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Lauren Gudalis - 2020 Senior Reflection

Lauren Avery Gudalis is the daughter of Brian and Jenna Gudalis. She has been at LCA for 13 years, also known as a "lifer.” She has been involved in Varsity Soccer, National Honor Society, Beta Club, Spanish Honors Society and Mu Alpha Theta. She will be attending the University of Louisville's Honor College with a major in business. You can read Lauren's senior reflection below or view the video here.

 

 

 

Lauren's Senior Reflection:

One of the wisest, most profound things I've ever heard is, "if at first you don't succeed, find out if the loser gets anything." Now, that doesn't have much to do with what I'm going to speak about today, but I thought I would offer a piece of advice before I begin. My name is Lauren Gudalis, and I am here today to speak to you all about LCA's Class of 2020.

Let me start by telling you a little bit about us and give you a perspective of the world we grew up in.

We came into the world during the time of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

During our childhood, we watched humanity endure a fair share of hardships.

We have witnessed racism, riots, and protests have become a regular news topic.

For years, we sat fearful in our classes as we experienced school shootings become a prevalent headline.

We have prayed abundantly for God's healing hand on diseases and cancerous tumors.

One of the hardest realities we personally had to face occurred just recently. We lost our 9th grade Bible teacher, Mr. Gifford, who impacted all of us as young Christians.

And today, we sit before you as we graduate high school during a worldwide pandemic.

We missed our last eight weeks of high school. We missed spring break. We missed doing our senior prank. We missed senior skip day. We missed our senior chapel, our senior breakfast, and our final senior lunch. We missed signing each other's khakis. We had prom and sandlot games postponed. We missed cheering on our classmates as they completed what should have been their final seasons of baseball, softball, lacrosse, track and field, and tennis. But above all of these things, we missed the opportunity to cherish an offical last day in school together as a class.

And yet, on behalf of me and my graduating class, I am here speaking to you with a content heart that is overflowing with joy and gratitude.

Because in fact, we are blessed.

We are fortunate that, unlike many schools across the country, we were able to attend our senior trip.

We are fortunate that Coach Doug Charles decided to go for a two point conversion so that we could beat Lexington Catholic one last time.

We are fortunate that we got to go to a school with teachers who are richly invested in us. 

We are fortunate that we shared 122 days together in school this year.

We are fortunate that our Christian faith is not suppressed within our school nor our country.

Our list of blessings in an endless one.

For me, personally, this school year was my favorite of them all. It began with senior retreat, which consisted of dodge ball, capture the flag, worship, and s'mores. I also remember there was an inflatable water slide. At one instance, I looked over and it was caving in because too many people had climbed to the top. I watched a bunch of my fellow 18-year old classmates fall to the ground on top of each other with tears in my eyes from laughter.

In December, we participated in decking the halls for Christmas, which is a senior class tradition.

And in March, just the week before lockdown was put into place, we went to New York City. I will never forget, each evening, when we got back to the hotel after a long day, we would all go to the lobby, order pizza, play games, and just hang out.

And little to our knowledge at the time, just like that, a random Friday in March was our last normal day of high school.

Yes, our senior year clearly took an unexpected turn. 

But, when it is looked at in perspective, I would argue that it actually brought us closer as a class.

We were able to come together to surprise our teachers with a car parade.

We were able to find excitement when we had Zoom calls because it meant we got to see our friends.

I personally discovered an even vaster appreciation for my classmates, as well as my teachers, during quarantine. It is said that you don't know what you have until it's gone, and I did not realize how much happiness the daily conversations, jokes, and activities at school brought me.

I will forever be grateful for the relationships I gained at LCA.

I will forever be grateful for my LCA education.

I will forever be grateful for LCA's role in shaping who I am today.

Thank you to my classmates for the memories we've made together. And thank you Coach Doug Charles for going for two.

I am exceedingly proud of each and every one of my classmates.

I look forward to seeing the success that blossoms from this group in the years to come.