Last Night in Santa Paula 2021

It’s early in the morning here in Santa Paula, and students have already begun leaving our California campus to return to the loving families who have missed them so. It’s been a wonderful two weeks, capped off by a spectacular final night.

After coming out of Friday’s last class on Flannery O’Connor’s “Everything That Rises Must Converge,” the Summer Program students enjoyed a quiet afternoon as they pleased. Some went on hikes, others took one last leap in the ponds, and more still took to the athletic fields in pursuit of one last victory.

Finally, at around 5:00 p.m., all flocked back to their respective residence halls to get ready for the evening. Soon enough, a large group of smartly dressed young men in ties and dress shoes waited patiently outside St. Monica’s Hall with the gallant purpose of walking the ladies down to dinner. One by one, the men escorted the women to a banquet set up on the lawn in front of St. Joseph Commons.

Once all had had their fill of the delicious dinner, and had happily begun eating cheesecake and sipping coffee, the director of the Summer Program, Brian Dragoo, got up to speak. “You’ve been introduced to a new kind of life here,” he told the students. “Socrates once said that the unexamined life is not worth living — you’ve been introduced to the examined life here.”

Mr. Dragoo then briefly led the students through the significance of all the Great Books they have read these past two weeks. From their first readings of Oedipus to their last day of Euclid and O’Connor, the students have considered the thoughts of a few of history’s greatest minds on some of the world’s most enduring problems. These past two weeks, they have tackled questions such as:

• By what standard can we know something to be pious?
• How much of man’s future is it his business to know?
• And, perhaps most important, is it possible for reason to proceed hand-in-hand with faith?

After much cheering for Mr. Dragoo, Admissions Director Jon Daly, Fr. Sebastian, and this year’s incredible California prefects, the party descended to the Chapel steps, where the group prayed the Rosary and adored the Blessed Sacrament. Fr. Sebastian gave a short, then offered students the opportunity to avail themselves of the Sacrament of Confession.