my class. There is something for everyone here, that’s what made me decide to come to UC. There are activities for all kids. Well, I just wanted to give you a little back round information about myself, and I’ll keep you posted on how the rest of my year goes.