I have always said that, in spite of going to a Catholic School, I was not sheltered. My parents never tried to hide the world from me and I’ve met various types of people and interacted in different environments. I’ve stepped outside the bubble of our private school and seen the world, or so I thought.

I started out the day doing something I rarely ever do: pick out an outfit. My midday, I had a headache from trying to take in everyone’s different apparel. I was so accustomed to seeing a sea of navy blue that was brain was overloaded from all the different colors and styles.

My first class was AP Literature, where we studied women in literature. The writing we were studying had a feminist theme, which both took me by surprise and excited me. It was refreshing to finally discuss a topic that is sometimes considered taboo at a Catholic school.

The next class in my day of public education was psychology. Lucky for me, that day the class was starting a movie. It was a documentary about a young Christian man from Michigan who went to live in San Francisco with a gay man for 30 days. The Christian was the perfect stereotype of a Bible-beating, intolerant bigot who had never stepped outside his small-minded town. They showed clips of people holding hateful signs and shouting scripture verses at gay-pride parades. Is this how they see Christians? Is this who they think we are? At Carroll, I have never been taught to be hateful or angry towards anyone in the way the film showed. I wanted to show them that we as Catholics are caring, charitable and understanding.

The rest of the day went by in a blur. One of the best parts of my experience was the opportunity to leave for lunch. The half hour of sunshine and freedom revived me for the second half of the day.

Spending a day at Northwest was a step into an uncensored high school experience. All in all, I still love my school. Students at Carroll are surrounded by people who share common values and goals. Our community is one of tremendous support, and we are all bound by our common faith. When one of us wins, we all win. When one of us hurts, we all take the blow. I don’t see that as a hindrance in my life, I see it as a blessing.