“Hi! I’m Allysha and I joined Sacred Heart in 4th grade (2012)! I will be going to Sophia University here in Tokyo, and I’m probably going to major in social studies. COVID-19 definitely made me want to spend more time with my family, while I still can.

While I don’t have a single best memory at Sacred Heart, my extracurriculars are definitely what made school all the more special to me. I don’t really do too many activities but I get really passionate about the ones that I do take part in. I loved being a co-captain in debate and leading the dance club because it helped me find the drive to keep doing what I was doing and it was all just really fun. I’ve made so many memories and such close bonds with people that I will always cherish.

The best excursion was probably our 11th-grade excursion. While I did enjoy going out and seeing all the sights, the best part was the evening activities. Our grade reps did such an amazing job preparing for it and our entire grade was having so much fun together. It really felt like we bonded.

My weirdest memory at Sacred Heart is probably when I first came here and saw all the dress-up days at school. Seeing book character days and spirit days where people went all out was really jarring at first but now looking back it’s just so normal to me now— especially since our grade was so enthusiastic about spirit days!

I am so thankful for the support systems I’ve had at Sacred Heart. When I was struggling I could always rely on the help of my friends that I’ve made here. I was also fortunate enough to have teachers that truly cared about my well-being and it really helped me feel that I was okay even when I was convinced I wasn’t.

A little piece of advice is to have fun!! It sounds so cheesy but with everything that happened in the past year, it just made me realize that you really never know what life will give you next, so it’s good to have fun while you can!” — Allysha