Freshman Experience

Darren Lavin: My Hermit Brother Nick, The Absolute Madman

Posted November 8th, 2016

To be perfectly honest, I expected my freshman year at St. Augustine Preparatory School to be difficult. To say I am pleasantly surprised is an understatement. I am astonished at the true Brotherhood the boys in my class have displayed. That being said, some of my newly formed friendships have surprised me more than others.

Perhaps the most surprising of these pairings is my relationship with fellow Hermit brother, Nicholas Leo. I have class with Nick in my “Public Speaking” and “The Catholic Faith” courses, taught by Mr. Thomas Broomell and Fr. Francis X. Devlin respectively. We have grown closer to one another through mutual respect for and enjoyment of modern hip hop, most notably Los Angeles rapper ScHoolboy Q and Chicago rapper Chance the Rapper. We also share a talent–  expressing our tastes through our speech. Leo’s audacity and personable nature are qualities I appreciate in a friendship.

I could write dozens of essays on other classmates and how important they are to me in adapting myself to life enrolled in secondary education, but Nick is something special. I could never make it through the year without my brothers and their constant acceptance. In the dining hall, the study commons, the lobby, or wherever I may be, they have my back. high school really will be the prime time of my life.