Let It Snow! - Convent of the Sacred Heart

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king street chronicle
Convent of the Scred Heart
1177 King Street
Greenwich, CT 06831
(203) 532-3172
editor in chief
sarah julian
managing editor
cristina ceballos
features editor
sylvia khoury
asst. features editor
caroline kitchener
news and chief layout editor
meg larson
asst. news and layout editor
emily oehlsen
photo/graphics editor
emily schloss
arts editor
lauren manning
asst. arts editor
megan morelli
sports editor
liz masi
opinions editor
clare mccarrick
staff writers
grissel barragan
antonia cecio
joan degennaro
julie ertl
heather grehan
liana khandji
alex mcnulty
deidre miller
tori porter
lizzy von klemperer
elyse yoder
artist
genevieve irwin
layout assistant
lacey henry
photographers
lindsey festa
olivia ruggiero
keller wilson
copy editors
maria brusco
cailey cron
susannah lawrence
eleanor logsdail
katie randolph
elizabeth sabia
layout adviser
mrs. rachel boyer
adviser
ms. ellyn stewart
About the KSC
The King Street Chronicle is published
six times a year by Sacred
Heart’s Journalism students. It is distributed
to all Upper School students
and is available to any member of the
community free of charge. Our goal
is to inform students, parents, and
alumnae of events and issues in our
community and the world. The KSC is
subject to prior review by the administration.
Living in exile
cristina ceballos
managing editor
I was a two-year-old in Caracas when
Hugo Chávez attempted a military coup
and failed. I was eight years old in Rye
when he ran for president and won. My
family had moved to the U.S. in 1995, intending
to stay two or three years and then
move back. But when Chávez took power,
those “two or three” years became twelve.
We’re still here, and I doubt if we will ever
move back.
I’ve never been unhappy about living
in the United States, and I don’t regret my
childhood here. Instead, I mourn for a lost
possibility, because moving back to Venezuela
is not even an option anymore. We
always believed that we could go back, but
my family, and thousands of others, lost
that choice.
Venezuela is breaking down. A large
part of the problem is political, and the
country is becoming unlivable. Caracas,
the capital, is one of the most dangerous
cities in South America, with the highest
per capita gun deaths in the world, according
to the UN. The crime rate is astronomical:
every weekend between 60 and
100 people are murdered, according to the
Miami Herald. Even living in Baghdad is
safer than living in Caracas, according to
usatoday.com. Although both cities have
similar populations, an average of 7,000
people are murdered each year in Baghdad,
while 15,000 are killed every year in
Caracas.
When we visit Venezuela for the summer,
it’s as though I’m suddenly eight
years old again. Going to the movies past
9:30 pm is out of the question, since it
would mean being on the streets late at
liz masi
sports editor
night going home. I’m not allowed to go
jogging outside on my own, even in broad
daylight. Opening a door becomes a fiveminute
task, as each key must be picked
out of a jingling key chain to unlock the
heavy iron bolts. When we first moved to
the United States, my mother says that
she would lie awake at night, nervous over
the house’s flimsy metal locks that could
be forced open with a single kick.
We take so much for granted in this
country: safety, security, the due process
of law. When candidates campaign and
win the presidency next year, no one will
be forced to leave the country. When we
go to the supermarket, we expect to find
milk and eggs in the aisles, not empty
spaces because of food shortages. The
government’s squandering of Venezuela’s
oil wealth has been obscene. It’s a crime
and an outrage to see all that money go to
waste when it could have helped propel
Venezuela out of poverty.
In December, for the first time in his
career, President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela
tasted the sting of electoral defeat. He
had proposed a new constitution, which
would have abolished term limits and allowed
him to run for president indefinitely.
But on December 2, for the first time
ever, Chávez lost a national election. For
the first time since 1998, we felt some
hope.
“I’ve been in exile for twelve years,”
my mother told me the night of the referendum,
as we stayed up until 2:00 am
to hear the news. “Do you know what it
means to me that my children can only see
my family in the summer? It’s so hard to
leave your roots behind.”
I love living in the United States, but
I want more than one option. I want both
my countries, not half of my home.
A cleanly community
I don’t know of a single person who
would want mice scurrying across the
Convent of the Sacred Heart hallways and
classrooms. Not only do their rubbery
tails, beady eyes, and furry coat terrify
most people, but, believe it or not, their
mission is even more frightening. Why
do these fervent, four-legged creatures
scamper where humans trek? Well, it’s for
a shining reward, a gleaming bit of…food.
