On Faith, Basketball And Black Eyes

Editor’s note: This is the second installment of “Catching Up With Maria Conlon. . .”

August of 1988. Seems like eons ago. That was the month I enrolled in kindergarten at St. Mary’s School.

Yes, I am that old that it had not been hyphenated into St. Mary – St. Michael yet.

I remember my kindergarten class so vividly, which is ironic, because I can barely remember what I did yesterday. Somehow I remember that portion of my life so clearly. I think maybe I remember it so well because of how thankful I am to have had the opportunity to be raised in a Catholic school system.

The values, lessons and friendships I encountered back then have stayed with me forever.

In fact, I still talk too many of the people that I sat with in kindergarten class. The experiences for me were priceless.

I always believed that being part of the St. Mary – St. Michael School was a privilege. For years, I was in class with the same 24 kids. It created a unique bond with one another and we learned so much form each other. Learning about math, science and English to me would always be the same no matter where I went to school, whether it was public or private education, but learning about your faith and going through the sacraments and understanding the religion you believe in gives you the ability to broaden your horizons and bring your education to a whole new level.

For me, it taught me how to be humble and caring, how to ask for forgiveness and how to strive to be better. All of these things helped me grow as a person — as well as an athlete — I will forever be thankful for that.

I would be remiss if I did not mention that St. Mary – St. Michael also gave me one more thing — basketball!

It was here where I took my first shots, played in my first games, experienced my first loss, my first win and my first black eye!

I hope that during the course of my lifetime I will be able to give back to the school that has given me so much.

While the school went through rough times recently, I believe the people of the Valley have rallied together to keep the doors open and the tradition alive.

While I don’t have any little ones right now, I have faith St. Mary – St. Michael will still be bustling with students when it comes time for me to enroll my children.

The author is a Derby native.