Our CRSM theater group held its annual production last weekend, the musical “Mean Girls” by Tina Fey. We held three performances – Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Early in the play, the school principal introduces the new girl to the other students. The cast thought it would be fun to include administrators from CRSM as guest performers in this role. Our Dean of Students went Thursday, our Assistant Principal on Friday, and I took the part on Saturday. The Theater group at Cristo Rey has become wildly popular. Out of a total enrollment of 422 students, 87 tried out for the play. That’s more than 1/5 of all our students. If you do not get a part in the cast, our moderator commits to giving you some role – lighting, sound, scenery, costumes, make-up, props, stage crew, etc.
The first night went off without a hitch and our Dean, with his booming preacher’s voice was a convincing Principal. The students were terrific despite some microphone issues and made it work. Preparation for the second night was proceeding well when our Drama Teacher checked the weather: severe thunderstorms with the possibility of a tornado! The students quickly huddled up and agreed that if, at showtime, the tornado watch area included Waukegan, they would move chairs into the safety hallway outside the gym where the walls are cinderblock. The show must go on!
Sure enough, there was an official watch in our area (meaning the atmospheric conditions could produce a twister) as the curtains were due to go up. Everyone moved to the safe location and Act I started. It was a more intimate affair in the corridor and mics weren’t needed. The students’ voices were great without electronic enhancement.
Our Assistant Principal played her part better than anyone with some ad libs that drew laughter from the audience. When she finished, she discreetly made her way offstage and found a chair at the rear of the audience. During intermission, she noticed someone who looked a little lost. Inquiring who he was – with the off chance they might be one of the student’s supervisors from the Corporate Work Study Program – the stranger shared that he had just left a conference at the Chicago Theological Union and was driving up to Green Bay when he heard on the radio an advisory to take shelter. He got off the highway on Belvidere Road in heavy rain and our school was the first place he saw with cars in the lot and the lights on.
Our Assistant Principal got him some popcorn and welcomed him in. Turns out his name is Peter and he lives in a religious community outside Green Bay. They struck up a conversation and found themselves sharing a fondness for the writings of Thomas Merton!
Act II began and the cast got in a few musical numbers before sirens went off and the weather service warned people to leave the area. The audience dispersed. Peter was given directions back to the Interstate and everyone called it a night… and quite a crazy night.
Two things struck me. First, it is yet another instance of the grit, resolve, and determination our students show every day. Rather than giving up at the first sign of difficulty, they figure out a way. Lots of messages that our society sends say, “college isn’t for you,” “the odds are too great, don’t even try,” “set your sites lower.” Our students don’t let others define them. They are following BIG dreams and know they are up to the challenge.
I read an article the other day called, “Bouncing Back is a Myth” by Keith M. Bellizzi, a professor of human development and family sciences at the University of Connecticut (UCONN). He says:
“I’ve spent more than two decades studying resilience… If there is one myth I wish society would retire, it’s the idea that resilience means ‘toughness’ or ‘bouncing back.’ It is about learning how to integrate difficult experiences into a life that continues forward.”
“We are living in a time of widespread burnout and rising mental health challenges, where cultural pressure to appear strong often leaves people silently struggling.”
“Resilience is not about returning to who you were before [a difficult experience]. It is about becoming someone new: someone who carries the scar, remembers the loss, and still chooses to engage with life. Resilience is not forged in the denial of vulnerability, but in its acceptance. Not in bouncing back, but in integrating what has happened into who you are becoming. And that, I believe, is where real strength lives.”
Bellizzi then goes on to discuss some of the practices that help build resilience. They include: Social Support, Mindfulness, and Expanded Identity.
In other words, Social Support is about being surrounded by a caring community of like-minded people. That is Cristo Rey St. Martin to a “T”. Mindfulness is about greater awareness, focus, and acceptance of yourself and those around you. Being faith-based, CRSM asks students to contemplate our spiritual nature. As Teilhard de Chardin, said, “We are not human beings on a spiritual journey, we are spiritual beings immersed in a human experience.” Expanded Identity is about stretching yourself by seeking exposure to a wide variety of experiences (like our Corporate Internship Program, sports program, community service, and theater club – among others) so that you come to learn more about yourself and your abilities. These routines build resilience. I think you could characterize Cristo Rey St. Martin as a breeding ground for resilient practice.
As our Assistant Principal mused, “Other people might say that Peter wandering into our school was just a coincidence but things like that happen all the time here at CRSM. It wasn’t coincidence, it was Providence. He was lost, looking for shelter in a raging storm, and God brought him here.” Which brings me to my second thought. Cristo Rey is a special place. It brings people from varied backgrounds together in a belief that the best way we can love God is by loving one another. Students, parents, families, teachers, staff, work-study supervisors, donors – even complete strangers – we find each other through CRSM and are all better for it.
I leave you with a wonderful prayer from Thomas Merton:
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road,
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore, will I trust you always though
I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
May the Lord continue to lead us on the right road…
¡Viva Cristo Rey!