Nativity Alumni Paola Vasquez, now a freshman at UCLA, speaks recently at Nativity’s Beacon of Hope Gala of how much Nativity impacted her life:

My name is Paola Vasquez and I am proud to call myself a Nativity School Alumna, Class of 2009.

Every student has a time period where they enjoy their school years the most. I would have to say that my best school years have been my 5th-8th grade years, the years that have impacted my life in a positive way the most. These 4 years I grew close to my teachers and friends, but most importantly I learned the importance of education, determination and prayer.

You see before I came to Nativity I was a student at a local public elementary school. I had always been a dedicated student however I never thought I would get too far. The years that I spent at public school not once was it mentioned that college would be so important in the future. My standards were low since at that time I felt that school was just something that children were required to do or a daycare while parents went to work. At times I would rather stay home than go to school. For my 5th grade year, my mother was told that enrolling me at Nativity School would be a good idea. I was afraid to start at a new school and was hoping for the best. As I arrived on my first day, my 5th grade teacher received me with so much joy that at that point I knew Nativity School was meant to be for me.

I had always been the shy girl that was too scared to even raise my hand to answer a simple question, but as the years passed I started to grow out of my comfort zone. At the start of my 6th grade year at Nativity, I met the best three teachers I’ve ever had, together they made the perfect team. They were good motivators and mentors. It wasn’t always about the academics with them. There was always a bit of humor, discipline, but most importantly a teacher and student relationship. For once I felt excited about waking up in the morning and going to school. At times I felt like the work was too much but my 7th grade teacher always said, “You’ll thank me later.” She was right because now I am more than thankful for preparing me not only for high school and college, but also for life. Now I say thanks, thank you for preparing me well enough to strive for my academic goals showing that hard work does pay off in the end.

They also taught me that every action has a consequence – good or bad. If I dedicated time to my studies something good would come out it. Indeed, something good did come out of it: because of my determination of giving it my best I graduated Valedictorian from Nativity School, just recently graduated from Sacred Heart High School and now I am proud to call myself a UCLA Bruin! If it wouldn’t have been for Nativity I wouldn’t be in this position right now. The motivation Nativity gives to its students to continue on with their education, I cannot imagine receiving it somewhere else. If it weren’t for the help and the advice of my teachers I would of never chosen to continue in a Catholic high school looking forward to graduation.

We live in time where the cost of education can be a challenge and even a barrier to continue at a school where good education, discipline, and Catholic values are a priority. In my case, the cost of tuition has always been an issue, but that never stopped my mother from keeping me in a Catholic School. Nativity School has been the reason why I was able to attend my 5th-8th grade years there and continued helping me throughout my high school years. I was under the aid of sponsors throughout my years at Nativity and my four years of high school and now I can not thank them enough. They have been one of the main reasons why I was able to finish at a high school were my catholic values were still practiced.

Living in this generation, Catholic education really does make a difference in a child’s life. At Nativity I was taught that prayer is essential and without prayer there is nothing. My faith grew stronger. The morning masses and religion classes made me realize that without God we are nothing. Yes academics are important to be successful in life but without God in our lives there’s not much we can do. Nativity is my second home and I am more than thankful to the staff for the amount of hard work and dedication they give to their students. I can see this through my younger brother. He is currently in 5th grade and there hasn’t been a day were he has complained about going to school, on the contrary he comes home excited about something new he has learned or with random jokes his teacher has told him throughout the day. Again I see how much Nativity hasn’t changed in the way the teachers take care of their students as if they were their own children.

Nativity has made an impact on my life, because of Nativity the idea of attending college was made into a goal that I have now achieved. I’m ready to start on my next fours years in college applying the values and skills I was taught at Nativity. Looking back at it, my English teacher was right: it’s going to be a long journey but I have brains in my head and feet in my shoes and I can steer myself in any direction I choose. On the long way I am on my own and I will be the one that will decide where to go. I have decided to become part of the Bruin family, receive my BA in Business Economics, and in the future enroll in one of the best business schools in California. I want to be able to give back to my community and help out students like me to receive a good education that will impact their future just like how Nativity impacted me.

-Paola Vasquez, Nativity Class of ’09