Dear little sisters,

In a few years, you’ll walk through the doors of Xavier High School for the first time as a student. You’ll feel nervous, awkward, and unsure of yourself. You won’t know it yet, but you’ll be taking your first steps of a wonderful Xavier journey that will be over before you know it. Here’s 20 ways to make the most of that journey:

1)Convince a spectator to spontaneously run a cross country meet. Watch him finish ahead of you, join the team, and win a varsity letter.

2)Organize a student section to support the bowling team on senior night. Carry the lone senior off the lanes while chanting “MVP.”

3)Storm the stage after your show choir wins the best costume caption award. Eat celebratory chocolate chip pancakes at Perkins at a totally unreasonable time of night.

4)Go on a band trip to Washington D.C. Fall in love, literally. Stay up all night having deep talks with your best friends.

5)Wear your sports jersey to school, even on a non-spirit day.

6)Sing happy birthday to Connor Miller every chance you get. Persuade 24 people to give Connor a birthday shout-out at a show choir competition. Never admit it’s not his birthday.

7)Get unreasonably excited about jv soccer. Score a goal from midfield. Break the record for most wins in a season by winning more than one game.

8)Play some #silkysmooth jazz. Guard the jazz band pineapple with your life. Beat Independence.

9)Be elected president of the largest youth-advocacy organization in Iowa. Organize a #notmypresident campaign against yourself.

10)Stay up all night at Model UN. Act irrationally the second day. Repeat for four years.

11)Qualify for the National Math Competition. Finish more ultimate frisbee games than math problems. Celebrate like it’s Pi Day when your team finishes in the top half.

12)Perform an original song with your band at Galaxy. Spray paint the inside-out suit jackets you picked up at Goodwill before going on stage.

13)Go “bamping” (band-camping) with friends. Swim across a lake. Pretend you didn’t know it was a lake.

14)Play a “lit” game of glow-in-the-dark ultimate frisbee on the football field.

15)Inspire sixth graders to chase their dreams on YAHOO by diving through a spider web. Then, set a bad example by recklessly jumping over a fire.

16)Get Lost in Yonkers. Meet some friends on your way out.

17)Live the fourth.

18)Use your set of skills to help your mock trial team win a state championship.

19)Make an Instagram account for your pizza hat at HOBY. Watch it go viral.

20)Award the Blake Welter award for “the show choir combo member who best exemplifies the qualities of Blake Welter” to Blake Welter. Every time.

21)Reflect on a great four years. Thank Xavier for the memories. 🙂

Love,

Peter Deegan

A&E Editor