Making the Most of Every Moment

After Friday’s classes, students on the California High School Summer Program walked down to the ponds on the lower campus. There, they split into two teams for a thrilling game of water polo — with a catch: For a ball, the teams used a watermelon lathered in Crisco shortening! Each team had to struggle to push this heavy, slippery gourd to the opposite end of the pond, with the other team trying to stop it all the way!

They then made their way back to upper campus, where the prefects had set up a slip and slide!

Messy from the afternoon’s festivities, everyone next cleaned themselves up for a fancy evening. The Admissions Office held a banquet in St. Joseph’s Commons to honor the close of a week of rigorous discussion and immersion in the life at Thomas Aquinas College. There was delicious food aplenty, and students reminisced on the week they had shared. Program Director Dr. John Finley and Chaplain Rev. Miguel Batres, O.Praem. (’08) spoke with gratitude about the group’s shared intellectual, spiritual, and communal undertakings.

Dinner ended, and the students then walked to Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel, where they prayed the Rosary, then enjoyed a concert from Floriani, a quartet of TAC alumni dedicated to the promotion of sacred music. The men’s voices enveloped the Chapel with worshipful hymns.

From there, the group made its way to the athletic field for the prefects vs. students soccer match. All played hard, but the prefects prevailed, much to the students’ dismay!

After a long day, the students walked back to the residence halls, where they ate freshly baked, soft pretzels before heading to bed. This will be today’s only post, but come back to the Summer Blog Sunday morning to read about the full range of activities planned for this final day — hikes, a trip to the beach, dinner in Santa Barbara, and a farewell dance!

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