St Ignatius College Prepatory - Ignatian Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

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Immersion Ireland by Carolyn Lee In June of last summer Angelique D'Angelo, Joe DeBarbric, Carolyn Lee, Lauren MeMonigle, Sara O'Rourke. Brian Schmidt, and Mr. Paul Hanley (pajo) boarded a plane heading for Dublin, Ireland. We departed with three goals in minds. The first being establishing a community among our group. The second was immersing ourselves in the Irish culture. And the third was to help the less fortunate in the community. We successfully achieved all three. We spent the first week of our trip in the Northern cities of Portadown, Belfast, and Derry. After our travels in the North, we returned to Dublin to begin our work at underprivileged camps. The children opened up to us completely. They held nothing back including their love. They were satisfied with a listening car or a friendly face and this is what we provided. We spent our time talking, playing, and listening to stories of their family, friends, and culture. On the weekends, we explored the country past our home in Dublin and traveled to different cities. We left SI as unfamiliar traveling companions and returned close friends. Our Immersion did not end at the return to SFO but continued with our new task of bringing our experiences into the halls of SI. Salinas by Kristy Cahill For two weeks in July, Kristy Cahill, Suzanne Girolami, Melissa Gomez, Megan Montague, Bill Shereer. Mike Vrazasbal, Judy ip and Jim McGarry and Alexis Olian, immersed ourselves in the culture of the Salinas Valley. First we stayed at the Correcn and Gold Inn, our tasks ranged from chopping meat to serving fowl to making our guest feel welcome. During our free time we traveled to a Migrant Dibor Camp where the teenagers, children, and adults opened up their meager homes to welcome us into their community. Next, we helped the UFW fight for better living conditions of the farm workers. Throughout all these new experiences and relationships, we learned to immerse ourselves in a new community and most importantly to form our own community. TllCSOn by Christine- This summer, Whitney Barca. Kari Berquist, Cesar Bucoy, Daniel a Fenili, Christine Olsson, James Shinbori, and Patty Zatkin and Jen Levinson traveled to Tucson. We worked at Casa Maria's serving food to the neighborhood, a battered woman's shelter with kids, and at school of refugees. We also look a trip to Nogales, Sonora, where we learned about maquiladoras and the poverty. We met inspirational people who opened our minds to the different ways people can live and we bonded along the way. 12 Immersion

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Left: O Red and Blue: Five freshmen girls show their school spirit by drawing WILDCATS on their arms with permanent markers. Freshmen are CRAZY! Left: Meow, meow. meow. Cheerleaders Jason Urbi tondo and Theresa Finn pose for the camera before a football game. Who's in the catsuit? Right: Surf's up. surfer dudes! Seniors Joe Dekker and Nick Lane get ready to hit the beach during Spirit Week. Nice shades, guys! bove: Junior Chrystinc Lawson nodding cat paw tattoos given to ;ach student who bought Bruce Mahoney game tickets at SI. Spirit II

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Mississippi by Mari Nakano God grant me the serenity to accept things I cannot change, courage to change things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. No fair. Marks, a third world area within America, land of the beautiful. No fair. The small untidy trailer homes often holding eight or more people. No fair. 1'hc deteriorating hopes in the teenage mothers' eyes. No fair. 'Hie drug deals, the killings down the block, the case at which one can acquire marijuana Poor, meagcrly educated children who's dreams reach the heavens. I want to be a basketball player said one boy. Teach me this, teach me that. It wasn't fair to them and it wasn't fair to us. But. the people were beautiful in spirit and soul. We wanted to fix everything but till they asked for were our efforts, our smiles and. most of all. they asked for us to believe in them. We witnessed the richness in the simpler, more worthy things in life - things we often take for granted here at home. Thanks to Marks w e are more open minded, less quick to judge, gracious and appreciative. Participants: Colm Driscoll, Jamie D'Acquisto. Kara Asuncion. Amanda Rcitcrman, Tina Cardenas. Christine Chun, Mari Nakano. leaders: Chris Creswell, Jamie Wong. Host: Joan Dunning. White Mountain- Valerie Barrios, Suzanne Choy, Andrew Duff. Claire Harvey, Lindsey Notario. Jordan Phelps. Nina I-aRosa, Mr. Andrew Dworak and Mrs. Kathy Hanley- boarded a tiny, white S.I. van and anxiously set forth on our long drive to White Mountain. Arizona. We lived together on an Apache Indian Reservation, working with a variety of people while also learning about the Apache way of life. Our Indian guide exposed us to a number of adventures, which included Gcronimo's caves, the Apache wilderness at night, and the top of Ml. Baldy. There were many unforgettable aspects of our trip: the adorable children, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, bags of Marslunellow Matey's at the Grand Canyon, the guys cutting down a tree with a car jack. Jordan's sudden interest in photography or just staying up till night talking. Most importantly, however, we will always remember the lessons we learned about ourselves and others that taught us what it truly means to live together as a community. San Francisco by Clarissa Avcndano- We, Mrs. Carolyn Smith, Father Greg Gothals, Michelle Naklowycz, Elaine Sullivan, Hollybcth Vocal, and Clarissa Avendano. lived and worked in the inner city of San Frandsco-thc 1'cnderloin district. We were all skeptical as to what would happen during those two weeks, but our doubt quickly faded as we came in contact with the plethora of beautiful people we encountered in places such as St. Anthony's Dining Room, the Tenderloin Recreation Center, and the Marian Residence for Women. It was difficult for us to witness the tremendous suffering and despair occurring within the people around us. But the people who dedicated their lives to the betterment of the Tenderloin continuously touched and inspired us to work harder. We all became close throughout this experience because we all came to know and understand the world just a little better. We saw that part of society that no one else would ever want to see in their lifetimes. Maybe at first we didn't want to either. But in the end. the Tenderloin became a part of us. And we became a part of them. TIJUANA As we walked across the border of our neighbor to the south, our immersion group did not know what to expect A group with so many different backgrounds--- Aaron. Bridgette. Danny. Geraldine. Kelly. Kerry. Janice. Chris, and Becky was about to tackle a project that would need the utmost since of community Our home for the next two weeks would be Im Casa dt Ims I’obres. the house of the poor. F.vcry morning we woke up and fed the poor of Tijuana in our simple soup kitchens. Slowly but surely our lives became immersed in the culture of Tijuana As the bonds grew with the workers at the house so did the sense of community between each other Wc tackled the tough tasks of feeding the prisoners in the Tijuana jails, visiting the border at night, talking with some of the deportees at another refuge house, and just relating to the youth at our community. This was a very special experience and it was filled w ith memories that will stay with our group for the rest of our lives The question which still arises in all our minds is. who really benefitted from this tnp. the community of Im Casa dt Los P d rts or the nine people w ho were able to experience such a special community? Immersion 13