One of the most fulfilling aspects of being a teacher is the wonderful reward one has when meeting a former student. After teaching English at Hill for so many years, I find it delightful to encounter a Hill Woman whom I have taught.
Recently, I had two experiences which brought the joy of teaching home to me. One was hearing Geralyn Ryan Madsen speak at a SOAR Dinner in Manhattan and telling the group that she enjoyed four very special years at St. Joseph Hill Academy. I was both delighted and humbled when she went on to say that I had made such an impact on her life that she named her second son William.
That event was followed closely by the fiftieth reunion of the Class of 1967, at which so many of our alumnae asked to come to the convent to visit. What a flood of happy memories came to me as I greeted each woman! I could see each one sitting in the classroom and recalled so many happy (and sometimes amusing) moments.
I have so many reasons to pause and thank God for the gift of my religious vocation. Little did I know sixty years ago when I pronounced my vows that SJHA and its precious young women would be such an important and treasured part of my life.
You, dear alumnae, have not only enriched the lives of the Sisters who were fortunate enough to have taught you, but you have continued to keep in touch with us over the years and have responded most generously to our requests for financial help for our infirm Senior Sisters. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your continued goodness to us!
Please know that you are in the daily prayers of all the Sisters—and that the doors of Saint Joseph Hill Convent are always open to receive you whenever you want to “return home.”
Sister M. William McGovern, F.D.C.