by Jeffrey Mu ’24
“Let it start with me!” The voices of Kevin Soriano ‘23 and Minkyu Koo ‘24 crystallized in the air, falling upon the ears of a few hundred incoming freshmen and their parents. The occasion was perfect: cloudless skies and a sunny day to complement the day’s festivities. And in mass, this was no different. Though bleachers had been swapped for plastic lawn chairs, these chairs symbolize a high school journey; you sit in these chairs Day 1 of freshman year, and you graduate in these chairs four years later. This typical fashion brought together teachers and administrators and students celebrating the newcomers and welcoming back the returners. For the start of the 2023-2024 school year, there was GAP mass, and a sense of pride in being a Bell.
In Bellarmine’s annual tradition of GAP, students begin by exploring some of the many clubs and extracurricular activities hosted on campus. GAP, which stands for Get Acquainted Picnic, is in many ways led by the student leaders and moderators of these clubs. Each group sets up a tent near the quad, often with their props and their unique selling point. Walking by the Robotics table located just outside Carney, Noah Howard ‘25 was busy regaling newcomers of a successful robotics season just last year, all while standing with a backdrop of a fully-built, functioning robot for FRC. Just down the aisle was a Speech and Debate stand operated by senior captains, and freshmen were able to engage with a mini photo studio for the Yearbook. For parents, both the Mother’s Guild and the Dad’s Club represent a moderating body within the Bell community where the backbone of on-campus events is formed.
The mass – always the talking point of GAP – began an hour after activities. The event welcomed in new and old in a sea of faces lit in the sun, just as it does year to year. But what made this year’s so special was Mr. Rod Jemison, the new principal for this school year. Flying in from Japan and originally from Tennessee, Mr. Jemison spoke of a bond between his experience and the experience of the freshmen in the crowds, “I’m a freshman too, I’m part of the Class of 2027, I’m a parent, I’m a husband, I’m a father, but I’m also a student, he said. “But more importantly, I’m also a Bell.”
Mr. Jemison’s words come at a time when injustice is especially prominent in our world today. Among them, Bell students have been working to combat the issues they see around our town of San José. It’s a key part of Bellarmine service; the way to live a man “for and with others.” And as Minkyo Koo and Kevin Soriano put it best, this service begins with a single person willing to stand up and initiate the effort within his community. For this school year, the strength of this effort on the part of the students and faculty is no different.
I talked to Ms. Missy Scott-Florez, the Director of Campus Ministry here at Bellarmine, about this year’s theme and direction of outreach. Following a year of students Walking with the Excluded, she told me that students look forward to focusing on poverty within the local community, as well as addressing mental health. It’s the core model of something so innately within our community, and yet adding that greater emphasis will hopefully help students to find the spirit within a broader context, and even within ourselves. “It’s going to be a great year with this in mind!” she told me.
So as Bellarmine begins the 2023-2024 school year, it has never been a better time to focus in on creating meaningful changes within our community, even if those changes have been happening since the years of Bellarmine’s founding. This year in particular, with the emphasis on poverty and mental health, students will hone in on one small step after another, building up to a greater change within our broader world. The GAP mass is only the start of something new: a gathering of one unified body dedicated to making changes. The next step is creating the good the Bells will put forth this year.
Jeffrey Mu is the Editor-in-Chief of the Bell Online. Check out his articles documenting student life and the Bellarmine experience.