Most 14-year-old freshmen stepping onto a high school campus for the first time have a very different idea of love than one they will eventually understand. The only taste they’ve had of it has been through romance movies they binge watch on the weekends, where “I love you” means a kiss or a proposal.
After being at Pace for four years, I have stumbled onto a different concept of love that I personally find much more fulfilling.
There is something about the energy on the school grounds that can teach even the hardest of hearts what love feels like. Coming to school feels like coming home.
The family you find here is not limited to your class. You find love in every corner of the school and in everyone you meet, from the teachers to the counselors to your classmates to the staff.
At Pace, you are never alone. If you need to talk to someone, you don’t have to wander far to find an ear willing to hear you out. Perhaps you prefer “Cafecito” with Celita, or Oreos with the guidance counselors, or Krispy Kreme doughnuts in the computer lab. It doesn’t matter who you end up connecting with, because you are bound to click with someone.
It is impossible to go to Pace and not feel the love in the air. There is someone who knows you, and cares about you just a few steps away at any time of the day.
Pace has taught me how to love. Pace has taught me to think outside of my self, to reach out to anyone who I feel needs it. In middle school, if I saw someone crying in the hallway, I would have gone to get a teacher. Now, I will slide down the wall, sit next to them, pull them onto my shoulder, and just be there for them. I don’t have to know their name to love them.
Love is what our school was built on. Love is what our school runs on. Pace means Love and I am so proud to be a part of a school like that.