“Hello, my name is Danika! I came to ISSH in 2012, partway through 4th grade. I’m probably going to the University of Toronto, St.George, to study maths and computer science, but there still is a chance that I will be going to a university in the UK.

I feel like a lot of my good memories at Sacred Heart came out of sports. There are many, so I will list off a couple: making the decision to join basketball in 7th grade (I had no idea that it would become my favorite sport!), G8 basketball league and tournament champs, G8 volleyball league champs, all of our far easts (even the one in 10th grade where we were stuck on the base), 10th grade volleyball season, and honestly everything about this year’s basketball season. Sports has always been something I had as an outlet for stress and my way of having fun, and I’m so glad I was able to share these memories with my teammates!

Another one of my favorite memories, for sure has got to be back in 7th grade. We were assigned to a partner for a science project on types of reusable energy. I was assigned to someone who I didn’t really spend that much time with previously, but as soon as we got into our pairs, we got along just like that, and we’ve been close ever since. It’s kind of funny to think that a science project was the thing that brought us together, but I am so glad that Ms. George paired us up back in 7th grade, you can really find good friends in the most unusual situations!

I wish I could say that there were no worst memories, but unfortunately “you can’t have a rainbow without rain”. My worst memory has got to come out of this school year, during the second day of basketball far east, when we heard that the tournament was canceled. I guess we all had an idea it was going to happen, after the boys basketball and cheer tournament got canceled several hours before but actually hearing the news of the cancelation all together in front of our rooms really hit hard. Just like that, we went from getting ready for the next day to crying altogether. I think it hurt a lot because it was our last year playing basketball altogether, and we all had this feeling that it was our best year but unfortunately, it was abruptly brought to an end. On the bright side, the games we played before the cancelation were definitely some of our best, and the time we spent brought us closer together.

I honestly have a soft spot for the middle school excursions. There really was something about staying in an old YMCA in the midst of nature, trying to squeeze in as many activities as possible, and making up skits and dances to present to everyone. Ultimately, the best excursion has got to be the 12th-grade excursion to Hiroshima. This excursion allowed me to understand my place in the world and was one of the most inspiring excursions I’ve ever been on.

I am thankful for all of the friends I made over my years of being at Sacred Heart. We’ve made the best memories together, whether it be staying up way past “lights out” during excursions and having some deep chats, bursting out laughing over small things on skype calls (or google meets nowadays), and sometimes even crying together. I can’t really put my finger on what it is about the friends you make here at Sacred Heart, but there is something special about these friendships. 

I am also thankful for my teachers who’ve encouraged me throughout my time at Sacred Heart and helped me kind of figure myself out. Especially in these past couple of years, I had no idea what I wanted to do in university, but my teachers helped me figure out what’s best, and some even helped me realize an interest in a subject I never expected to study! I really wouldn’t be where I am today without my teachers, and I’m so grateful for them.

I feel like going through school, I wish I had kept in mind that life goes on. There were times when I was in a bad place, or I didn’t know what I was doing with myself. In those moments, I would fixate on the negative emotions, and would feel like what I was going through would never end. But ultimately, life went on. I got out of my slumps, sometimes with the help of others, and sometimes on my own. But you have to remember that one bad day does not dictate how the rest of your life will be. So sometimes you might be having a horrible time, give yourself some time to be sad, vent about it, let it out of your system, some time will pass, and maybe a lot of time will pass, but you will find yourself in a better place sooner or later.” – Danika