New Junior Blogger

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

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

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.