And as we all know at Sacred Heart,
food is well adored. It is something of
which we Convent girls are mightily proud.
We devour those muffins at break with
utter adulation. We were near tears when
the vending machines were removed. We
jump for joy when gouter is announced.
We wait anxiously in front of the toasters
for our hot bagels to slide down the tray.
We love our food at Sacred Heart so
much that we often complain as to why we
aren’t allowed to take our rations outside
of the cafeteria. I, admittedly, grumbled
about how I couldn’t bring my cinnamon
muffin into the Core Center. But I think
it’s imperative that everyone recognize
the importance of cleanliness (and the
prevention of a mice infestation). When we
do take our food outside of the cafeteria,
crumbs and wrappers are strewn across
the hallways, classrooms, and the Core
Center. While we are not intentionally
being sloppy, we always manage to leave
remnants of food where pesky mice can
find them.
The benefits of being tidy, neat, and
sanitary are overlooked by some of the
student body at Sacred Heart. While staff
and faculty laboriously clean our Core
Center, our hallways, and our cafeteria, as
well as beseech us at Morning Meeting to
pick up our items, we seem to neglect that
vital duty.
The Core Center is a sanctuary for
us but we don’t treat it with the respect
it deserves. The Core Center is still fairly
new, only about a year and a half old. It
seems, however, that a tornado has blasted
through its walls. While the staff, and
even some compassionate students, have
worked hard to give us new decorations
and furniture, students still throw their
bags everywhere, leave pens lying on the
ground, food in crevices of the couches,
wrappers underneath the tables, and the
list goes on and on.
I have been a culprit of this crime
many times, I must say. I definitely know
what it’s like to let things get messy and
I am negligent myself. My room at home
is no temple. Nonetheless, I think it’s
important that we don’t take everyone’s
work for granted. When I see staff
vacuuming and breaking backs as they try
to swipe everything clean, I realize how
unjust it is.
It’s truly not that difficult to pick
up after oneself. If you drop something,
quickly bend down and throw it away. If you
can’t find a spot to place your belongings,
open up that deserted locker or ask Ms.
Foster for a suitable location. If you want
to finish that chocolate chip muffin, spend
the extra two minutes in the cafeteria to
protect us all from an invasion of rodents.
Just take a look around the Core Center
one afternoon and share a lending hand
in picking something up. Even if it’s just a
piece of paper, if everyone did it, it would
truly make a difference. It would show
respect for all the care and effort the staff
puts into making Sacred Heart a happy
and clean family.
Learning
to love the
Convent
sarah julian
editor in chief
I doubt that a day has gone by when
I haven’t heard a fellow student complain
about the amount of time we spend at
Sacred Heart. I myself am equally guilty.
Many a night, as I walked down to the
parking lot at 6 pm, I have griped, “I
might as well live here!” I complain about
the uniform restrictions, food policy, or
homework load. More than once, after a
particularly busy week, I have fumed internally,
“I can’t wait for college!” I am
sure that I have too often grumbled about
the frequent liturgies and chapels. Yet I
recently realized that for all the complaining,
Sacred Heart students really love Sacred
Heart.
Countless times my classmates and I
have bemoaned the sorry lack of boys at
Sacred Heart. And yet, how many girls
roll out of bed every day, hair un-brushed,
face makeup-less, wearing pajama pants
and a baggy sweatshirt, considering
themselves ready for the school day? How
many times have I heard students use the
phrase “I’m not trying to impress anybody”
with regards to their appearances?
Although quick to condemn it, it seems
students do find positives in our singlesex
environment.
Almost daily, we complain about the
homework load. But nearly all students,
when asked, will admit that the education
Traditions unique to Sacred Heart, such as
Mater chapels, gouters, and conges are what
make the school so special.
we receive is incredible. Sure there might
be rules we don’t like, but that doesn’t
stop students from showing Sacred Heart
pride in the form of Sacred Heart sweatpants,
fleeces, sweatshirts, t-shirts, flap
hats, key chains, bumper stickers, Nalgenes,
Vineyard Vines bags, and even
sports bras.
Yes, I complain about liturgies. But if
anyone were to take a look at my college
list, she would see that almost half of the
universities listed are Catholic. The same
liturgies I complain about have become
something to be searched for in a college.
So, it’s true. Students do complain
about school. But that’s only natural. Especially
in high school, it is not uncommon
to take everything and everyone for
granted. But if we take a step back, it’s obvious
that we are pretty lucky. Few people
have a school as special as Sacred Heart.